technical

WIRED, the popular tech-lovers’ magazine which coined the term “crowdsourcing,” just posted a piece about eco friendly products. “The best […]

IGI recently graded this incredible 5.00 carat Fancy Intense Orangy Pink Lab Grown Diamond Cross from FireDiamonds. 5.00 carat Fancy […]

Recently the IGI Lab in Shanghai received an antique Etruscan revival style necklace from the mid to late 19th century. When the necklace was submitted, IGI gemologists immediately understood the reason it was sent for identification: It seemed to weigh less than it should and, therefore, was suspected to be made of gilt copper, rather than gold.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the world’s largest developer of voluntary international standards, has certified IGI with the ISO 17025 accreditation for lab-grown diamonds, making IGI’s laboratories the world’s first to hold ISO accreditation for both natural and lab-grown diamonds.

Pantone, the international color authority, previously announced its Colors of the Year. Gemologists from IGI Shanghai have provided images and information celebrating 2021’s vibrant color: Illuminating Yellow.

Gemologists from IGI Shanghai recently provided images and information regarding one of nature’s rare and stunning wonders, the chameleon diamond.

IDEX was among the first jewelry industry news outlets to cover IGI’s unprecedented partnership with Diamond Standard, an entity which has received regulatory approval to offer the world’s only market traded diamond commodity – the Diamond Standard Coin.

How exciting! After flybys, orbits and epic landings, a future mission will bring rocks home from the red planet’s surface.

Mystery \ mist(ə)rē \ : inexplicable or secretive quality or character. A plot. An (international) intrigue, along with the solution […]

In a proactive move, delivering even more information to jewelry sellers and buyers around the world, IGI has added a new detail to its lab-grown diamond grading reports.

If you know anything about diamonds it’s probably the 4 Cs – Cut, Clarity, Color, and Carat Weight. There’s plenty of information about the 4Cs which can be found online and learned in conversations with professionals and enthusiasts, but prioritizing them is not always easy. Here are my suggestions.

Different 1.00 carat diamonds can look different sizes. This is because we typically view diamonds from a single direction: Above. Imagine cooking a 1 pound meatball and a 1 pound pancake. On your scale they weigh the same. But the meatball’s weight is distributed in a deeper geometry.

Click here to register and join us at 2:00 PM EST on Wednesday for “New Talking Points about Lab-Grown Diamonds,” a 45-minute webinar from IGI and Jewelers of America. Whether you sell lab-grown diamonds or not, teaching your clients something new builds trust in your professional expertise.

Our planet’s supply of diamonds were produced by four different processes. One took over a million years to achieve results. The next have been working in laboratories and factories, with increasing success, since the 1950s. But until this month man had never replicated that final process.

Jewelers of America and IGI are pleased to present an educational webinar at 2:00 PM Eastern Time Wednesday December 2. Learn physical differences, distinctive characteristics and quality-factors attributable to growth methods and timelines.

Following a similar benchmark set three months ago, IGI Hong Kong recently certified the largest laboratory-grown diamond received to date. With a finished weight of 12.75 carats, this collection-quality man-made gemstone was fashioned from a staggering 46.20 carat CVD-grown rough crystal

Where do you start seeing color in diamonds? Can you see the difference between F and H color? Can you see the difference between D and E color? In full context those answers will become diamond-specific.

Today we turn our attention to the optical phenomenon of iridescence, that is the display of dispersive prismatic colors caused by the interference of light – generally due to thin films of gas or liquid – like Iridescent Quartz, Iridescent Agate and Ammolite.

Hearts & Arrows (H&A) diamonds are precisely cut to show kaleidoscopic patterns when seen in a special reflective viewer. Typically associated with Excellent-Ideal cuts of superior quality, fashioning the highest levels of H&A optical precision when working with the world’s hardest substance is an exacting process.

This 10+ carat HPHT produced lab-grown diamond was initially graded Fancy Intense Yellow by IGI. When it returned to the lab its color had been changed to Fancy Vivid Pink. IGI confirmed that the color had been shifted from yellow to pink through irradiation using a 5MeV Electron Beam Transfer system.

Treatments have been used to enhance the appearance of gemstones since ancient times.  The Egyptians, Greeks and Romans used dyes, coatings, oils and other methods to improve the color, durability and luster of their gemstones and pearls. But the most fascinating and fanciful tool used for enhancements may very well be the humble chicken.

Gemstones and fancy-colored-diamonds appear in all the colors of the rainbow, at different shades, with different intensities. Since the human eye can distinguish around 13 million shades and nuances of color, gemologists have developed a consistent method of mapping a gemstone’s proper position in the broad ‘Color Universe.’

The “disappearing diamond” is a 16.87 carat natural Fancy Vivid Yellow SI1 Radiant shape, coated by carbon nanotube technology which absorbs more than 99.96% of light and is the blackest material in existence.

Rough sellers are partnering with technology providers to facilitate digital-scans, videos and potential polishing plans for rough diamonds to their customers. Originally intended to facilitate pre-selection of choices ahead of traditional tenders, remote-purchasing has now become an option.