NARRATOR: On this episode,
the gem hunters travel to the center of the gem world.
[ Speaks Thai ]
Well, what is the price?
I'm working her, you know? Who's the puppet here today?
NARRATOR: Ron, Diane, and Bernie have come to Thailand
to find deep-green jade
and a stunning pair of blood-red rubies.
Cost us $200 for 30 pounds.
It's gonna cost me a hell of a lot on the airplane
to get the damn stuff home.
NARRATOR: Finding perfect gems is hard enough.
Finding a matched pair is almost impossible.
DIANE: Really?
BREEZE: Yes.
Those two stones -- $50,000 for the two?
NARRATOR: The prices for ruby and jade are going through the roof,
so cutting a deal that will earn a profit
is going to be an enormous gamble.
Will this risky mission have a happy ending?
Ron LeBlanc is a gem hunter.
He knows that every precious stone on earth
is born the same way.
They're found.
They're bargained for.
They are transformed.
I take a rough stone like this. I cut and polish it.
I turn it into a stone like this.
NARRATOR: With a team of professionals by his side,
Ron travels to treacherous corners of the world
in search of pay dirt.
This is worth $2,000.
This is worth 30,000 bucks.
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
NARRATOR: Blood-red rubies are one of the hottest
and most desirable gems in the market right now.
They're worth more than diamonds --
up to half a million dollars per carat.
Anybody who knows gems wants red rubies
and the deep green of jade.
Jade is China's go-to stone.
It's hard as iron, deep in spiritual significance,
and a high-value investment.
With China's growing prosperity,
the price of jade is shooting sky-high.
The gem hunters have come to Thailand
to hunt these hot rocks.
Thailand is the gem-trading capital of the world.
This is the center for the world for gems.
Gems come from everywhere --
down from Burma, across from Vietnam, over from India,
down from Afghanistan, over from South Africa, comes in from America.
The Africans come here.
This is the wholesale place in the world for gems.
Everything can be bought here, everything can be sold here,
everything can be gotten, everything can be stolen,
everything can be robbed here.
It's all here.
NARRATOR: Thailand's troublesome neighbor, Burma,
has the best rubies and jade on earth,
so the gem hunters have come to the border --
the entry point for Burmese gems into Thailand --
hoping to cherry-pick the best stones
before they can be snapped up by other gem dealers.
The Wild-West town of Mae Sot straddles the border with Burma,
making it a gemstone El Dorado.
Burma is this gemmiferous place where everything is,
and those borders are very, very porous.
NARRATOR: There's nothing better than a porous border
for finding bargains.
Many of these people crossing the river into Thailand
have gems they have hidden from the Burmese government
and are looking for a quick sale.
RON: Believe you me, the more chaotic it is,
the more rougher it is, the more nasty it is,
I love it.
NARRATOR: Ron, the hard man of the team,
has a wealthy female client
who is asking for big, beautiful rubies.
If you're gonna do rubies, I'm here in Thailand right now.
There's Burma right behind me here.
There's the bridge that takes it across.
There's the market that these Burmese goods are gonna go to.
So, if you're gonna go for rubies,
Burma's got to play into the mix.
NARRATOR: Diane is the team's jewelry expert.
Wow.
Very nice. Very nice.
And she has a client
who wants to invest in the highest-quality jade.
My client is really trusting.
If I say to her,
"This is a great stone, it's gonna increase in value,
you need to have it in your collection," she really listens to me.
And I know this is a great stone.
It's gonna go up in price.
NARRATOR: And Bernie, the gem cutter and geologist,
has his own mission.
He wants bargains anywhere he can find them.
BERNIE: What we'll do is we'll keep digging,
and I'm sure we'll find a price what Bernie is willing to pay.
Since we're at the border town in Mae Sot,
what I'm expecting to see is things like the Burmese ruby,
Burmese jade trickling across the border.
Hopefully, we'll see some good prices.
NARRATOR: Before they can do anything,
the gem hunters need local cash.
Hang on. Hang on. How are we doing? Good?
You got the money?
