education

Over 400 exhibitors gathered at the Colorado Convention Center, many for the second consecutive year, to take part in the only USA show to bring mineral & fossil dealers and jewelry & gemstone companies together under one roof.

IGI has added a grade for cut to fancy shape diamond reports. In addition to traditional polish and symmetry analysis, the institute is now assessing the influence cut quality has on light behavior seen in shapes other than round.

IGI has partnered with Luxus, a new platform permitting people to invest in a “best in class” selection of precious gems, high jewelry and rare watches. The institute will serve as Luxus’ independent valuation partner, setting the value of pieces listed on the platform. 

Gem Diamonds, with offices in the United Kingdom and Belgium owns the Letšeng Diamond mine in Lesotho and the Ghaghoo mine in Botswana. Year on year those operations produce a number of delightfully large, white, exceptional rough crystals.

The spellcaster in L. Frank Baum’s fictional land of Oz may have been a charlatan, but the appropriately named Merlin diamond mine in Australia could potentially restore gem-quality diamond sparkle to that country.

Forbes.com, “Home Page for the World’s Business Leaders,” has published an article describing IGI’s new eLearning Courses on diamonds as “first-rate professional online gemological education, ideally suited and ideally timed for a global audience.”

Representatives from more than 300 independent jewelry stores around the United States gathered at the Convention Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota last weekend for the biannual Retail Jewelers Organization (RJO) Show.

Calling all rebels with a cause: London-based jeweler CHELSEA ROCKS has launched a competition inviting creative university students around the world to design a lapel pin incorporating lab grown diamonds as a symbol of generational expression, societal comment or social activism.

Van Cleef & Arpels combined an exceptional rough diamond with state of the art planning and inspiring jewelry design to create 25 stunning mystery set pieces, all with diamonds cut from the same rough stone. 

SWA Diamonds of India has produced a ring set with 24,697 diamonds, a new world record. Designed by Rijisha TV, a post graduate in lifestyle accessory design, from the National Institute of Design, the ring has been named ‘The Touch of Ami.’

Mahenge is a small village in the Morogoro region of Tanzania, East Africa. In 2007 deposits of high quality pink and red spinel, discovered there revived the spinel market. Last year a deposit of cobalt blue material was discovered in the same region.

Diamond lovers in London are invited to a seven-room display at the Saatchi Gallery, featuring over 400 items from Tiffany & Co’s illustrious history. Open through August 19, the exhibition will travel to New York this fall.

As people across America celebrate their Independence Day, we’d like to celebrate these distinctive diamonds in Fancy Red, White and Vivid Blue. Each one appeared separately in IGI GemBlog posts during the past year. Today we’ll revisit them together.

Diamonds de Canada (DdC) has been awarded the Polar Bear Diamond™ license, allowing them to bring the iconic trademark back into the market with a renewed look and feel.

A new exhibit has been unveiled at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. “Great American Diamonds,” featuring four of the most significant diamonds found in the United States.

On June 13 the International Gemological Institute, Italy and Gem-Tech presented a workshop entitled “Sales Support Tools: Magazines and Certificates.” The well-attended session took place at Officina Vanvitelli, in the Monumental Complex of the Belvedere di San Leucio, Caserta, Italy.

The gavel fell at $12.9 million for the 101.41 carat ‘Juno’ diamond and $0.7 million for the 111.59 carat ‘Earth Star’ at Sotheby’s New York last week, pushing the total sum for this distinctive pair of pear shaped diamonds over the $13 million mark.

Demonstrations of IGI’s new interactive eLearning Courses were provided to attendees of the recent JCK Las Vegas show. The on-demand, fully responsive courses provide fundamental gemological education while emphasizing information buyers are most interested in.

IGI has analyzed and graded a 30.18 carat emerald cut laboratory grown diamond, the world’s largest to date. Produced by Ethereal Green Diamond, LLP the 30.18 ct “Pride of India” is the first polished lab grown diamond to exceed 30 cts.

IGI Education Director John Pollard will join Rob Bates, Tanya Nisguretsky and Marty Hurwitz to present “The State of Lab Grown Diamond Industry” this Thursday. Rather than the usual “pro/con” arguments, the panel will address evolving new topics including melee, the implications of patent expirations and paradigm shifts in planning and cutting.

IGI recently graded 27.27 carat, 20.24 carat and 15.16 carat lab grown diamonds produced by Greenlab Diamonds LLP as part of their “sustainable and affordable luxury” project. The 27.27 and 20.24 carat gemstones are the largest polished lab grown diamonds ever produced.

Handheld gemstone testers are commonly used to differentiate between diamond and diamond-simulants like CZ and moissanite. However, as diamond growing technology advances the technology used in those devices becomes more limited.

Lucapa Diamond Company has just recovered a 204 carat rough diamond from its Mothae mine in Lesotho. This 204 carat […]

After a heated 11 minutes of bidding, the 205 carat Red Cross Diamond “rocked” Christie’s Geneva by selling for $14 million dollars, a whopping 40% over its high pre-sale estimate. The famous Fancy Intense Yellow diamond, originally unearthed in 1901,  was fashioned with a pavilion distinctively crafted in the shape of a Maltese cross.