Tairus

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Tairus (Russian: Тайрус, a portmanteau of Тайско (Thai) and Русский (Russian)) is a synthetic gemstone manufacturer. The company is a joint venture between the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Tairus Co., Ltd. of Bangkok, Thailand. It was formed in 1989 as part of Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika initiative to establish business entities to represent the research and development undertaken by the Soviet academic community. Today Tairus is a major supplier of hydrothermally grown gemstones to the jewellery industry.

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. Their objective was to grow and to supply emeralds, rubies, sapphires, alexandrite and other gems to the jewelry industry. The driving force was Academician Nikolai Dobretsov, now the President of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Joint Venture Tairus has been formed with Tairus (Thailand) Company Ltd., of Bangkok, to manufacture and distribute the gems. Tairus has achieved many scientific breakthroughs. For example, the development of the hydrothermally grown corundum, aquamarine and the development of a revolutionary process of horizontal crystallization for growing Corundum (Ruby), Chrysoberyl and Alexandrite by a team led by Vladimir Gurov.

Chairman of the board: Walter Barshai.

[edit] Products

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 by Vladimir Gurov.
Hydrothermal Ruby, synthesized in 1992 by Alexander Dokukin.
Hydrothermal Aquamarine, synthesized in 1993 by Victor Thomas and Sergei Demin.
Hydrothermal Sapphires, in pink, green, orange, and blue. Developed by Vadim Maltsev and Victor Thomas.
Colombian Color Emerald, developed by Dimitri Fursenko in 2004.