It's a backstreet deal on Main Street.
But nobody messes with the local biker gang.
This man gives them exactly what they want at cut-rate prices,
no questions asked.
Okay. Okay. All right.
NARRATOR: Loaded up with the local currency, Thai Baht,
they're ready to trade.
Inevitably in the gem-source business model,
you have to go into every venue,
and we're always going into these retail,
small, rinky-dink,
quite often early on in these kind of tourist places,
and we go in rife with cynicism.
We have to always grind through these retail places.
Drives us crazy every time, you know?
But I'm completely terrified in this place
because all is not what it seems.
I'm looking for rubies, and you got all these kind of...
[ Chuckles ]
...could be kind of like red -- these false trails.
This is all --
Most of this stuff is glass-filled rubies
from Mozambique,
not pigeon-blood ruby from Burma, so, you know?
Mm-hmm. A lot of fakes.
NARRATOR: To help get past the fakes and cheats,
Ron has brought in a Thai gemologist.
This is Dang, Ron's local expert and interpreter.
RON: Is this real?
All real, no filling, no nothing?
No.
Dang's my fixer here in Thailand, and he's --
I don't go anywhere without him.
He's very, very established, and you can always tell
by the way they treat him so reverently
when he walks in the sector of gems.
As an uber fixer,
not only access into every, every available gem source
that Dang will get me in,
and so, he's absolutely essential.
NARRATOR: Ron has found some rubies he can almost trust...
except they are not true red.
They are pink.
RON: These are from Mozambique, I do suppose.
And these are the pinky ones from here.
NARRATOR: But they are still good stones,
and a deal is in the making.
How much for something like this?
Friend price.
Brother price.
[ Chuckles ]
[ Speaks Thai ]
DANG: The cost of the stone is 15,000 Baht.
15,000 Baht for the cost of the stone.
NARRATOR: These rubies are selling at 15,000 Baht,
or $500 U.S. per stone.
Very interesting. Very interesting.
This is from Mozambique, Mozambique.
This all Mozambique? Yeah.
And this...
[ Speaks Thai ]
DIANE: Are those ones filled, Ron?
Yeah, these would be filled, for sure.
But not -- The ones from Burma aren't filled?
No.
DANG: Different material.
Different material?
Yes.
Oh, so these ones aren't filled with anything?
No. These are filled.
Oh, okay.
They are nice, aren't they?
It's like a little piece of candy.
That's what it looks like, doesn't it?
Pieces of cinnamon candy.
NARRATOR: Mistake number one in gem dealing
is revealing that you like the stone.
It's a mistake the gem hunters may have to pay for.
What's the real price? Your price?
MAN: 45,000 Baht.
What?
For the stone.
$1,500.
DIANE: $1,500 for the stone?
What happened to the last price?
Come on. It was $500. Now it's $1,500.
The longer you take, the higher it goes.
What about tomorrow? $2,000.
NARRATOR: The price for these stones has just tripled to $1,500 U.S.
It's too early in the trip, and these rubies
just aren't good enough for this kind of game.
But Diane did get some good intel.
Some good important piece.
They are going to brought that stone to the center market.
To the center of town, so we'll go there after.
After here, we'll go look at this.
Oh, okay, so the big stones will go to the center of town.
NARRATOR: The best stones are going to another market
in the center of town,
so that's where the gem hunters need to be.
Before they can go anywhere,
Bernie spots what might be a hidden treasure.
And out of the corner of my eye, I see rough jadeite --
rough Burmese jadeite.
And I thought, "Wow."
That is a happy thing.
NARRATOR: Ron is seeing red after the rubies,
but this find might turn him green.
Jade had come down from Burma,
and my God, the price wasn't terribly bad.
It was a new thing for us all, I believe, and it was fantastic.
NARRATOR: Burmese jadeite is the highest-quality jade on earth.
When it's good, it is virtually priceless.
But it's a high-risk stone in the rough,
and it is impossible to know its value.
You don't deal in jade.
You gamble on it.
Bernie is about to put his money on the line
on a big green rock
that might be hiding priceless jade inside.
