Natural vs Enhanced: Navigating Lapidary Materials
Helen Serras-Herman FGA guides us through the varieties of all-natural and enhanced gem materials, highlighting key treatments and their impact on the marketplace. There is an endless inventory of lapidary gem material on the market today, created or enhanced to look like other natural materials, usually one that is rare and expensive. Most of these […]
How to Assess the Value of an Opal: A Beginner’s Guide to Pricing
Although once known as ‘bad luck’, opals are fast becoming one of the most sought after gemstones in jewellery collections. But what makes one opal worth thousands and others mere pounds and pence? Here, Gem-A Instruments manager, Samatha Lloyd FGA EG, offers a quick but essential guide to opal value factors and what distinguishes a […]
Gem Careers: A Lifetime of Expertise
Rosamond Clayton FGA DGA FIRV MAE, a gemstone specialist and jewellery valuer, is often called upon as an expert witness in trials to identify and value precious stones. When did you get started in gemmology? I had been working in Hong Kong on a contract posting when I married in the 1970s and I needed to find […]
Exploring a Spectrum of Diamonds with the Aurora Pyramid of Hope
Curator Alan Bronstein reveals how the world-renowned Aurora Pyramid of Hope evolved and shares the story behind his lifelong passion for coloured diamonds. Diamonds shown are between 0.5-1.5 ct. Copyright Aurora Gems Inc. Image courtesy of Robert Weldon. It is difficult to trace all the challenges, twists and turns, triumphs and failures, which characterise the […]
Can Gemstones Bring Prosperity to Malawi?
Deborah Craig FGA DGA, head of the Africa Team at International Women in Mining (IWIM) and board member within the organisation, reports on her recent trip to Malawi. Peaceful, democratic Malawi remains one of Africa’s least-developed countries. Yet this small landlocked place, affectionately known as ‘The Warm Heart of Africa’, sits within the Mozambique Belt, […]
Exploring Inclusions in a Twelve Point Black Star Sapphire
This article by Guy Lalous ACAM EG summarises a technical article from The Journal of Gemmology discussing a giant 12-rayed black star sapphire from Sri Lanka with asterism caused by ilmenite inclusions. How can we classify solid inclusions? Solid inclusions are divided into three categories, by time of entrapment: those formed before the host crystal, called protogenetic; […]
What Makes the Alexandrite Colour-Change Effect so Special?
Sometimes known as ‘emerald by day, ruby by night,’ the gemstone alexandrite is a marvel of nature and the alternative birthstone for those born in June. Here, Julia Griffith FGA DGA EG explores the history, properties and colour change effect of this fascinating gem. Alexandrite is an extraordinary gemstone that appears green or red dependent […]
Gem Central Sri Lanka – A Gem of an Island
An extraordinary number of Gem-A and NAJ members came to this month’s Gem Central to hear Colin and Hilary Winter share their love and passion for Sri Lanka. Barbara Kolator FGA DGA reports on the evening. This October Colin and Hilary Winter will be hosting a joint Gem-A and NAJ trip to Sri Lanka and […]
Beginner’s Guide: What Can Emerald Inclusions Tell Us About Origin?
Emerald has long been one of the world’s most popular and valuable gemstones. Since the times of the Ancient Egyptians, emeralds have been viewed as tokens of good fortune and harbingers of new beginnings and rebirth. While emeralds are fascinating from a historical and culture perspective, they are equally exciting for gemmologists, particularly when it […]
Gem Central Delving into Organics with Maggie Campbell Pedersen FGA ABIPP
Gem-A president and organics expert Maggie Campbell Pedersen presented the April Gem Central at Gem-A headquarters. Angharad Kolator Baldwin reports on this fascinating evening. As the author of Gem and Ornamental Materials of Organic Origin and Ivory, Maggie was appointed Gem-A president last year. Her Gem Central evening was split into an informative talk on organics […]
