Following up on Nassau's 1981 article on the technical aspects of heat treating ruby and sapphire, the author reports his personal observations of the actual heat treatment process in Bangkok. He ...

The world's first commercially available synthetic cat's-eye alexandrite chrysoberyl is now being manufactured and marketed by the Kyocera Corporation in Kyoto, Japan. Kyocera markets synthetic ...

Laser sawing of diamonds is beginning to revolutionize the diamond-cutting industry. Not only does the laser saw offer savings in time and money, but it also enables the cutting of material virtually ...

Synthetic emeralds grown hydrothermally in an alkali-free, chlorine-bearing solution have been manufactured in Guilin, China, since 1987. Diagnostic microscopic features include growth and color ...

Since Robert Crowningshield's discovery in the late 1950s that diamonds that have been artificially colored by irradiation and subsequent annealing could be identified by their characteristic ...

Straight, acicular, colorless solid inclusions in demantoid garnet from the Ural Mountains of Russia were investigated by laser Raman microspectrometry. These “needles,” which occur in association ...

CARLSBAD, Calif. – April 7, 2025 – In response to logistics challenges related to recently announced tariffs affecting global shipments of gemstones, GIA (Gemological Institute of America) will ...

Zircon comes in a wide variety of colors. Colorless zircon is well known for its brilliance and flashes of multicolored light, called fire. These two zircon properties are close enough to the ...

如果您出生于六月，那么您很幸运，可以拥有三种生日石。六月是仅有的三个有三种生日石的月份之一（另外两个月份是八月和十二月），让您有各种各样美丽的生日石可以选择。 六月生日石是 ...

Online courses and Lab classes required to earn your online credential offered via the GIA Online Division are listed below. Click here to download the requirements ...

Established in 1931, the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) is the world’s foremost authority on diamonds, colored stones, and pearls. A public benefit, nonprofit institute, GIA is the leading ...

Tom Munsteiner is a third generation gem cutter from Idar-Oberstein, Germany, a center for fine lapidary work from the Renaissance to the present day. Training with his father, Bernd Munsteiner, in ...