Ron is hunting for perfect rubies,
and the clock is ticking,
because this place is about to go underwater
in a monsoon flood.
Water this high.
You know, five feet underwater.
NARRATOR: The gem hunters are at the border
between Thailand and Burma in the Wild-West town of Mae Sot
hoping to get some great deals
as stones sneak across the border.
Bernie is about to gamble on a rock
that just might be high-quality jade.
Now he has to get it at his price.
So, let's bargain.
[ Speaks Thai ]
NARRATOR: Bernie's sweating.
Whatever he offers is a risk.
I'd like to pay as little as possible.
[ Conversing in Thai ]
NARRATOR: He has no way of knowing the gem quality inside this rock.
The man wants the equivalent of $600 U.S.
I give you this price here.
All of this.
They try to push the man's price down,
but the seller doesn't want to budge.
Now $600 -- 18,000 Baht.
[ Speaks Thai ]
I've got five $100 bills in my pocket.
Five $100 bills.
If he wants to think about it, I'll go have my tea.
NARRATOR: Bernie is threatening to walk away
from the $600 price tag.
He wants to pay $500.
BERNIE: He was kind of hemming and hawing.
I said, "Lookit, I'm gonna go for tea.
You think it over. I'll come back."
Well, he didn't let me go.
Thank you very much.
[ Speaks Thai ]
NARRATOR: He's rolled the first dice in this crapshoot.
But he won't know if he's won the game
till he cuts this rock to see what's inside.
Ron and Diane are hoping the promise of better rocks
at the city gem market will even the odds for them.
All right, we're in the gem market of Mae Sot here.
Should be lots of goods.
We got a couple of guys promised to show us some goodies.
NARRATOR: Diane needs jade for a wealthy client,
and Ron is still looking for a pair of perfect rubies.
But the rubies in this market
also fall short of his expectation.
RON: I'm looking for big rubies,
but I'm not interested in Mozambique, you know?
NARRATOR: But the jade is a different story.
While it comes in a variety of colors,
deep emerald-green jade
has always been the most highly prized.
It's called imperial jade -- the jade of emperors.
Let's really look for something that's worthy of looking at.
With the Chinese economy skyrocketing,
high-quality jade
is one of the most valuable gemstones on earth.
RON: Dang, in his ever essential way,
brings me to one of his contacts.
Dang introduces us to this very tough woman
that had all the jade.
First we know that everything in her tray is actually real.
NARRATOR: There are two pieces of jade
that particularly stand out for the gem hunters.
But they come with a big price tag.
How much are they?
30 carats, so they're $1,000 a carat, probably.
So, this is for the --
BERNIE: $1,500.
Oh, wow.
$1,500 a pair.
$1,500.
[ Whistles ]
But basically, two nice pieces of green jade,
but priced $45,000 for the two pieces of jade.
You know what you should do?
You should really send that to your client.
[Bleep] top and jade.
DIANE: I don't normally buy imperial jade,
but we saw the most stunning green imperial jade.
I knew I'd have a client that would want it,
so I think we all saw it, saw the fabulous green.
We know it's a famous stone.
You know, it's a stone of royalty in China.
RON: I don't really know the stone, but I tell you what.
I know something magically beautiful when I see it.
I'm gonna take -- Is it okay? --
a [Clicks tongue] picture to send to my client.
Well, maybe you shine your light on it.
Oh, that's good.
RON: Ah, right there.
NARRATOR: Before Diane can even talk to her clients,
she needs to know how low she can get the price.
On paper, these match stones are worth $45,000.
They begin to negotiate.
[ Speaks Thai ]
She said originally it was gonna be $45,000.
Now she's come down and said last, last price --
$25,800.
So there has been...
This is not a stone for the weak and timid.
This is a collector's stone.
RON: Well said.
NARRATOR: Ron and Diane can see a great deal in the making.
But at this price, they need to get the buyer's okay
before they can go ahead.
However, it's midnight in North America,
so Diane will have to wait until morning
before she can talk to her client.
Yeah, I've never seen anything with such great color.
