Richard Wise is a former community organizer. He is a retired goldsmith and Graduate Gemologist. Wise is the author of four books. His latest novel, THE DAWNING: 31,000 BC, was published in 2022. His previous book, REDLINED: A NOVEL OF BOSTON, is a mystery thriller with a literary twist set in Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood.

The author's first book, bestseller SECRETS OF THE GEM TRADE: THE CONNOISSEUR'S GUIDE TO PRECIOUS GEMSTONES, was initially published in 2003; the second edition appeared in 2016. Extensively revised and rewritten, the 2nd edition added 127 pages, 11 new chapters, five new introductory essays, and 161 additional photographs.

Mr. Wise's second book, THE FRENCH BLUE, a historical novel published in 2010, won a 2011 International Book Award in Historical Fiction. The story is set in the 17th-century gem trade. Called "a fine piece of historical fiction" in a 5-star review by Midwest Book Review, THE FRENCH BLUE tells the back story of the Hope Diamond and the true-life adventures of 17th-century gem merchant Jean-Baptiste Tavernier.

Richard Wise has enjoyed a diverse career. He is a veteran of the U. S. Coast Guard. After receiving his B.A. teaching and doing graduate work at the University of Rhode Island, he spent most of the decade of the 70s as a professional community organizer. Wise headed organizing projects in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. In the late 1970s, he left organizing and apprenticed as a goldsmith. He studied gemology at the Gemological Institute of America and received his Graduate Gemologist diploma in 1985. He founded his retail company, R. W. Wise, Goldsmiths, Inc., in the early 1980s and began traveling internationally, buying gems and writing about them in 1986.

Mr. Wise's articles have appeared in Social Policy, Gems & Gemology, Lapidary Journal, JQ, and Colored Stone. He is a former Gemology Columnist for National Jeweler and Contributing Editor at Gem Market News. The author retired from retail in 2012 to pursue his writing. Currently, he writes a book review column for Gemmology Today Magazine. He lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.