In No Stone Unturned: The Hunt for African Gems, author Richa Goyal Sikri (above) takes the reader into the world of gem mining, sharing an uncensored look at it with humor and humanity.
“There is an indescribable energy at a mining location. Maybe it’s real, or maybe my gem-addicted soul imagines it,” says Sikri, a Singapore-based journalist and gemologist. “To witness a rough gem being extracted from the womb of Mother Earth like a crystallized gift is truly a privilege.”
Sikri was commissioned by Gemfields, the London-based gem and mining company, to write the book, which consists of 24 adventure stories based on true events. Many of them come from Sikri’s travels, but she also interviewed miners, mine experts, and industry insiders, and used her skills as a storyteller and gem obsessive to convey their insights.
“This book is pure edutainment,” she says. “Even someone who doesn’t know that emeralds are green can pick up the book, easily follow the narrative, and be thoroughly entertained.
“The stories are in the Indiana Jones style—one opens with a death threat, the other in the middle of the jungle—but at the end of each tale, the reader will find an author’s note that shares exclusive insights pulling back the curtain that has always separated the gem and jewelry industry from consumers of their products.”
Sikri says she sought to strike a balance so the book could be appreciated by those both outside and inside the jewelry trade. This stems from her background: Before Sikri started writing about mines and gemstones, she earned an MBA and worked in the family business, one of Asia’s largest airline marketing and tourism organizations.
She was on a path to become an executive when she began traveling to mines as a tourist of sorts in 2014. She documented her trips on Instagram, and moved into journalism after making her Insta account public in 2017. Her parents agreed to let her sister took over her role at the company, and Sikri began freelance writing for fashion and jewelry publications and creating content for gem and jewelry industry organizations.
For No Stone Unturned, finding the right people to interview and getting them to agree to tell their stories could be stressful—but Sikri looks back on working on the book (which she began doing in 2020) as a process full of joy and growth.
“From day one, I was clear in my mind that the stories that were destined to be in this book would find me,” she says. “For example, someone told me about Moussa Konate, an early miner for paraiba tourmaline in Mozambique, but I didn’t know anyone who could introduce us. I sent him a message on Instagram, and he replied six months later.
“Finding common ground was the easy part because most individuals whose stories are authentic and worth sharing are gem addicts. And within a few seconds of speaking or spending time with me they would realize that I am a hopeless gem addict as well,” says Sikri. “I would spend days, weeks, sometimes months and countless hours conversing and swimming through their life narratives to extract precious segments, which I could use to write a story.”
This is Sikri’s first book, and though writing one was never on her bucket list, she says it fit naturally into her work with words.
“I always believed in letting the gem gods navigate my journey,” Sikri says. “It feels wonderful now to have finally published No Stone Unturned. It wasn’t an easy journey, many hiccups along the way, and the last year was quite stressful, but all is well that ends well.”
(Photos courtesy of Gemfields)
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