Hello Bob
***OFF TOPIC***
A couple of interesting articles and sites to surf while you and the Hamsters are waiting for the Fall trading to start.
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July 27, 1999 11:17
Rhombic Accepts Proposal to Develop Quality Diamond Coloration Using Its Patented Forced Diffusion Process
VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 27, 1999-- Rhombic Corporation (OTC BB:NUKE) announces that a third proposal has been accepted from the University of Missouri at Columbia that uses the company's "Forced Diffusion" technology to produce a quality line of colored diamonds for the rapidly growing high-end accessory market.
The "Forced Diffusion" process will be used to change ordinary colorless white diamonds into beautiful and valued shades of pink, orange, blue, and green and possibly the very rare red. The color changes to these diamonds will be virtually undetectable from natural colored diamonds. Colored diamonds, known as fancies, are valued for their depth of color, just as white diamonds are valued for their lack of color.
The company's initial 1996 experimental work in altering color in diamonds was successful in producing diamonds in a color range of orange to carnation. In the same year the figure for annual retail sales of colored gemstone jewelry was estimated at $10 billion while the world jewelry market is estimated to be between $50 and $60 billion according to Cheryl Kremkow, Director of International Colored Gemstone association Gembureau. Plans for implementation and development of the new project are scheduled to commence on September 1, 1999.
Since the color change will be used to enhance natural diamonds, the "Forced Diffusion" process will produce colored diamonds with the same properties; physical, optical, chemical, brilliance, and fire of a natural diamond unlike moissanite or cubic zirconia that are only simulants containing a different chemistry, different optical properties, etc.
According to Alex Grizenko, president of Ultimate Created Diamonds (UCD) who is noted to be a major player in the marketing of synthetic Russian colored diamonds, prices for artificially produced colored diamonds (real carbon, not cubic zirconium) are being sold in the following range of prices.
Yellows $600 to $3,000, Blues $2,000 to $5,000, Red, Oranges, Pinks $1,000 to $5,000, Color change $2,000 to $4,000 (in recent interviews by Robert Gents on the Diamond Trade Network).
Rhombic Corporation is also pleased to report that work at the University has begun as of July 1, 1999 on the purification of silicon carbide (SIC) and gallium nitride (GAN) wafers using "Forced Diffusion". The wafers, used by industry in large quantities, will be cleansed of the natural contaminates carbon, silicon and oxygen, and then reintroduced to industry as longer lifespan wafers with greater effectiveness.
Samples of both SIC and GAN are now being treated in preparation for work to be done in commercial quantities. Rhombic's business focus is to penetrate the existing $7 billion wafer market with a purified wafer line.
As previously announced, Rhombic Corporation will be working closely with the University of Missouri in a joint venture research plan to develop doped diamond electrodes and undoped diamond film for the hydrogen fuel cell market. The doped diamond electrodes will be non-corrosive with the unique feature of having excellent thermal, chemical, and electrical conductive properties. Electrodes developed using boron doped diamond film will add efficiency to hydrogen fuel cells now being produced for automobiles, buses, and trucks. Work on this project also is expected to begin on September 1, 1999.
Rhombic management is currently reviewing the following future "Forced Diffusion" projects.
(1) Production of N-type diamond semiconductor material for the computer, satellite, and communications markets.
(2) The doping of diamond films for use in small solid state monitor/detectors that would be portable and useful in monitoring nuclear power plants and waste sites.
CONTACT: Rhombic Corporation
Public Relations, 888/821-6607, 604/421-5543
www.rhombic.com
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July 27, 1999 07:19
American Gem Corporation Today Announced the Launch of Its Online Gemstone Retail and Auction House, in Full Operation Now At www.americansapphire.com
TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 27, 1999--American Gem Corporation (TSE:GEM.)("American Gem") has one of the world's largest inventories of gemstones -- spectacular cut sapphires from the company's Gem Mountain site in Montana.
These stones have drawn an exceptional response from jewelers and connoisseurs around the world. Now, buyers will be able to examine them and purchase them online at a secure website. Customers will be able to buy sapphires in traditional sale or by auction.
American Gem's sapphire website offers a 100 percent guarantee of satisfaction and shipping within two days of purchase. Shoppers can choose from very high-quality sapphires in a wide range of colors, from the traditional blue through exceptional green, orange, pink and purple. The subtle, durable brilliance of Gem Mountain sapphires is unrivalled.
The site features finished jewelry as well as gemstones, and offers more than 2000 items to choose from, selected from a very substantial inventory. Prices range from five dollars for small, simple stones to more than $10,000 for items in the Signature Collection of matched and mounted sapphires.
Nadir Desai, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of American Gem, commented: "This is a double breakthrough. The website will offer extraordinarily beautiful gemstones to the jewelry industry and to individuals at a very low cost. But there's another critically important aspect. We will be able to use the advanced technology developed for the sapphire website as the electronic base for our other online operations. Those e-commerce sites will be up and running by the end of the year."
Wes Roitman, Chief Operating Officer of American Gem, added: "We've designed the site to make transactions as pleasant and straightforward as possible. More and more, consumers are gaining confidence in the Internet as a place to do business, and our own e-commerce technology will reinforce that, helping people to choose and buy exactly what they want in complete security."
After a careful survey of the relevant software on the market American Gem chose Microsoft's NT Server with Internet Information Server 4.0 to act as a foundation for its own e-commerce system.
"The growth of online shopping is poised to explode in Canada and it is exciting and unique sites like americansapphire.com that will drive that growth," said David Daniels, Platform Sales Manager, Microsoft Canada. "We are very pleased to see Canadian companies like American Gem take advantage of the tremendous opportunities in e-commerce and recognize the benefits of basing their solution on Microsoft's NT Server and Internet Information Server 4.0 platform."
American Gem's sapphire website has been open to the public for several days. Initial customer reaction has been very positive.
American Gem Corporation is based in Toronto. It is developing a wide range of financial services to be delivered primarily on-line. These services are focused primarily on small and medium-sized individuals, as well as businesses. A related operation, an Internet gemstone retail and auction business, offers superb cut sapphires from Gem Mountain in Montana to individual buyers and to jewelers.
CONTACT: American Gem Corporation
Bill Cameron, 416/481-9988
www.americangem.com |
