GJ Town India

A distinguished team to address industry challenges   Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB) had the privilege of hosting a distinguished team from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) on August 21, 2024.   The visiting delegation included Tom Moses, GIA Executive Vice President & Chief Laboratory and Research Officer; Pritesh Patel, GIA Senior Vice President & Chief Operating Officer; Brandon Pace, GIA Senior Vice President & General Counsel; Jillian Wolk, GIA Vice President of Strategic Initiatives; and Sriram Natarajan, Managing Director of GIA India. The meeting served as a crucial platform for discussing the current challenges facing the diamond industry. The discussions focused on how different organizations may navigate these difficulties and foster resilience and innovation within the sector.    The visit brought together these key industry leaders to engage in critical discussions about the challenges currently facing the diamond sector. ...

First-Ever Batches of GIA Graduate Diamonds Diploma Program   GIA India held the graduation ceremony for its first-ever batches of GIA Graduate Diamonds Diploma Program (Blended) at its Mumbai and Surat campuses. Amish Turakhia, GIA Graduate Gemologist (GG) and Managing Partner, R. Kirti and Company, was the chief guest at the Mumbai Campus.   Also present at the Mumbai campus were Sriram Natarajan, Managing Director of GIA India, and Apoorva Deshingkar, Senior Director – Education and Market Development. As a part of the graduation ceremony in Surat, Forum Javeri, Director – Lab Operations, GIA India, presented the diplomas to the students. Speaking to the students, Amish Turakhia said, “You all are fortunate to learn from the best institute in the industry. It is important that all of you conduct yourselves with integrity and uphold the legacy of the institute.  The GIA alumni community is also a great platform to network and build lifelong relationships. We are all...

  GIA Pays Homage to Nancy Brewer Nancy Brewer, a former member of the GIA (Gemological Institute of America) Board of Governors and notable jewelry manufacturer, passed away in early August. Her jewelry design firm, Nancy B. & Co., was a premier destination for gold earrings and colored stone jewelry designed for working women. The contributions that she made during her more than 30-year career paved the way for women in the gem and jewelry industry.   "I was fortunate to know Nancy for over 35 years as a mentor and dear friend. She was a remarkable woman and entrepreneur; brave, self-made, and one who gave back to our industry and fostered the development and success of her peers,” said Dione D. Kenyon, chair of the GIA Board of Governors. “I am one of many who are deeply grateful for the encouragement, support and leadership she provided over the course of her career."   “I fondly remember Nancy as gregarious, determined and always ready to offer strategic gu...

Graduate Diamonds and Applied Jewelry Professional diplomas available in late 2019 GIA (Gemological Institute of America) has announced that in late 2019 it will expand distance education courses available in Japanese. In addition to the Diamond Essentials Intensive and the Diamond Grading Lab currently offered in Japanese at the GIA Tokyo School, GIA will offer four eLearning courses in Japanese: Diamond Essentials, Diamonds and Diamond Grading, Jewelry Essentials and Colored Stone Essentials. With the addition of these courses, students studying in Japanese now have the opportunity to earn their Applied Jewelry Professional (AJP) and Graduate Diamonds diplomas. “Expanding the courses offered in Japanese furthers GIA’s mission of ensuring the public trust in gems and jewelry by providing the highest standard in gemology education,” said Duncan Pay, GIA vice president and chief academic officer.

Laboratory services, diamond origin reports, sustainability panel and more You can discover all GIA (Gemological Institute of America) has to offer at booth 18019 at the JCK Las Vegas Show from May 31 through June 3 at the Sands Expo & the Venetian. Submit your colored gems to the GIA Show Service Laboratory; learn about GIA’s new Diamond Origin Report that scientifically matches rough to polished diamonds to confirm a diamond’s geographic origin; see live demonstrations of the GIA iD100 and other gemological instruments; get up-to-date on new developments and education programs; and prepare to be dazzled by the diamond covered loafers, said to be valued at $2 million, on loan from actor and former America’s Got Talent host Nick Cannon. GIA Highlights at the 2019 JCK Las Vegas Show include, 1: GIA Show Service Laboratory, 2: GIA’s new Diamond Origin Report, 3: Gemology Seminar, 4: Panel discussion & 5: Jewels of Hollywood Exhibit. 1: GIA Show Service Laborato...

A knowledge seminar on diamonds Hosted by Shilpa Agarwal Jewellery connoisseur Shilpa Agarwal EFX hosted “A Date with Diamonds,” a knowledge seminar on diamonds, organised by GIA India (Gemmological Institute of America) – the world’s foremost authority in gemmology and the creator of the 4Cs of Diamond Quality – Colour, Clarity, Cut and Carat Weight. Ms Nirupa Bhatt, Managing Director of GIA India and Middle East presented interesting facts about the fascinating world of diamonds. This was followed by a session by Shilpa Agarwal on styling of diamond Jewellery on daily and special occasions. The event was an Invite only affair and was attended by select HNI ladies of Pune. Ms Bhatt explained the formation of diamonds billions of years ago, attributes of a diamond, its history and the 4Cs of Diamond Quality. Shilpa Agarwal gave valuable tips on styling for daily and special occasions. Guests also witnessed an exclusive collection of statement diamond jewels for invite...

Sustainability amid New consumer expectations GIA panel discussion, On May 31 at JCK Las Vegas Consumers are demanding more of the brands and companies that produce and sell the products they purchase. GIA (Gemological Institute of America) will bring together experts for a panel discussion, ‘Embracing Sustainability Amid New Consumer Expectations,’ at the JCK Las Vegas Show on Friday, May 31, at 12:00 p.m. At this not-to-miss panel moderated by Susan Jacques, GIA president and CEO, experienced experts will speak to the critical need for sustainability in day-to-day operations of small and large companies in the gem and jewelry industry. “Corporate social responsibility is a growing consumer expectation, and companies need to account for it,” said Kathryn Kimmel, senior vice president and chief marketing officer. “Our industry can benefit from amplifying sustainability efforts of retailers, manufacturers and suppliers.” GIA has invited five leaders from i...

