Editor’s Note
This profile highlights a master artisan whose career mirrors the evolution of Korea’s gemstone industry, focusing on the technical artistry that transforms rare minerals into enduring symbols of beauty and value.
[Seoul = Asia News Agency] Reporter Ahn Joon-beom
Among the approximately 4,000 types of minerals existing on Earth, about 50 with outstanding aesthetics, rarity, and durability are called ‘Jewelry’. Historically, these gemstones have symbolized power, faith, and absolute beauty. In the world of ‘natural gemstones’, which have grown over thousands or tens of thousands of years, preserving their primordial mystery, there is a figure who emerged within Korea’s gemstone market history—a mere 40 years old compared to Europe’s centuries—and has now been reborn as a globally recognized master gemstone designer: Chairman Park Ji-gon of BAIJI Co., Ltd.
The outstanding craftsmanship of the Korean people is well-known worldwide, represented by the splendor of Silla gold crowns in metalwork or Goryeo celadon in porcelain. However, it is true that the field of gemstone craftsmanship remained largely unexplored in Korea, partly due to the country’s rock formations being somewhat unsuitable for producing the so-called four major gemstones—diamond, ruby, sapphire, and emerald—aside from gold, silver, jade, and amethyst. Therefore, it is indeed remarkable that within Korea’s relatively barren gemstone market soil, there exists a gemstone design master recognized globally.
Chairman Park Ji-gon of ‘BAIJI Co., Ltd.’ is a world-renowned gemstone designer and a Korean Master Craftsman (No. 18-548). Since 1979, he has conducted gemstone businesses in Saudi Arabia, Japan, Italy, Hong Kong, Mongolia, South Africa, Guinea, and more. He acquired world-class gemstone cutting design technology and has contributed to promoting the excellence of Korean gemstone craftsmanship, gaining recognition from European royalty and the wealthy even more than domestically. His skill is proven by the fact that last year, he drew global attention by cutting a teardrop sapphire weighing a whopping 791.66 carats, valued at approximately 58 billion won, and that he is the only Korean to possess the ‘Gemstone Cutting Design’ technology as a world master.
The teardrop sapphire was evaluated as a ‘stone of life’, formed like human blood vessels branching from a central artery. It was also praised for its indescribably mysterious and beautiful colors expressed on the back. Furthermore, it received the highest acclaim as the largest masterpiece gemstone on Earth, whose value no one could appraise.
Chairman Park’s persistence, forged over 40 years on a single path in gemstones, stems from his long-held dream and determination to “become the best in the natural gemstone market.” When he entered the gemstone market in the late 1970s, the domestic gem processing industry was just beginning, and it was a time when Korea was naturally treated as a barren land for the gem industry in the global market. During this period, Chairman Park resolutely stood up for the internationalization of Korea’s precious metal jewelry industry through ultra-precision processing technology and state-of-the-art equipment. This became the starting point for achieving the global reputation of ‘BAIJI Co., Ltd.’, a specialist in natural gemstone processing and production. Notably, the ‘non-heated natural gemstone’ that Chairman Park focused on is a technique that processes gemstones in their natural state without heat treatment, maximizing the value of natural gemstones, and is currently a field garnering significant global interest.
Regarding this, Chairman Park explained:
Chairman Park Ji-gon’s attachment to non-heated natural gemstones is also proven by the ‘world’s largest natural pink sapphire’ owned by BAIJI Co., Ltd. This gemstone, excavated in West Africa, weighs 8.0 kg (40,000 carats) and is estimated to be worth 40 to 100 billion won. This sapphire, also certified by the European Gemological Laboratory (E.G.L) and the Korea-America Gem Appraisal Institute, came into Chairman Park’s possession in 2009. While on a business trip to the company’s Guinea branch in Africa, he was invited by an acquaintance to visit a tribal chief’s house.
Upon seeing this sapphire, which had been passed down through generations from ancestors hundreds of years ago and worshipped as an object of origin and faith, Chairman Park persistently persuaded the chief and finally purchased it for a large sum. After returning to Korea and receiving an appraisal as a ‘natural corundum sapphire’, he established an exhibition hall at BAIJI’s headquarters in Miryang, Gyeongsangnam-do, to share its spiritual and mysterious qualities with more people. Currently, BAIJI offers tour programs where visitors can touch and view natural sapphires directly. Chairman Park expressed his ambition to cultivate his proud hometown, ‘Miryang’, into a global gem mecca by planning and promoting programs such as the ‘Gemstone Specialized Tourist Site Creation Project’ and ‘Gemstone Auctions’ that could gather gem dealers from around the world in Korea.