It's stunning.
Ron, Bernie, we all think we have to get it.
At almost 26 grand, the stones are more than twice
what Diane's investor wants to pay,
so Diane will go halves with her after the deal is done.
Called one of my clients, and she's excited.
She wants to split it with me.
I told her I'd get her great stones
and I could make her a profit.
There's a reason they call me the huntress.
Yeah.
Money in hand, it's back to the table
to see if they can close the deal for the imperial jade.
Yeah.
This woman cut her teeth dealing with Chinese jade buyers,
some of the toughest dealers in the world.
So, Ron may be about to meet his match.
You know what we're gonna do?
We're gonna buy if the price is right.
So, if we get the price, we're gonna buy.
Ron opens with an offer of 16 grand
for the 22 carats of imperial jade.
The jade dealer wants at least $25,000.
But we're not in the jade business.
You know, we're not in the business,
so, you know, if we get a price, we can do it.
If he's going to win this deal,
Ron needs to get control of the negotiation.
RON: The girl's thinking,
"I want the money, and he's gonna walk away."
If I've done that in her mind,
and I want it to stick in her mind.
"I want the money. He's gonna walk away."
If I've got that, I've won.
NARRATOR: Ron is going to counter with $20,000.
You think this is too small?
Yeah, too small.
NARRATOR: But Dang knows it will still be too low.
Ron is determined to get the price down to $20,000,
but the woman remains firm on $25,000.
Yes/no?
[ Conversing in Thai ]
For a bit of attitude adjustment,
Ron points out the flaws in the stones.
It's so crazy. It's just -- Let me see this.
Let's see the crack in here.
Yes. Have small crack.
I'm working her, you know.
Who's the puppet here today?
And I'm trying to be the puppet master with this gal.
What is the price?
We want to buy it, but we don't need to buy it.
Customer is like this. We like to buy, but...
She drops her ask to 660,000 Baht,
or $24,000 U.S.
[ Inhales, exhales sharply ]
It's $1,000 a carat.
BERNIE: Very expensive.
I know.
I can see that the gem dealer is getting a little agitated.
I think she's not sure we're gonna close the deal.
She keeps saying in Thai that these are good stones,
that she's not cheating us, that she's being honest.
[ Speaks Thai ]
I want to get just right there where I've broken her.
Just about broken.
You want to come this way.
You want to sell, we need to come this way.
And just right at the edge, where she's ready to say,
"Well, to hell with that guy. He's driving me nuts."
Let's get a price, because we can't go any further now.
NARRATOR: Then the woman abruptly walks out of the room.
She's...
Has Ron, indeed, broken her?
Or has he pushed her too far and lost the deal?
NARRATOR: The gem hunters are in Thailand.
They are in the thick of a deal to complete Diane's mission
with two matched pieces of imperial jade.
What is the price?
Ron has pushed the seller too far,
and she has walked away from the table.
I want to get just right there where I've broken her.
NARRATOR: Walking away is part of the gem-dealing game,
and so is coming back with reinforcements.
Boss coming.
The big boss.
NARRATOR: Now her boss enters the deal.
Ron. Pleasure.
Ron.
I'm getting nervous now.
You know, I'm not nervous at this price,
but if I go higher, I get a little nervous.
Dang tries to bring the two closer to an agreed price.
He thinks she might take $23,000.
DANG: $23,000.
Mm-hmm.
This stone.
[ Speaks Thai ]
[ Speaks indistinctly ]
DIANE: What are we at now?
Yeah. We are at $23,000.
[ Speaks Thai ]
I think $23,000's good.
And he agree to sell for you.
Okay. Yes.
RON: Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you, sir. Okay.
Okay.
NARRATOR: With Ron's help,
Diane has her two pieces of imperial jade
for just $23,000 --
half the price the seller originally quoted.
Those two jadeites are gonna appraise for over $100,000.
I am thrilled with these two pieces of imperial jade.
They are stunning, the color's great,
my client's gonna be thrilled.
BERNIE: This is Ron's forte.
