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NARRATOR: On this episode,
the gem hunters are in Nepal on a wing and a prayer.
Nepalese for sure? For sure?
This mountains country's geology promises gemstones,
but tiny Nepal has yet to develop a gemstone industry.
Steady forward, kids.
The gem hunters have come to stake a claim
and be the first to market the jewels of the Himalaya.
The rocks are here,
but will the gem hunters be able to find them and make a profit?
Hallelujah.
NARRATOR: 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: The search for the highest quality gemstones
is getting harder and harder.
The competition to get them to market is intense.
So finding a new and untouched source of gems
is gem hunter gold.
Clear and blue stones are in high demand,
and rumor has it that good quality tourmaline
and aquamarine are being found on the slopes of the Himalayas.
It's a chance for our gem hunters
to stake a claim in this new market.
Whoa!
Ron's mission is to visit
and secure this new source of aquamarine and tourmaline
before anyone else.
His ability to hunt
and haggle his way through this new industry
will determine his success.
And with no client backing him,
Ron's putting his own money at risk.
If you're the first guy there, you get the big dough.
The first guy on the moon, you put the flag down, you claim it.
You say, "This is mine."
And so what my thinking is if I can find the source of --
a big source, a brand-new source,
that's the end-all, be-all of gem hunting.
For the gem hunt!
For the gems!
May we find gems as easy
as you're finding corn today.
If you can be in a nascent industry in a new country
with this beautiful history and philosophy,
with this kind of a story,
that's what I want to be part of -- the story.
I think that's prettier, honey.
Like, people would wear that.
NARRATOR: Diane, the team's jewelry expert,
knows the importance of a new, high-quality source
with a story attached.
DIANE: I know if I can find some great gemstones here,
it'll be a fantastic marketing opportunity.
I want to market the gemstones of Nepal.
NARRATOR: For Bernie, the team's geologist,
a trip to the Himalayas is a dream come true.
The geological forces at play in Nepal
are perfect for making gems.
The problem is being able to find them.
BERNIE: We're looking at a very, very unique geological environment.
I am here to score some tourmalines,
and I am dreaming of some nice blue-greens, maybe.
Not necessarily pinks or anything like that,
but nice minty greens would be beautiful.
I mean, we have money -- big money --
if we can find a mine and make a real good deal
with a -- you know, with the monsters that are here
if they have it.
So, it's really a shot in the dark.
There could be gemstones here,
but are they of the sort of quality
that are gonna interest our clients?
The chance of success here is, ooh, very small.
NARRATOR: Nepal is squeezed between India and China
and straddles the Himalayan mountains,
home to Mt. Everest and, hopefully, gemstones.
The team's first hunting ground is Kathmandu,
the country's capital.
Nepal is dirt poor but rich in culture.
The deeply religious Nepali people are Buddhist and Hindu.
They believe if you screw somebody in a deal,
karma will screw you right back --
a far cry from the dog-eat-dog world of gem dealing.
The gem hunters will need to be on their best behavior
if they want to get the best rocks.
First, the gem hunters need to get cash,
so they are meeting with a black marketeer in an alleyway.
RON: One does get robbed, and I've been robbed a few times,
but you know, the tent is up,
and I have a jungle sense a little bit, I hope,
but you've got to be awake.
If you're naive, you're like a --
As soon as you're vulnerable, the whole world jumps on you.
Well, I'm not vulnerable.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You count many times, you sure?
Okay.
BERNIE: These back-alley deals, they're kind of dodgy.
I don't care for them very much.
DIANE: I know, but the good thing is
we always get a little -- the price.
So, we carry around a lot, a lot of dough.
Now, I'm nervous, but I've been in the jungle a long, long time.
That's, you know, that's my world, you know what I mean?
So, you know, I'm in my house.
And so nervous, yes. Cautious, you have to be.
Have I been robbed?
Yes, we were -- one of our partners was robbed
in Colombia on a previous trip.
Thank you.
All right, not bad, good price.
I got 5% better than the regular stuff, so I'm happy at that.
But you got to stop a little short of being really bad
because you don't want any trouble.
Sometimes, they have to reconcile them out,
so I think we're all right here, so it's good.
Something to start.
NARRATOR: With money in their pockets,
the team can now search for the truth.
Are good stones making their way
out of the mountains into Kathmandu?
