Lovish Agrawal
The Trained Eye
SECRETS TRADE TRUTH
The Trained Eye is the book he wishes every buyer had read before walking into their first jewellery store. Part memoir, part field guide, it teaches you to see what the market is hoping you won't.
What you'll learn to see
Twelve chapters that move you, steadily, from the side of the table where you are shown stones to the side where you can see them.
Why Humans Are Wired for Gemstones
The 142,000-year-old reflex behind every ring you've ever wanted. Why a stone can move you before you can name why.
The Great Gemstone Illusion
Why a $50 stone and a $5,000 stone can look identical - and how the room, the lighting, and the word "rare" do most of the selling.
The Anatomy of Value
Origin, treatment, clarity, cut and colour - what actually moves the price, and what is window dressing.
Certificates That Mean Something
Reading lab reports the way the trade reads them. Which labs to trust, which to question, and what they're not telling you.
Treatments & What They Hide
Heat, oil, glass, beryllium - the invisible interventions that change everything, and how to spot them.
The Investment Conversation
Why most gemstone "investments" aren't investments - and the small number that genuinely are.
What readers are saying
"The book the trade did not want written. Honest, generous, and quietly devastating in places."
"I have bought stones for fifteen years and learned more in two chapters than in my last five trade shows."
"Reads like a long, careful conversation with a friend who happens to know the market from the inside."
Questions, answered
What does the book actually teach about the gemstone industry?
How gemstones are formed, graded, and priced. How the global supply chain works from mine to market. How buyers, cutters, and dealers operate in Jaipur, Bangkok, Tucson, and Chanthaburi. And how to tell natural stones from treated, synthetic, and imitation ones - the kind of knowledge that usually takes years to build.
Will this book help me buy gemstones with more confidence?
Yes. A large part of the book is about buying - how to read a stone, what to ask a seller, how to check certificates, how to spot treatments, and how to avoid the mistakes most buyers make. The aim is simple: you never buy blind again.
Is this book only about gemstones, or also about the business side of the trade?
Both. It covers gemstone science, quality, and value - and also how the trade actually runs. How stones move between countries, how prices are set, how ethics and sustainability shape the industry, and the hard truth about gemstones as an investment.
In what formats is the book available?
Digital (ePub and PDF, readable on Kindle, iPad, phone, or laptop) and premium hardcover, shipped worldwide from Jaipur. Signed copies are available on request - just add a note at checkout.