I mean, he is a fierce negotiator.
A lot of times, he starts these things
and I don't believe that he can get it, but he does.
It was a strong negotiation.
We were in the cage -- in the ultimate fighting cage --
and she is tough.
NARRATOR: What they haven't seen in Mae Sot
is rubies worth fighting for,
and ruby is why they are here.
The clock is running, and the solution is clear.
Head to Bangkok, where everything is for sale.
Along the way, they'll pass
what might be one of the world's largest gem mines.
The gem hunters want to take a look
and see what's coming out of the ground.
Can Ron satisfy his mission for rubies here?
RON: What a mine.
This is really, I think, our first sophisticated, huge --
Look at this.
It also speaks to, you know, how big this mine is.
NARRATOR: The Bo Ploy gem mine covers
more than 25 square miles of ground.
It's known for producing sapphires
but also has deposits of many other kinds of gems.
RON: It just shows you that Thailand is a player, eh?
Have we seen anything like this?
No, I have never myself seen such a big, mechanized line.
We haven't seen that anywhere, Bernie.
The gem hunters want to see what kind of rocks
are coming out of the ground today,
so they head to the sorting area,
where Thai workers pluck gems from the riverbed gravel
the mine collects.
Let's go look at some stones.
This is the fun part, you know, when the package gets unreeled.
Have they made money today, or have they not?
Bo Ploy stones can sell for more than $10,000 per carat,
so security is tight.
You know, if you look at those, you know, those cameras up here,
you know, they're making sure
that everybody's keeping to form, you know?
What you see in a little stone, it can corrupt you, you know?
Next thing is one popped in the mouth.
One little gem the size of a fingernail
can be worth thousands and thousands of dollars,
so there's nothing more robbed or pilfered,
and you can better believe this guy's watching us, you know?
NARRATOR: It becomes clear there are no rubies here.
The gem sorters are all finding rare blue sapphires.
I am gonna find one, I want to tell you.
It looks like they're getting about 300 grams a day.
Half a pound, let's say --
a little better than half a pound of sapphire,
which they'll cut down,
and it must be enough to keep the operation going.
Okay. Look, she got a sapphire.
And see, she puts it in the metal box,
and you can see it's got a lock on it.
So, obviously, the owner's the only one that has the key,
so there must be some tube in there like a lobster trap
that they pop it in, and once it's in, it doesn't come out.
And the owner's the only one that can unlock it.
RON: Do you notice that she puts it up there and she never really looks?
She's always looking down.
Her eyes are always on this. Yeah.
RON: For us, it's the source, you know?
That's where you got to go, you know,
and when you see it coming out of the ground,
it's the only time where you have real authentication.
Oh, my gosh, that's a biggie going in.
Yeah.
Wow.
Oh, it's happening.
Oh, and another one. Oh, my gosh.
Yeah.
This is a treasure hunt.
And I'll tell you, sometimes they pluck a stone out of here,
it'll be worth $5,000.
Yeah.
Maybe $10,000.
You know?
Maybe $20,000, you know?
NARRATOR: Blue sapphire is a stone that Ron specializes in,
so spotting one is great gem hunter practice.
Well, I want to find one, for God sakes.
Well, you're a very good gem hunter.
Well, I usually can find one,
but I haven't done so good today.
Ron is beginning to lose hope.
Finding one valuable pebble among many rejects
is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Show yourselves.
Look at this.
NARRATOR: The gem hunters Ron, Diane, and Bernie
are in Thailand
searching for high-end rubies for a big client.
So far, the precious red stone has eluded them.
Show yourselves.
They are at one of the world's largest gem mines
outside Kanchanaburi, Thailand.
Rubies are found in Thailand
but not today and not at this mine.
But every few seconds, a blue sapphire is found here,
one of Ron's favorite stones.
Look at this. Hallelujah.
Oh, Ron, Look.
Whoo-hoo-hoo!
Very nice. Nice blue.
Look at that. Hello.
Look at that darling. That's actually a beauty.
[ Chuckles ] They call me...
Oh, I got to put that in the box for the owner.
