Tairus (, a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of Тайско ( Thai) and Русский (

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

)) is a

synthetic Synthetic may refer to: Science * Synthetic biology * Synthetic chemical or compound, produced by the process of chemical synthesis * Synthetic elements, chemical elements that are not naturally found on Earth and therefore have to be created in ...

gemstone A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, semiprecious stone, or simply gem) is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewellery, jewelry or other adornments. Certain Rock (geology), rocks (such ...

manufacturer. It was formed in 1989 as part of

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

perestroika ''Perestroika'' ( ; rus, перестройка, r=perestrojka, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg, links=no) was a political reform movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s, widely associ ...

initiative to establish a joint venture between the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

and Tairus Created Gems Co Ltd. of Bangkok, Thailand. Today Tairus is a major supplier of hydrothermally grown gemstones to the

jewellery Jewellery (or jewelry in American English) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment such as brooches, ring (jewellery), rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the ...

industry. Later, Tairus became a privately held enterprise, operating out of its Bangkok distribution hub under the trade name Tairus, owned by Tairus Created Gems Co Ltd. of Bangkok, Thailand. In the beginning, the team was led by the scientist and developer of the hydrothermal process, the late Alexander Lebedev, whose name was kept secret by the Soviet regime for many years, and

Walter Barshai Walter Barshai (born 1955) is an author, scientist and humanitarian, and the founder of the Tairus Research and Production facility within the Russian Academy of Sciences in Novosibirsk, Russia. Barshai was born in Russia, a son of a famed musici ...

, who was appointed to be the Chairman of the Board of the Joint Venture Tairus. Their objective was to grow and to supply

emerald Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr., and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991). ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York ...

rubies Ruby is a pinkish-red-to-blood-red-colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum (aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapphi ...

sapphire Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, cobalt, lead, chromium, vanadium, magnesium, boron, and silicon. The name ''sapphire ...

alexandrite The mineral or gemstone chrysoberyl is an aluminate of beryllium with the formula Be Al2 O4. The name chrysoberyl is derived from the Greek words χρυσός ''chrysos'' and βήρυλλος ''beryllos'', meaning "a gold-white spar". Despite ...

and other gems to the jewelry industry. The driving force was late Academician Nikolai Dobretsov, former President of the Siberian Branch of the

. Tairus has achieved many scientific breakthroughs. For example, the development of the hydrothermally grown

corundum Corundum is a crystalline form of aluminium oxide () typically containing traces of iron, titanium, vanadium, and chromium. It is a rock (geology), rock-forming mineral. It is a naturally transparency and translucency, transparent material, but ...

, aquamarine and the development of a revolutionary process of horizontal crystallization for growing corundum (ruby), chrysoberyl and alexandrite. After many years of development, scientists at Tairus had succeeded to commercially grow emeralds in a laboratory environment that resemble in color and have gemological properties that “overlap natural emeralds from various localities, especially those of low alkali-bearing stones from Colombia”
The Journal of Gemmology, 2006, Vol. 30, Nos 1/2, 59-74
.

Products

{{unsourced, section, date=May 2018 The following are synthetic gemstones that were developed by Tairus scientists; they are alternately referred to as Tairus stones (e.g. "Tairus Ruby"). *Floating zone ruby, synthesized in 1991 (no longer in production) *Hydrothermal ruby, synthesized in 1992 by Alexander Dokukin. *Hydrothermal aquamarine, synthesized in 1993. *Hydrothermal sapphires, in pink, green, orange, and blue. *Colombian color emerald, developed in 2004.

References

Gemological Investigation of a New Type of Russian Hydrothermal Synthetic Emerald GIA Gems & Gemology, Spring 1996, Vol. 32, No. 1

Tairus Hydrothermal Synthetic Sapphires Doped with Nickel and Chromium Published by GIA Gems & Gemology, Fall 1997, Vol. 33, No. 3

The Journal of Gemmology, 2006, Vol. 30, Nos 1/2, 59-74

External links

Tairus Created GemsNikolai Dobretsov
Gemology Crystallography Diamond industry in the Soviet Union Companies of the Soviet Union Joint ventures Soviet Union–Thailand relations