(mined and cut in Zhytomyr area that is heavily bombed)
This Auction of rare colored gems ethically sourced in Ukraine and donated by Dudley Blauwet.
Auction will run until April 10, 2022.
Dudley Blauwet is the winner of the prestigious 2018 Carnegie Mineralogical Award for outstanding contributions in mineralogical preservation, conservation, and education.
"Dudley has been referred to as the most intrepid and ethical mineral dealer who has faced numerous hazards in acquiring minerals for collectors and museums." - Carnegie Museum of Natural History
(Gemstone Dealer that Donated Gemstones for UkraineNow)
April 5, 2022
Fate, destiny, or simply a chance encounter? Today as Brett and Allyce Kosnar and I set up a CharityAuctionsToday to benefit civilians caught up in this horrible conflict, I reflect back to late January at the Pueblo gem show in Tucson where I met Alexander, a miner from the famed heliodor-topaz mines from Volodarsk-Volynsk, Ukraine, and two weeks later at the TGMS, where I met Artur Kiulian, a Ukrainian IT entrepreneur from LA, who had started a charity with some of money generated from AI start-ups.
I bought several faceted bi-color topaz and two pieces of heliodor and topaz rough from Alexander, and had a long conversation with Artur about ethical sourcing from gem mines around the world. About two weeks later, the war started in Ukraine, and Artur immediately set up UkraineNow, to help evacuate civilians from war zones, using his IT skills, matching evacuees with transport. Then on March 21, Alexander contacted me from Ukraine about some gems and rough which he had for sale. I negotiated the price on the entire lot with one interruption when an air siren warning went off.
Meanwhile, Artur was being interviewed by BBC, Fox News and CNN about his charity and his rescue work. Currently Artur is on the Mexican-US border trying to help thousands of newly arrived Ukrainians with little more than the clothes on their backs and help them apply for refugee asylum in the US. I decided that these two encounters in Tucson were simply beyond chance, and that it was my fate or even duty to step up and help. I donated almost the entire lot of faceted bi-color topaz and heliodors (except for one rough which we did not have time to cut) and Brett donated a bi-color sapphire, blue and yellow, the colors of the Ukrainian flag, and his labor for faceting a spectacular 56 carat Crystalline cab from heliodor rough.
We will auction everything off starting on April 5th, 7 pm MDT, running through April 10th. I politely request those with the means to also step up and help these innocent people in escaping war zones and with resettlement in Europe and the US. One has a chance to purchase and own an incredibly rare gem from Ukraine, and/or make a cash donation on the links on our site. There is a charity website fee of 5%, and a credit card fee, and after that deduction 100% of the proceeds will go to UkraineNow. Thanks so much for whatever you can do to help.
Sincerely.
Dudley Blauwet
