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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Genevieve Fox

A million-dollar gamble on Royal Lavulite, 1982

Randy South Africa Arizona
Rock stars: how to make a fortune from a purple gem. The Observer Magazine cover of 6 June 1982.
Rock stars: how to make a fortune from a purple gem. The Observer Magazine cover of 6 June 1982. Photograph: Gered Mankowitz

A few years back, Arizona jewellery designers Randy and Janie Polk were struggling to make ends meet. Randy traded gemstones with fellow hustlers in smoky hotel rooms. He liked the bright stuff, the ‘gumdrop colours’, he tells Anthea Disney for the Observer Magazine of 6 June 1982.

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