The American Gem Mining Syndicate was incorporated on August 10, 1901, by David Jankower, owner of several Philipsburg area sapphire mining claims; and Auguste B. Ewing, Paul A. Fusz, Moses Rumsey, and Charles D. McLure, St. Louis, Missouri, businessmen who had extensive holdings in Philipsburg area mines. The main corporate offices were in St. Louis. The company was capitalized at $300,000, with Jankower initially owning all but four of the shares. Among the broad powers claimed by the company were purchasing and developing mining claims, building water flumes, and maintaining lapidary and stone cutting facilities. The basic aim of the company was to mine and market the sapphires from several mining claims in Sapphire, Anaconda, Myers, and Wildcat gulches on Rock Creek southwest of Philipsburg. Sapphires were first discovered in the Rock Creek drainages by gold prospectors in 1892. The claims were purchased by the American Gem Mining Syndicate in 1903. The bulk of the output was shipped to the company's factory in Geneva, Switzerland, run by Eugene Deschusses, for use in Swiss watches. Smaller amounts were used for industrial bearings and for jewelry. In 1912 the company built a 30 mile long flume to provide water for hydraulic mining of the sapphires. The company mined sapphires commercially until 1926. After that natural sapphires began to be replaced for industrial use by artificial sapphires. The company sold the property in 1936 to Charles Carrp and J.W. Kaiser, and ceased its legal existence on August 10, 1941.