Postcard from Tucson!

Last February’s Tucson Gem and Mineral Show was the most enjoyable in my twenty years of attendance. While the vendors gave mixed reviews, our attendees seemed to find everything on their wish lists. This educational trip is gemology’s best classroom, but yes, we do let our students buy gemstones and jewelry from vendors who come from throughout the world. This makes any local gem show pale by comparison. Actually, the Tucson show is a collection of a about three dozen venues with dealers from every corner of the world. It is where many retail jewelers (even internet and TV jewelers) buy inventory, establish business relationships and keep up on trends in the marketplace. Most venues are set up only for the industry - not the public, ensuring true wholesale prices. We bring interested students who have completed Gemstone Identification and Gemstone Evaluation and then sign up for Ted’s Tucson Tour. Will we see you in Tucson next year?

NGI Students Exercise Their Passion For Gemology

Wow! We have never had so many “dedicated” gemology students. By that we mean those taking multiple classes or even starting GIA diploma courses. Our Spring classes saw an almost complete turnover of Diamond Grading students into our Gemstone ID course and then to our Gem ID II course. From those classes four NGI graduates were already or about to be enrolled at the G.I.A. (Gemological Institute of America). Having taken our classes, they will be able to utilize NGI equipment and cruise through their studies (saving thousands of dollars in the process) as they complete their G.I.A. Graduate Gemologist program.

Discount Tuition Packages
In 2006, we will bundle multiple classes for discounts so those interested in more than one can get a tuition break. Although our single class rates have finally been raised (still half of G.I.A.’s
comparable class), applied discounts make them similar to those of ’05. To obtain these rates you must register for multiple classes as a package.

Registration advice.
Classes are intentionally small so early enrollment is recommended. Several sold out in 2005. Also note that Gemstone Identification II or Gemstone Evaluation courses require taking Gemstone Identification first. Ted’s Tucson Tour requires you to take Gem ID and Gem Evaluation. All of our classes may be viewed at http://www.nwgem.com/

Laser-ed Out of Flawless

A couple of newsletters ago we spoke to an instance where laser-inscriptions could lower a diamond’s clarity grade and guess what? A pending sale between a local buyer and Internet jeweler brought us a GIA certified Internally Flawless one carat diamond for verification and value. The diamond checked out to the GIA documentation with one exception – a laser
inscription not there at the time of certification had been added by the seller, with their name and ID number on the girdle. Unfortunately, the process used had entered the diamond and was visible at 10X in the face-up position. The diamond now graded VVS and would require re-cutting to bring it back to flawless, potentially making it less than a carat (that’s thousands of dollars). While most inscriptions are not intrusive, this case-in-point shows us the need for caution in such procedures. It also points out the need to have third-party verification before a purchase. Had the buyer not done this, it may have been
years before its detection.

Speaking of Synthetics...

The flame fusion process of making corundum in a lab has been around for over one hundred years and is usually easily spotted by anyone with some basic gem ID knowledge and a decent microscope. The colors are usually too good to be true and without strong zoning or prominent secondary hues. So when we received a classic “Ceylon” color sapphire – that saturated soft violetish-blue with apparent color zoning when tilted, it was a surprise to see copious amounts of gas bubbles inside (that means synthetic). It was also the second such stone we have had in a short period of time, indicative of a new source in the marketplace.
That source is often from the internet, with false assertions by those who are in the business and know full well what they are selling. Don’t base a purchase on an unknown source, appraiser or “feedback” rating without a trip to NGL and full return promise if not fully satisfied. Caveat Emptor!

Gem treatments confuse consumers and jewelers alike

It seems like there’s another gem treatment around every corner these days. While gemologists have to stay on their toes to keep up, a curious consumer just gets more confused over what is natural, synthetic and treated - and their jeweler may not know.
As gemologists we have seen inclusions (what we need to identify origin) change over the years to make the identification of treatments more challenging than straight synthetics. So when Tom Chatham, (Chatham Created Gems) was speaking at a recent GIA Alumni presentation about the history of his company’s “creations” and the properties of these new inclusions in natural gemstones, he asked the question “Where do we draw the line between natural and synthetic?” A very good question since more and more natural stones are altered with synthetic foreign material. Is a glass-filled ruby still a natural ruby? The material may be red corundum (ruby) but with synthetic features including flux residues. Flux residues are a major characteristic of synthetic flux-melt rubies! We might think the stone was of a synthetic origin. Well, part of it is. Of course, a ruby may owe its color entirely to treatment to begin with. What used to be a venerable gemstone has definitely been tainted due to these treatments.
While the industry allows “traditional” treatments to gems it tends to shun radical means of color enhancement until enough people are doing it to add that treatment to the tradition. As long as the consumer wants purer color in their gems, there will be a market for whatever treatment brings it to them. Every day, consumers at the supermarket buy artificially enhanced
produce over organic because it looks better, so it’s not surprising.

GIA Unveils "New" Cut Grade

Finally, a GIA cut grade for round diamonds. After years of study, computerized modeling techniques and debate, the GIA has announced its new five-grade system for proportion analysis. A lot of science went into this system that looks at angles, percentages and light return so while the chosen nomenclature isn’t too exciting, it is easy to present. It goes Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair and Poor. Their new Facetware™ software can be picked-up on-line to do your own estimates and the Gem Trade Lab will start using the system in 2006. This will not result in any changes at NGL, since these are the terms we have always used!

The Plots Thicken (op-ed with Ted)

While the industry trend is to get away from diagramming a diamond’s inclusion pattern -
known as plotting, NGL will not only continue to include a center diamond diagram with our fine
jewelry appraisals, but do so through an improved system. It took a while to find a method
with the same precision as our hand-drawn diagrams, but now we offer just that - hand drawings, but digitally rendered and saved for future reference. Rather than use computerized conventions as does GIA, ours have the quality and “feel” of the diamond’s actual inclusion
pattern.
The diamond plot is a valuable tool to identify your diamond and is more conclusive than a surface inscription. Unfortunately, many of the big labs don’t like to plot because it takes time and expertise their people may not have. It also requires the jeweler to explain “those little red
marks” that represent the diamond’s inclusions to their customer. Heaven forbid we jeopardize a sale over the education of our clientele! Additionally, not all jewelry appraisers provide plots and some that do charge extra. One respected colleague charges $50 for a diamond plot. At NGL, it’s included at no extra charge.