RON: We've heard today that there's a so-called guru,
you know, the guru of gems.
Hopefully, we'll find something of merit.
We think, if he is the guru,
then he'll have all the intelligence,
all the wisdom of the industry in his hands, so...
I'm Ron. Ron. It's a pleasure.
Once you get the intelligence, you've set your way.
You know, then you get that smell, and then off you go.
So, we're hoping this guy has the way in to the gem industry
here in Nepal.
What is the stone that is the most available
and popular now?
Is it the tourmaline? Is it the --
Nepal is famous for cyanite.
Oh, okay.
NARRATOR: Cyanite is not what the gem hunters came for.
This is all from Nepal.
And under closer inspection, his aqua is a bit off the mark.
Pretty damn dark.
It's almandine.
Almandine is a garnet, one of the world's most common gems
and of little value.
BERNIE: A lot of the stuff he's calling gemstones was not gemstones.
They're pretty rocks.
These are stones that are gonna be tough to put into rings.
RON: It would be modest to say that the guy was a disappointment.
Certainly, there wasn't gonna be a lot of gems in town.
I'm beginning to think
that perhaps it's gonna be more difficult than I thought.
After the guru, we decide to go into a gem shop.
And, you know, we always go in there, and we dislike it.
It was like a light to vampires.
We don't like to go into those retail places,
but we got to go, and we want to see what's coming in,
and we know how much [bleep] is in the market.
These colors are very rare, some of them.
We could see that almost everything in the shop
was from outside of Nepal,
and it wasn't Nepali specific stones.
Very beautiful, lovely pink.
NARRATOR: But then they do find something Nepalese --
cut and polished aquamarine.
DIANE: How much per carat, roughly, for your aqua?
MAN: $135 a carat.
$135 a carat.
At $135 a carat, this aqua is overpriced.
To get a better deal,
the gem hunters need to find uncut, rough stones.
They need more intel.
Is there anybody that's finding gemstones?
There's a placed called Surkhet.
That area has, presently,
very good quality of tourmaline, cyanite.
This is welcome news for Ron.
The mine that he wants to visit is in Surkhet.
It appears that the rumors he's heard are true.
Surkhet.
Surkhet.
Surkhet.
NARRATOR: Surkhet is a torturous five-hour drive from Kathmandu,
away to the west in the foothills of the Himalaya.
The road to Surkhet will be closed
once the monsoon rains arrive.
[ Horn beeps ]
But for now, it's wide open and beckoning.
Coming to Nepal around monsoon season might seem crazy,
but we thought at this time, there'd be less competition.
There'd be less tourists.
RON: We had to suss this out.
Going to the mine is always the way it's done and must be done.
Get to the source.
NARRATOR: But as the gem hunters make the slow climb
to Surkhet's gem fields,
the first of the yearly monsoon rains arrives.
[ Thunder rumbles ]
RON: The black clouds are coming in, you know.
The rains are approaching.
We know it's -- you know, it's a bit of a gamble
because you can be washed away in a minute,
and the weather is very fickle,
and it can rain, and the monsoons are powerful.
It's a powerful, powerful element, the monsoon,
so we're nervous.
[ Thunder rumbles ]
NARRATOR: Within minutes, the rainfall becomes so heavy
that thick mud stops them in their tracks.
A mudslide from above becomes a possibility.
There's big concern that the vehicles will be washed away.
Holy G.
It looks like Mother Nature's not helping us out here.
I think one of our vehicles with equipment on it,
they ain't gonna make it.
DIANE: I said to Ron, "Let's get out of this car
because if it slides, it's going over the mountain,"
and I didn't want to be in the car
if it went over the side of the cliff.
RON: Frankly, the way it's raining,
it's getting a little bit even more frisky,
we could wash out the road,
and the next thing you know, we'll be sitting behind this --
you know, sleeping in the vehicles, so we got to go.
Now.
NARRATOR: The gem hunters' road to success
has been blocked by a monsoon rain.
There will be no tourmaline mine today.
There's genuine concern that the rains could wash out the road,
pushing the vehicles into the mountain valley below.
Ron and Diane head for higher ground.
Bernie has decided to stay in the truck
while they tow the support vehicle to safety.
That ain't pretty.
We're a little nervous
that we're right on the edge of that valley.