I want to keep that one. Boop.
Nice.
Whoa.
That was nice.
The gem hunters are not shopping for sapphires,
and this mine is not producing rubies today,
but they do luck onto something else -- black spinel.
Look at that.
Not a bad color.
Wow.
NARRATOR: Spinel is related to rubies and sapphires
and comes in many different colors.
The hunters have noticed
that the valuable black spinel coming out of the mine,
along with blue sapphire, is being ignored.
RON: That's where all your black spinel's coming, guys.
But they don't even keep it.
BERNIE: No. No, they don't keep it.
NARRATOR: Which means there might be a deal to be had.
The dark luster of black spinel is in high demand.
It's the little black dress of gemstones
and can be matched with any color.
The gem hunters head toward the nearest local market
to see if they can buy the spinel cheap.
Within seconds, Ron is bargaining.
How much Baht?
Don't ask too much, or I don't buy.
What's that? 8,000 Baht?
Ron comes back with half what the man wants.
4,000 Baht.
6,000 Baht.
Yes.
For that.
Okay, I'll give you 5,000 Baht for fun, just to do something.
DIANE: And you guys are sure this is real?
Everything in this place is fake.
This is the one thing that's real here.
Yeah. Okay.
We finish.
Yeah.
Ah.
Thank you.
All right. All right.
[ Speaks Thai ] Oh, there we go. That's it.
I wasn't gonna pay any more than that.
I just bought 30 pounds of black spinel.
You know, this is the center of the world for black spinel,
and so I guess the hunters reverted to type,
and we're in the source of the best black spinel in the world,
so we did it, and it's --
This stuff is really nice.
When it's cut, when it's faceted,
it has a adamantine luster.
That means it has the brilliance of diamonds, so it's quite nice.
It gives you a nice effect for really not very much money.
Yeah, and I think, Diane,
you're gonna be able to use some of this stuff, right?
Oh, yeah, I'll use it. But you know what?
I think our tough part of this whole deal
is now you're carrying 30 pounds of that on your back.
Come on, Bernie.
Oh, God.
Yeah, I tell you, it cost us $200 for 30 pounds.
It's gonna cost me a hell of a lot on the airplane
to get the damn stuff home.
NARRATOR: The gem hunters still need ruby,
and the west of Thailand is turning into a washout.
DIANE: We've just finished one great deal,
so that's great news, but the monsoons are coming,
the rains are coming,
there's rumors that the town's gonna flood.
Dang came up to me the other day, and he said,
"You know that place where you bought the jade?
Water this high."
You know, five feet underwater.
NARRATOR: With the flood waters headed south to Kanchanaburi,
it's time to get to the dry ground of Bangkok
and its rich pickings.
Now, this is actually good for us
because, you know, a lot of stones end up in Bangkok.
This is the big city.
Dealers from Africa, from India,
from all over the world come here with their stones.
So, you know, it's monsoon season,
there's not a lot of tourists, there's not as many gem buyers.
So, I think if we're gonna get a deal,
it might be here in Bangkok.
NARRATOR: Their local fixer, Dang, is scrambling
to set up some Bangkok ruby deals before time runs out.
But in the meantime, Bernie has located a skilled stone cutter
and is about to find out if the rock he bought
is filled with precious jade or was an unfortunate gamble.
What is it gonna be?
Total crap or total glory?
NARRATOR: Until a stone is cut and its value is realized,
all rough stones are a risk.
The gem hunters think they know the stone's ultimate value,
but even experts can be wrong.
All of Bernie's potential profit is tied up
in the large piece of jade he bought in Mae Sot.
He needs to cut the stone open to see what's inside
so he can be sure
it will cover the costs of this trip to Thailand.
All right, we're going to have a go at it.
NARRATOR: Few people have the skills to cut a stone as hard as jade,
and one of them is in Bangkok.
BERNIE: It's a crapshoot. It's a crapshoot.
RON: Yeah.
Small pieces go flying sometimes, you know?
Oh, yeah.
That's why you wear safety goggles.
Yeah.
