A compilation of gem news from around the world, covering topics such as localities, unusual gem materials, market news, new products, discoveries, jewelry manufacturing techniques, and industry trends.

This section, from the Spring 1997 issue of Gems & Gemology, is a compilation of interesting finds from GIA’s laboratories.

This section, from the Fall 2007 issue of Gems & Gemology, is a compilation of interesting finds from GIA’s laboratories.

A compilation of gem news from around the world, covering topics such as localities, unusual gem materials, market news, new products, discoveries, jewelry manufacturing techniques, and industry trends.

Examination of a large private collection of beads and carvings from antique excavations, assembled in the 1970s by a collector in Afghanistan.

Ruby and sapphire (usually blue, but also in every other color) have been the most important colored gemstones for several thousand years. Originating historically in southeast and central Asia, and more recently in eastern Africa, these colored varieties of the mineral corundum have been much sought as gems because of their rarity, color and durability. Gem corundum can display asterism and chatoyancy due to the presence of oriented mineral inclusions, and in some cases, a change of color when viewed under different light sources.