I'm not convinced these guys are really country drivers.
You know, they look like urban guys.
But if one truck goes over the edge,
it'll drag the other truck.
In fact, maybe I should say good-bye to Bernie now.
Sayonara, Bernie!
In case we don't see you again.
We could use Bernie's weight in there.
Don't spin it, and that [bleep] front tire, he's --
All right.
NARRATOR: Even with the crisis averted,
Ron's gamble to get to the mine has not paid off.
It's a major blow to an already difficult mission.
Good job.
At the end of the day, you have to be somewhat logical,
or as logical as a gem hunter gets,
and believe you-me, the measurement is kind of small
'cause we do anything, go anywhere, you know.
NARRATOR: But all is not lost.
On the way up, the team went past a gate to another mine.
They're going to try to talk their way in.
RON: It's a government-sponsored, legal mine.
I'm never too sure how officious all these things are.
You know, some places, you know --
Do we need our passports?
How tricky is it?
Are the -- you know, do you need to throw a dollar or two
towards water and coffee or lunch, you know what I mean?
So, we'll see. They are circling.
NARRATOR: This last-minute change of plan has proved successful.
They've negotiated their way through the police check
and found the mine.
Now they need to find a miner
and get as much intel as possible.
RON: It's a tiny mine, and it wasn't, certainly, the source,
but, you know, they were going in
because there was something in that ground.
So, we knew there are mines.
Remember, I like to trip and fall.
Yep.
NARRATOR: This mine has clear indications that it is producing --
veins of black tourmaline
trapped beneath quartz and feldspar.
DIANE: Pretty, Bernie. What do you have there?
BERNIE: Black tourmaline.
Ooh, black tourmaline?
Right in there? You just dug that out?
Yeah, this is --
Whoa, but it all falls apart.
Is it weathered?
You can see small crystals of tourmaline.
Are they getting stones, like, tourmaline
Yes, yes.
Big enough crystals out of here?
Yes.
BERNIE: I think the wall like this
has not been mined properly.
It should have been terraced.
Yeah. Some benching.
RON: It is sort of encouraging, although I will never be happy
until I see something big and gemmy and rare, you know,
that hits the true definition of a gemstone.
NARRATOR: The geologist turns out to be an unexpected mine of information.
So, where can we find --
where can we find the good stones right now?
Where can we find stones?
Do you know anybody that has a supply of good stones?
Yeah, there are some peoples.
Yeah, yes.
Can you promise us,
guarantee that we're gonna see beautiful stones?
Yes, of course. Why not?
Hallelujah.
Do we get to see some stones now?
Today.
Where are they? Where are they?
NARRATOR: Another day, another dollar,
so it's back to Kathmandu with the hope that a new connection
provided by the geologist will put their mission back on track.
[ Horns beeping ]
They're about to meet a mine owner called Geppe
whose family has been mining in Nepal for generations.
I'm not feeling really optimistic.
I mean, we've been to the guru. We've been to the mine.
I haven't seen any gem-quality stones.
RON: You know, it's early in the mission.
This guy's got to have stones.
He's supposed to be a mine guy.
You know, it's at his house. That's a good sign.
So he's not a retail guy only,
so maybe this guy should have at least the info.
He'll have a big string to pull,
or hopefully, he'll have something
that inspires us to go further.
Namaste.
Namaste.
Ron LeBlanc. How are you?
RON: And we go to this house, and it's quite unbelievable.
It's a very beautiful, beautiful estate,
and he meets us at the door,
and quite a gentle man and a beautiful, soft man.
We hope, as well, that he's a man that has a lot of gems,
as well, of course.
NARRATOR: Geppe's family has been in the gem industry
for three generations,
but does he have the gems the hunters are looking for?
High and high and high altitude,
and then the planet is near and near and near.
That means energy coming down.
NARRATOR: As soon as Geppe begins to speak,
it becomes clear that he is not exactly the type of gem dealer
the team was expecting.
Ron and Bernie were ready for a no-holds-barred fight
for good gems and the best price.
But apparently, Geppe lives on a more spiritual plane.
RON: He doesn't know he's in the cage, in the game,
and so I'm not gonna be bringing out the sharpest tools.
You know, I don't need to attack this guy.
So the crystal is picking up the energy
from the chanting and from the planets.
Oh.