NARRATOR: It's a nervous wait.
Yeah, this is a bit tense.
Waiting.
What is it gonna be?
Total crap or total glory?
NARRATOR: Has Bernie hit the jackpot and scored a jade payday?
Or is he going to lose $500 on a worthless piece of rock?
BERNIE: I don't know.
This is what I love about it, though.
Yeah, me, too.
DIANE: [ Gasps ]
BERNIE: There we go.
Oh, Bernie, that's nice.
Ooh, Bernie, it's pretty inside.
Ah, it's not bad.
You are all right, baby. That is good.
Beautiful.
Wow.
Bernie, that's good jade.
That's nice.
You're good with that.
A bit of all right.
Yeah, that's a bit of all right.
You got the nice greens.
Yeah.
NARRATOR: Bernie's gamble has paid off big-time.
I mean, this sort of quality -- I don't know. What do you think?
Maybe...
I think you're in the $15,000, $20,000 range
when the smoke clears.
For the stone. Yeah.
Yeah.
Once you polish it up.
I think so.
So, $500 goes to 15, 20 grand.
I think that's right.
Not bad for a day's work, I guess.
That's right.
Bernie's costs are covered.
Diane has the imperial jade that she came for.
But the biggest mission of this trip is still unfulfilled.
All right, old Dang.
I don't know what he's doing,
but he's telling me he's got some river goddess,
and she has a bunch of baubles, so I don't know.
We found our way here on the river -- the Chao Phrya River.
To avoid Bangkok traffic,
the gem hunters are taking a longboat
to the neighborhood around the king of Thailand's palace.
I hope she has some very nice stuff.
Okay.
Ron needs to buy two big, beautiful, blood-red rubies
for one of his clients --
a perfectly-matched pair.
There's gonna be choices that are gonna have to be made,
and they're gonna be choices
that are gonna cost thousands of dollars,
so it's always nerve-racking,
and ruby, in particular, very tricky.
Dang has set up this lovely gig --
this very fine gig
with arguably the biggest ruby wholesaler in Bangkok,
which is kind of like the biggest wholesaler in the world.
NARRATOR: Finding no other worthwhile rubies in Thailand,
Ron has had to turn to the people
that sell the very best stones.
But they only sell cut rubies.
The boss has sent in gem dealer Breeze.
RON: And she's beautiful, which doesn't hurt.
Doesn't hurt, you know?
Or it might hurt. I might give her too much.
NARRATOR: Ron is going to have to stay focused.
RON: And let's look at some stuff.
With such a huge selection of beautiful rubies,
it's going to be difficult
to find the perfect matching pair for the client.
Because the client is making cufflinks,
the rubies must be as close to perfectly symmetrical
as possible.
But she will take smaller ones at very high quality,
so let's figure it out.
Let's see what you have.
The color also determines the value of the stone.
They're looking for the perfect rich red ruby.
Ruby is about red in color, so get more, I think.
Absolutely. I'm with you 100%.
Even with Diane helping, it's difficult to choose a color.
And if they don't get it right, their client won't be happy.
This is lower than that.
They have to choose
between rubies from Mozambique and Burma.
Little pinky-winky-winky and the cloudy.
Pinky-winky and cloudy.
They're nice, but I think you --
Color-wise, I would dismiss anything
pulling towards the pink and go for red.
If she wants ruby, she probably wants the red.
NARRATOR: The Burmese rubies are too pink.
Maybe the ones from Mozambique will be redder.
BREEZE: Mozambique -- the top one we have, unheated.
These look awesome.
NARRATOR: These rubies have caught Ron's eye.
You got everything here.
You even got the shape.
DIANE: Oh, those look nice.
You wait for the ruby to actually talk to you.
And it says, "Oh, pick me. I'm the prettiest."
They're real rubies.
There's no argument about the realness of them.
NARRATOR: Will color expert Diane agree?
Oh, That is a nice color.
When I think of ruby, that's the color
that I think people want -- the rich red.
RON: Thank God I had Diane and Bernie in this particular case
for the technical side of it.
