Figure 1. The GIA 7 Pearl Value Factors system classifies pearls according to size, shape, color, luster, surface, nacre, and matching. Composite photo by GIA staff. Prized by many cultures throughout ...

Gem-quality diaspore occupies an important position in the gem market due to its rarity, striking pleochroism, and color-change phenomenon (figure 1). The material’s value depends on these factors. A ...

CARLSBAD, Calif. – August 26, 2025 – GIA, the Gemological Institute of America, will launch revised evaluation services for D-to-Z laboratory-grown diamonds on October 1. Current GIA laboratory ...

Raman spectroscopy confirmed the identity of the material as pezzottaite by an intense peak at ~1100 cm –1, which is not present in beryl. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy showed features ...

Sapphire, rough and faceted, from the Rock Creek deposit in Montana has become one of the pillar gems of American origin in the global colored gemstone market. Over the past 10 years, Potentate Mining ...

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technology has been widely used to grow diamonds for the jewelry market, targeting popular colors and sizes. The majority of these products are colorless to ...

Figure 1. Sapphires from Madagascar: a beautiful 3.29 ct untreated faceted stone and an assortment of rough in the background. Madagascar has produced many high-quality stones in the last few years ...

CARLSBAD, Calif. – November 4, 2024 – The GIA laboratory in Ramat Gan, Israel, will end operations by the end of 2024 due to changes in the global diamond industry that resulted in significant ...

This year in Tucson, exceptionally large, clean, and attractively colored topaz and beryl from the Volodarsk-Volynskii pegmatite field in Ukraine (also known as the Volyn deposit) were very popular at ...

Zambia is considered the world’s second most important source of emeralds by value (after Colombia). The deposits are located near the Kafubu River in the Ndola Rural Restricted Area. Emeralds have ...

In November 2023, GIA researchers had the chance to study a parcel of emeralds reportedly from Chitral in Pakistan. All of the stones matched previously documented characteristics of emeralds from ...

The micro-world of gems lies at the very core of gemology. Information gathered from observations through the microscope serves as the very foundation for many conclusions drawn on a specimen, ...