NARRATOR: Diane is hypnotized by Geppe's magnetism,
but Bernie and Ron are beginning to wish
they'd never come to Nepal.
Yeah, if you are negative energy,
it takes negative energy and throws it ten times.
It's a completely different view of the world.
Bernie, my God, this rankles him like crazy,
curiously enough, because he has his own religion.
NARRATOR: Ron and Bernie are not here for their souls.
They're in Nepal to make a buck.
BERNIE: He showed us a bunch of pretty quartz crystals.
These were not gemstones.
A lot of what we were seeing were not gemstones.
NARRATOR: Bernie may have turned off to Geppe's message,
but Diane is more open-minded.
He really, I think, has a spiritual side,
or he can sense things.
He's not just selling stones.
NARRATOR: Bernie and Ron are shocked
when Diane decides she will buy what they consider to be junk.
What's the price of the specimens?
How much are the --
It's per kg, $200.
Per kg? Now, what if I just want to buy a few to take home?
Yeah, it's okay.
I think this one has got good essence, then I --
You just weigh them,
and it's $200 per kilo, so that's pretty good.
Well...
Look at these. We're gonna go through these.
And I'm gonna pick about maybe four or five pieces,
'cause I need a piece.
I'm gonna give them as gifts.
RON: You didn't bargain.
You never sit with a gentleman as smart as this
without bargaining some, Diane.
Well, no.
We have the final price, and we'll get the friend price.
Don't worry.
What kind of haggler are you?
No, no. Don't worry. The haggle's coming.
I think you should join the --
BERNIE: Does that make you a hag?
Bernie.
And what's the real price?
Yeah.
NARRATOR: Spiritual or not,
Ron is going to drive Geppe into a harder bargain.
What's the real price?
The friend price...
Friend price.
50% discount.
Ooh! That is a good friend price.
See? Okay, that's good.
I'll take that.
How about a brother price?
This is brother price. Price like that.
Thank you very much. Thank you.
This deal is over, then.
Fabulous.
Thank you.
I love my crystals, and I'm buying them
from someone who has a long history in mining in Nepal,
so I think it's great.
Yeah. Nice family.
Yeah. Thank you.
And it's our first --
it's our first purchase, so that's always good.
NARRATOR: Diane has bought three pieces of quartz crystal for $54,
a long way from the kind of gem deal they came to Nepal for.
Ron behaved himself in the presence of Geppe,
but outside, he can vent his true feelings.
What an unmitigated waste of time --
time, money, and all that [bleep]
I'm so sick of this [bleep] quartz.
It's not even a gem, you know?
That stuff you can wrap around the earth twice.
I mean, it's kind of pretty, but it's useless.
I am telling you, we have not found one thing,
and I'm tired of pretending that something is good when it's not,
when it's only common.
An aspect of gems is that it has to be rare.
Did you see anything rare there?
There's tons of it there.
Everybody has it around the world.
This is a wonderful marketing tool for them.
They can sell it to the healy-feelys.
It comes from Nepal.
It's blessed by the gods. It's blessed by the mountains.
Hey, that's not my shtick.
I'm out of here.
[ Thunder rumbling ]
NARRATOR: The mood of the mission is turning ugly.
Watch it. Watch it.
They've hunted for days, but costs are rising,
and the gem hunters have failed to buy even one precious stone.
[ Thunder rumbles ]
NARRATOR: Ron, Bernie, and Diane are on the streets of Kathmandu, Nepal.
Their mission is quickly turning into a disaster.
With the clock ticking, and running out of strings to pull,
Ron calls the government geologist
in the hope that he can set the team up with another contact
that has true gemstones.
Where we gonna meet?
I'm having a terrible time here.
I can't find a thing.
And lookit, lookit. I've got -- This is insane.
I can't find one decent stone in Nepal.
I got a suitcase full of money here, all right?
All right, okay, when?
Afternoon?
Where?
NARRATOR: The geologist tells them to drive across town
to the Monkey Temple,
which sits high atop Kathmandu.
They are going to meet another miner.
Well, the -- the dude phoned back,
and we're here at the Monkey Temple,
and I think we're trying to invoke, you know, the gods.
I hope -- You know, I'm cynical like crazy,
but one more shot at it, maybe I rattled his cage enough.
Maybe he really got some product this time.
That would be really sweet.
