Richard W. Hughes

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Richard W. Hughes is an American gemologist and author, known as an authority on corundum, rubies and sapphires.

Hughes graduated from the Asian Institute of Gemological Sciences (AIGS) in Bangkok, Thailand, in 1980, and became a Fellow of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain (F.G.A.) in 1982. He was the director of AIGS during the 1980s, and also served at the American Gem Trade Association’s gemological laboratories in California and New York from 2005 to 2008. In 1997 he authored Ruby & Sapphire, which is considered by many in the gem and jewelry industry to be the most authoritative treatise on the subject.^[1]

Hughes has authored or co-authored a number of books on gems as well as numerous articles on gemology over the past 34 years.^[2] He received the American Gem Society's Richard T. Liddicoat Journalism Award in both 2004 and 2005.^[3][4] In 2010, Hughes received the Antonio Bonanno Award for Excellence in Gemology from the Accredited Gemologists Association,^[5] in recognition of his contributions to promoting gems and the countries that produce them through his travelogues, as well as his scientific writings and the sharing of this information through trade journals and his website.^[6]

Hughes has worked both in lab gemology and also in the wholesale, retail and mining sides of the gem business. He currently resides in Thailand with his wife and daughter, where he continues his gemological research. In 2012, together with his family, he established a Gemological laboratory in Bangkok called Lotus Gemology. In 2017, Lotus Gemology published Hughes' book Ruby & Sapphire: A Gemologist's Guide,^[7] covering the corundum gem species.^[8][9] In 2019, Tongji University created an exhibit centering on Lotus Gemology's photography.^[10] Van Cleef & Arpels' L’École, School of Jewelry Arts ran an exhibit in Hong Kong featuring photomicrographs from Lotus Gemology in 2020.^[11]

• Terra Spinel: Terra Firma, Yavorskyy, V. and Hughes, R.W. (2010). Yavorskyy Co., 202 pp., ISBN 978-0-615-40901-6
• Ruby & Sapphire, Hughes, R.W. (1997) Boulder, CO, RWH Publishing, 512pp. ISBN 978-0-9645097-6-4
• Corundum, Hughes, R.W. (1990). Butterworth’s Gem Books, Northants, UK, Butterworth-Heinemann, 314 pp., ISBN 978-0-7506-1007-0
• The Book of Ruby & Sapphire, Halford-Watkins, J.F. & Hughes, R.W. (2012). RWH Publishing, 434 pp., ISBN 978-0-9645097-0-2

• Gemology

• HW Diamonds
• Web Site of R.W. Hughes