NARRATOR: These deep-red rubies
are the closest to perfection they're going to find.
Now that they have made their difficult choice,
Ron is ready to do battle.
You know you could live with that.
What?
No.
BREEZE: Yes.
Really?
NARRATOR: The gem hunters are in Thailand.
They've snatched imperial jade and black spinel.
And now they've started bargaining
for the most expensive gems of their trip...
BREEZE: This.
...a pair of eight-carat blood-red rubies.
DIANE: Oh, those look nice.
But Ron's up against a tough negotiator.
What?
No.
BREEZE: Yes.
Really?
Yes.
Those two stones -- $50,000 for the two?
RON: I got my negotiating posture,
so, you know, I'm sneering at her price a little bit,
respectively, and I'm just -- I just can't buy that.
Last price is...
Oh.
Oh, my God, that's a problem.
[ Chuckles ]
$41,000.
She came down to $41,000. She said, "I'm solid at $41,000.
That is it. That's the final price."
And then she said something like,
"Well, what is your -- What do you think?"
And as soon as she says that, I know that $41,000's not solid.
That's not the last, last price?
Yeah. Last price.
Seriously.
100%.
Breeze wants to make a deal or not.
The last price -- $38,000.
I'm not gonna do it.
Came down with a $38,000.
I said, "Just can't do it." Can't do it.
And I go like this. I'm ready to leave.
I go Burma Friday, go Mozambique one week -- in one month.
So...
NARRATOR: Ron turns on his special gem-hunter charm.
Breeze, you will always be my boss.
[ Chuckles ]
You are the boss.
I want to pay $33,000.
$33,000.
And I just gave her a real solid impression
that I would walk on that.
I can wait, but I'd rather do something today.
I can wait till next month, or I wait for three months,
or four months I wait.
Maybe I wait a year.
I've got to ratchet it up, frustration, and I'm gonna walk,
and they thought that I was gonna walk at $33,000.
NARRATOR: Dang also tries to convince Breeze that Ron is sure to walk.
[ Speaks Thai ]
Okay.
Give me time to talk to boss.
Breeze calls her boss.
DIANE: I think she knew if he walked out the door,
he might not come back,
so a lot of times, when you say final price,
they think you can up you, but Ron is firm,
and when he says final price,
they think he ultimately means it,
and he's not budging.
Finish?
My boss said for the first-time business --
And hopefully, you'll come buy again.
Okay, $33,000?
Mm-hmm.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you very much.
Appreciate that. Okay.
DIANE: Wow. Wow.
To everybody's surprise -- me, not so much --
but to everybody's surprise, I got it at $33,000.
Really a fine deal. Fine deal.
The wholesale price was $50,000.
Okay. All right, it's done.
All arrangements, make through him, okay?
He will -- Dang will do it.
Thank you for your time. Fantastic.
And nice to meet you.
NARRATOR: Ron has charmed the girls...
The pretty assistant.
...and charmed himself an amazing deal on the rubies.
Yeah, that was a hit.
Eight carats, $33,000.
Eight carats of ruby.
I think we did all right. I think so.
Beautiful.
They were the best lot, the best combination of color.
Beautiful work.
Oh, the color.
And I have to say,
you are a brutal, hard-ass son of a [bleep]
Ooh, I love that.
Thailand, let's be frank. You've been a [bleep]
We came during monsoon, yes,
and you wiped us out of Kanchanaburi,
you knocked us off of the Burmese border in Mae Sot,
we retreated to Bangkok
but looked in that dark and stormy night,
if I could use the cliche, we found the primary colors.
You may own all these gems, Thailand,
but we own you.
And you know what?
We spent a lot of money, but it has been a dream.
NARRATOR: Bernie's $500 jade buy
netted him almost 10 grand profit.
Diane's imperial jade, bought for $23,000,
was resold to her client at $66,000.
Ron's matched pair of rubies
was revalued in Chicago at $75,000,
earning him a finder's fee of 10 grand.
Total gem-hunt profit for the trip
was over $60,000 U.S.
And the team was strong.
Good job.