NARRATOR: At the top of the stairs of the Monkey Temple
is a stupa said to contain
thousands and thousands of dollars' worth of gems.
The gem hunters meet Ari, a local miner
who will hopefully break the gem hunters' dry spell.
He immediately breaks out tourmaline
that the hunters are impressed with.
Do you like anything here, Bernie?
I'm Mr. Rough, but I'm certainly impressed with this material.
It is very different
from any other location that I've dealt with.
Yeah, it seems pretty enough.
This is the first worthy jewel that they've seen
on their entire trip to Nepal.
And we like more variety, but it's nice.
It's nice to see.
The first time we've seen product
come from -- from the thing.
I mean, if you want to get something that's unique,
that's the one.
[ Sighs ]
Well, just for fun, what are the prices here?
Let's say -- this little greenie here, just for fun.
$75 by carat.
NARRATOR: $75 is a high price.
It will have to come down
before the gem hunters buy their first gemstone in Nepal.
I'd buy this for the right price,
but I need a better price than that, so...
I don't know how much latitude you have, but...
Ari is selling the stone on behalf of his partners.
He'll have to make a call.
Look, we would buy it at $40, okay?
At $40 a carat, we will buy it.
Ron's willing to walk away,
which gives him the power in this deal.
We're not gonna pay more than that.
And they want to offer $40 by carat.
You're gonna make a pretty one.
Make a good cocktail ring for you.
[ Speaking native language ]
Okay, bye.
We'll leave it. We'll leave it.
No?
DIANE: Yes?
Agree with your price.
Oh! Well.
Well, tell 'em $30.
[ Laughter ]
They would kill me.
No, we don't go back.
All right, good negotiation.
Thank you very much.
That was good. That was good.
The inflexible $60 to the $40.
All right, you know what, and it's quite good.
Now you got a good stone.
You know, it is a bit of a success, Diane.
It's a nice stone-- $40 a carat. it's a nice color.
And Bernie's right, the totem of the color,
it's a Nepalese thing.
DIANE: $100, $200.
And there you are, Diane.
You put that away. That's your stone.
That's right. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Nice doing business with you.
And really, it was very enlightening.
NARRATOR: The drought may have broken,
but the hunters are a long way from breaking even.
I think he's our last straw, in some ways.
Out of the blue, Ron gets an e-mail
from someone who has enough connections
to find his personal e-mail address.
The mystery e-mailer turns out to be
a member of the Nepali royal family.
The man wants to meet but only in secret
and only if he's never identified.
RON: He pulls out this monster --
two monsters, actually, but one particular monster,
and it is fantastic, and glows in a green...
Look at it. It just gets darker.
And then it gets light again.
Look at this.
...a green particular to Nepal.
Nice piece.
Nepalese, for sure? For sure?
100% sure?
[ Speaks native language ]
Hallelujah.
NARRATOR: Suddenly, the gem hunters are back in the game.
How long ago you find this?
Many years ago?
30 years.
DIANE: Oh! 30 years ago.
NARRATOR: Ron can cut this rough tourmaline monster
to make dozens of jewels,
making hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit --
if it can be secured at the right price.
Hallelujah.
DIANE: I like that color, too.
That's the mint I was looking for.
Nice color.
Very nice.
NARRATOR: If Ron can cut a deal for this rock,
the trip will be more than rescued.
You sell this piece?
That's his price.
He wants exactly $111,000 for this piece.
NARRATOR: This price is higher than Ron's budget.
The deal is going to test all his negotiating skills.
I don't want to sell it to those persons who want to cut it.
You really cut my heart.
This gentlemen say, "If you cut these things,
you will cut my heart."
No, he doesn't want anybody to cut it.
NARRATOR: Cutting the deal is not the issue.
Cutting the stone is.
If Ron weren't an honest man,
he'd just do the deal, take the stone, and cut it.
But Ron's word is his bond,
so the gem hunter's dream of riches vanish.
This guy said, "You buy this from me,
"but you must promise not to cut it
because if you cut it, you're gonna be cutting my heart."
I went, "Okay, right."
It's a very expensive piece to put on the shelf.
NARRATOR: Ron's finally seen the stone he wants,
but it's unobtainable.
Though he has to admit
that buying it and cutting it anyway was tempting.
RON: Boy, I loved holding that little piece in my hand.
