Called "One of the world's foremost gemstone connoisseurs," Mr. Wise's first book, Secrets of The Gem Trade, The Connoisseur's Guide to Precious Gemstones, published in 2003, became both a commercial and critical success and is now considered a classic. Mr. Wise is a Graduate Gemologist. He began traveling internationally and writing about gemstones in 1986.

To date, he has published more than forty articles many can be found on his popular blog, GemWise. His publications include Gems & Gemology, Jeweler's Quarterly and Colored Stone magazines. He has been Gemology Columnist for National Jeweler and Contributing Editor to Gemkey and Gem Market News. From the mines of Burma, to the Black Pearl farms of Tahiti, from the Australian outback to the Brazilian hinterlands, Richard Wise has visited most of the major gemstone producing areas of the world.