GIA Furthers Best Practices with Improved KYC Program! To comply with applicable laws, regulations and best practices, GIA (Gemological Institute of America) is enhancing its ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC) program. This program supports the high standards of integrity that align with GIA’s mission of ensuring the public trust in gems and jewelry. All new and current laboratory clients will be required to confirm the identity and ownership of their businesses, and to provide identifying information for all authorized representatives conducting business with GIA on their behalf. These requirements are recognized globally and are not unique to GIA. “GIA will only conduct business with reputable customers, suppliers and other third parties involved in legitimate business activities whose funds are derived from legitimate sources,” said Elizabeth Keating, GIA’s chief ethics and compliance officer. “As a global Institute, we have a responsibility to make all reasonable efforts t...

GIA scientist Dr. Karen Smit inks Sulfur Isotopes in Diamonds! Diamonds, long prized for their beauty and rarity, continue to reveal clues about the early history of our planet. To better understand how the most ancient continents came to be, researchers examined tiny mineral remnants trapped in diamonds during the formation of the earth. The results were published in Science magazine, in the article Sulfur Isotopes in Diamonds Reveal Differences in Continent Construction by GIA (Gemological Institute of America) research scientist Karen Smit; Steven B. Shirey and the late Erik H. Hauri of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution for Science; and Richard A. Stern, a research scientist at the University of Alberta. “Diamonds are one of the most valuable gems, not only as jewelry but also in geoscience,” said GIA research scientist Dr. Karen Smit, the lead author of the recently published article in Science.  “The mineral inclusions in...

Changed GIA LGD report to fall into US FTC line! The World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) has welcomed overall the changes by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) to its reports for lab-grown diamonds. The GIA said its reports will be changed to come into line with revisions to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Jewelry Guides announced last year. As of July 1, the GIA will discontinue the GIA Synthetic Diamond Grading Report and introduce, instead, the GIA Laboratory-Grown Diamond Report. WFDB President Ernie Blom said he was pleased that although the reports will include the standard GIA color, clarity and cut grading scales for reference purposes, they will continue to use Colorless, Near Colorless, Faint, Very Faint and Faint to report the color grades for laboratory-grown diamonds, rather than the letters used to report the color grades used for diamonds. "In addition, we are happy to see that the reports will continue to use Flawless, In...

GIA updates education materials and grading reports for LGD Following the recent update to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Jewelry Guides, GIA has revised its education materials supporting its core consumer protection mission and updated its grading reports for laboratory-grown diamonds (LGD) to align with the revised guides. Beginning July 1, 2019, GIA Laboratory-Grown Diamond Reports and identification reports will no longer use the term ‘synthetic.’ The new GIA Laboratory-Grown Diamond Report will feature the same visual representation of the scales for color, clarity and cut as GIA’s grading reports for natural diamonds. The updated reports will continue to use descriptive terms for color and clarity, for example, Near Colorless and Very Slightly Included, as shown on the scales. The report will also include a QR code linking to GIA’s online Report Check service with more information about the growth processes of laboratory-grown diamonds. All detected clarit...

GIA Introduces New Report services, Confirmation through analytical testing! On April 30, GIA will introduce the GIA Diamond Origin Report service which will confirm the country of origin of polished diamonds. To be eligible for this new service, the original rough diamonds and resulting polished diamonds must be submitted to GIA for analysis so that they can be matched to each other and to confirm the origin information provided by the participating mining company. The new report will include the country of origin, a full 4Cs quality analysis of each diamond and a report number inscription. More information about the country of origin and diamond formation will be available for each Diamond Origin Report in GIA’s online Report Check service, accessible at GIA.edu or through the QR code printed on each report. “In recent years, there has been a growing demand for transparency and traceability in the diamond industry. Consumers want to know the origin of products and ...

More than 450 students, GIA (Gemological Institute of America) alumni, job seekers and industry professionals connected with 56 companies looking to hire and 23 career coaches offering expert advice at GIA’s New York Jewelry Career Fair. The annual event paved the way for new talent and those looking to enter the gem and jewelry industry with a unique opportunity to network directly with companies. “The record number of recruiters and the quality of the job seekers made this Jewelry Career Fair one for the record books,” said GIA Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Kathryn Kimmel. “Now is a great time for passionate people looking to move into or up in the gem and jewelry industry.” The opening panel, “Job Success in Today’s Market,” featured compelling advice from seasoned professionals and a recent GIA graduate, who shared lessons learned in their careers and their passion and excitement for the industry. Caryl Capeci, president of Hearts on Fire, opened...

New laboratory in Surat, India and expanded facility in Antwerp, Belgium GIA (Gemological Institute of America) Hong Kong celebrated the relocation and expansion of its laboratory just three days after the Institute marked its 88th anniversary. Susan Jacques, GIA president and CEO, and Tom Moses, GIA executive vice president and chief laboratory and research officer, attended the opening reception for the new facility in Kowloon with laboratory clients and industry executives. The laboratory will continue to expand its services. “We are proud to meet the needs of consumers and the trade throughout Asia with this newly expanded laboratory and the GIA Hong Kong education campus,” said Jacques. “Hong Kong is a vital center of the global gem and jewelry industry and we are pleased to be here, working to ensure consumer confidence.” “Since the laboratory first opened in 2010, we have seen an increase in the demand for our laboratory services,” said Moses. “This expanded f...