It was like maybe having a part of Everest, you know,
part of that sacred mountain, you know?
I felt a little spiritual, you know, and greedy.
I was conflicted, but what a piece.
That was right.
That was real treasure, wasn't it?
Thank God there's enough for us to go on, you know? Finally.
NARRATOR: The gem hunters' time in Nepal is fast running out,
and they have just one gem in their pockets.
They have been told about another miner who has gems.
The last two dealers they met had good stones,
so their hopes are high.
Yeah, my name is Tiran Thababa.
Tiran Thababa. Oh, fantastic.
Come with me. You're coming with me.
All right, that's cool.
So you're gonna -- You're gonna --
RON: Okay, what are we looking at here?
This is beryl.
BOTH: Beryl?
Beryl, beryl.
Yeah.
NARRATOR: Yet again, their hearts sink.
Another Nepalese gem dealer
only interested in the spiritual value of rocks.
Once again, it seems to resemble
the same kind of pale offering that the guru gave us,
which is a bunch of mineral specimens,
mostly in the quartz variety.
There seems to be this propensity
to sort of name things in some ad hoc way.
BERNIE: What does he call this?
Meat.
Meat.
Meat, 'cause it looks like a piece of meat.
Looks like a piece of meat.
Yeah, but it's jasper.
It has be gemmy, gem quality.
In rarity, it has to survive in the world market.
We heard that there's a stone here,
they call it the sex stone?
People rub it.
Oh, sex stone?
The sex stone they rub on their genitals?
Ahh!
[ Laughs ]
Did you?
No.
What do you do?
Does good? Does it work?
Ohh, I thought somewhere else.
NARRATOR: But then Baba's nephew produces something sexier
than a sex stone --
Nepalese ruby, also known as pink sapphire.
They must spend some time on the rubies.
This is in the mountain, right?
Nepali rubies?
I look at the little package there,
and I saw a little pink sapphire.
Pink sapphires have been really a big part of --
I've dealt a lot in pink sapphires.
Okay, and they're all cabochon.
Very, very pink, huh? It's curious.
Pink.
Cabochon.
Nothing much of everything. Cabochon quality.
I like the pink little disc.
How many carats would that be, six or so?
No, no, no.
That's gonna be 20 carats.
I thought 'cause it's so light.
Ruby is so light.
Do you like something like that?
I like it,
and you know, we start doing a little negotiation.
I'm curious about the price.
How much for that?
1 carat, 1,000 rupees.
1 carat, 1,000 rupees.
That's $10 a carat.
And let's see what it weighs.
Let's see what it weighs.
Well, Ron is now looking at a stone
that he would not buy in any other country.
It's not gemmy enough, and the price is too high,
but I think 'cause we haven't seen any stones,
he's getting desperate.
He's getting, like, desperate for gems.
Holy [bleep] Batman.
Don't buy 'cause --
DIANE: No, I'm not gonna buy, but I think I got a --
RON: Yeah, exactly. This is trouble.
Yeah, I know. It's good, though, to see what's out here.
It's the wrong, wrong impulse and agenda
to be buying something out of sympathy.
You know, not out of sympathy, but out of generosity.
Or desperation.
Do a little business, I'll give you 4,000.
Yeah.
NARRATOR: Ron doesn't need this stone.
He wants what they came to Nepal for, tourmaline and aquamarine,
but he's gone fishing with a lowball offer.
Baba's not taking the bait and won't negotiate.
Are we getting desperate?
You got to ask yourself, can you sell it?
RON: Oh, no, we can't sell that.
Well, then...
Because there's not really a large gem trade in Nepal,
I don't think the Nepalese are really honed
in their negotiating skills,
and they're just not used to doing really detailed gem buys.
DIANE: We don't want to go any more, honey.
No.
No.
NARRATOR: At this moment,
Ron's dream of finding a new and emerging gem industry in Nepal
withers on the vine.
All right, that's the last time I'm going to a place like that
and then hold my mouth.
I mean, there are no gems here. We got to do it.
I'm angry at myself as well as all this [bleep]
But putting up with all that.
I cannot stop myself from correcting these guys.
They're trying to sell us a bunch of [bleep]
There's nothing here.
I love Nepal. I love the geography about it.
But there's no gemmiferous here,
and we got to do something about it,
but I will not listen or sit at one of those stupid tables
with those inferior gems.
There's not one gem on that table,
and I cannot do it to myself, to our team, to them anymore.
I'm finished with their [bleep] We got to work it out.
I don't know what it's gonna be, but something has got to break.
We got to come up with a strategy.
NARRATOR: Gem hunters Ron, Diane, and Bernie are in Nepal
in the hope of buying Nepali precious stones,
but so far, they have failed spectacularly.
Two days out from the end of their trip,
they have purchased just three pieces
of near-worthless quartz crystal...
and one yellow tourmaline.
Perhaps they have been too narrow in their focus.
Maybe it's time to consider other gemstones.
RON: Diane, with her cruisings, are running around,
and she comes back with this idea of turquoise,
and it's kind of a --
It's kind of a revelation for me.
I go, "Ooh, ooh, turquoise. What a damn good idea."
But the turquoise is coming from Iran.
You could have a set of Iranian beads that are worth $30,000.
DIANE: It's really popular right now in jewelry.
You can see the blues and the greens on the runway.
It's being paired with orange this season.
It's just a fantastic color,
and I know I can make some excellent jewelry with it.
NARRATOR: Instead of the aqua and tourmaline they came for,
they're now going to hunt turquoise from Iran and Tibet,
a highly valuable stone in its own right.
We're gonna make stuff.
We can make stuff, and I got a lot of small jewelers
that I think I can sell it to.
I'm pumped. I think we should go for it.
It's not for my high-end clients,
It's Tibetan.
Yeah, and I got to take something home.
If I don't take anything home, I've lost money.
So, I might as well take this home --
We make the money back.
And then I can make my money back on the trip,
but it's still a nice stone.
It's Tibetan. Come on.
It's sacred, for God's sakes.
Okay, we can market it.
Let's do a profane sale from the sacred beads.
All right, we're out of here.
RON: Let's see what you got, my friend.
Now, remember. Must be natural.
Must be -- Whoa, whoa.
DIANE: Oh, look at that.
I have something else.
NARRATOR: There's great risk with turquoise.
Cheats can enhance the stone with worthless plastic.
The gem hunters target dealers they should be able to trust,
but there are never any guarantees.
RON: We don't know this man well.
He looks like an honorable man, but I think we got to test.
You verify or die in this business, right?
You verify or die.
NARRATOR: Bernie knows how to put these Tibetan stones to the test.
[ Crack ]
I broke a piece so that I had a sharp edge,
and then I held a match underneath it,
and that basically heats up the material,
and if there's any plastic in it at all, you'll smell it.
You'll smell the plastic burning.
No plastic. Good.
RON: No plastic. All right.
All right. We trust you.
Sorry. You have to be careful.
All right, good work there. Good work there.
You have to be careful.
NARRATOR: The turquoise is genuine.
Time to deal and save the mission.
In his first big deal of the trip,
Ron is willing to buy up to seven pounds of turquoise.
RON: We need a good price.
How much --
BERNIE: I'm gonna buy some, too.
We're gonna buy some, but we need a really good price.
MAN: Per gram, 50 rupees.
Hey, hey.
NARRATOR: At 50 rupees per gram,
this dealer is a long way off the mark.
We can't buy it at the first price.
We want a --
We can't do it. We can't do it.
So, I'm not gonna give him anything
until I get that second price.
You know the way we roll around here, so.
Okay, sir.
This one is -- I will give you 35 rupees a gram.
That one is a very good price and a last price.
35 rupees a gram.
What happened, sir?
[ Laughs ]
So, it's 30 a gram, okay.
Whoa, baby.
No, sir. [ Laughs ]
I'm a member of the back of my class.
Dealing price.
25 grams.
You can do 25 a gram?
25 is very less, no.
No, no, no, not in 25.
This one is 30 rupees, a dealing price.
All right.
DIANE: Whoa, nice. 30 rupees. That's good.
I'm not usually so soft, but I like you.
I think you're an honest man.
So, usually, I'm a little harder,
but you've turned me into a sweet.
[ Laughs ]
NARRATOR: Ron, Bernie, and Diane have spent $1,000
for 7 pounds of Tibetan turquoise.
Once it has been placed in jewelry,
it could be worth several times that amount.
[ Horns blowing ]
Ron's not done now.
He's had a sniff of success and is looking for more.
He finds lapis lazuli from Afghanistan.
It's in very high demand.
Look at that beautiful piece.
Nice.
The lapis is too good to pass up.
Ron is planning on dropping all his remaining cash on it.
He arranges to meet the dealer later at his warehouse.
What I've really, really learned is that this --
this is, like, the Marco --
the spice route like Marco Polo, you know?
And all the conflict areas like Afghan -- Afghan lapis is here.
We got turquoise from Tibet.
We got turquoise from Iran,
so this is the through route for the gems,
and my God, I'm right here.
And this growing understanding of this, the intelligence,
and now this late in the game [bleep]
The advantage is all mine,
and I really think I can make a lot of, lot of dough.
And I'll tell you, this morning,
I am full of bloodlust and coffee.
NARRATOR: Gem hunters Ron, Bernie, and Diane are in Nepal.
They've agreed to go to a Kathmandu warehouse
late at night
to buy blue lapis lazuli sourced from Afghanistan.
Afghan lapis, used in high-end jewelry,
is almost impossible to buy anywhere else.
RON: We buck up, we go see him there, and he pulls out some stones.
Oh, whoa.
It's 12 kg.
12 kg?
304 gram, you can see this piece.
12 kg, 12 kilograms.
It's an old color.
12 rupees per gram.
The money's in my pocket,
but I can't -- I don't want it enough.
NARRATOR: Wasim wants just under $1,400 U.S. for the lot,
much more than Ron is prepared to pay.
I'll give you $1,000.
I would never.
No, look, I plan to do a lot of business with you.
$1,000?
Do you want to do lots of business?
I'm not a retail guy.
I'm not just one guy walking on the street.
RON: And I keep reminding him over and over again about the money.
Do you want the money? Do you want the money?
Always keeping the money on his mind.
The money, the money, the money.
You know, come up with a better price, I'll buy it.
You want the money?
You want the money, give me a price.
Yeah, but get a right price.
I'm glad you want the money,
and I want to give you the money,
but I'm not gonna do it with this.
I don't want it that bad.
I will leave it. I tell you, I will.
I don't want to do it.
Come up with a price, we'll do it.
No, $1,382.
It's too much. It's too much.
And I want to get this guy.
We're back in the cave, all right?
We're fighting over that -- that mammoth.
Well, we could leave it. We could leave it.
You could ask your uncle tomorrow or something,
or you could cut the deal now.
And so he keeps talking, "Oh, I can't move my uncle.
My uncle won't let me."
I said, "Well, go phone your uncle."
Do you want to go phone your uncle? Phone your uncle.
Okay, I will call my uncle.
Phone your uncle, all right?
My uncle.
He phones his uncle,
and then he can't really get a hold of his uncle,
and he's sweating it out
because he really thinks I'm gonna walk.
You choose very nice pieces.
I will finish the deal.
Okay.
Okay?
NARRATOR: It's still more than the $1,000 Ron wanted to pay.
He's sweating. He's [bleep] cracking.
So the game is on. The game's afoot.
Okay?
You make me pay more than I want to, okay.
It was fun. I really enjoyed that.
And I got myself a pile of lapis, and that was great.
It was a good deal.
Count that.
Thank you.
Thank you, sir. Thank you very much.
You're a good man.
Well, we'll make $15,000, I'm sure, in a quick flip.
15 grand ain't bad.
Then, I'm gonna tell you something.
I'm gonna help you ship it, but I want half the profits.
All right, well done.
And Nepal has been a victory.
I ended up buying a lot of this lapis and some turquoise,
and I am absolutely thrilled.
It's beautiful, very, very well priced.
I think I can conservatively get $25,000 back from it,
so I could only thank you, the magic kingdom of Nepal,
that you were here, and I came to meet you halfway,
and I think we had a great dance together.
We're gonna make money,
and we had a very, very nice time here in Nepal.
NARRATOR: Although this gem hunt did not go exactly as planned,
the hunters still got away with some valuable stones.
Ron's yellow tourmaline cost him $600
and was eventually sold for $1,500.
The 20 pounds of turquoise returned $10,000,
10 times more than they paid for it.
And the nearly 20 pounds of lapis
netted Ron and Diane almost $25,000.
Total profit for the trip, nearly $30,000 U.S.
[ Laughs ]