A new microlithography process developed to create high-resolution diffraction grating patterns on portions of certain facets can improve the dispersion of light and thus the amount of “fire” in a diamond.

Examination of smoky quartz from Inner Mongolia reveals rare arsenopyrite inclusions.

A variety of chalcedony from Indonesia displays a multitude of blue, green, and metallic inclusions.

A diamond shaped like a cricket bat is submitted to GIA’s Mumbai laboratory.

A report on the identification of three large baroque pearls submitted to the Mumbai laboratory.

A colorless semitransparent thomsonite is examined in the Carlsbad laboratory.

The Carlsbad laboratory reports on a strand of 78 light bluish gray pearls submitted for identification.

A report on a new blue variety of amblygonite-montebrasite from Rwanda.

FTIR spectroscopy shows that the existence of carbon dioxide gas bubbles in a negative crystal in sapphire is no longer proof of the absence of heat treatment.

Black beryl beads display six-rayed and twelve-rayed stars.

A high-quality bangle with two-phase inclusions, similar to natural quartz, is found to be synthetic material.

A Fancy pink type IIa diamond showing cuboctahedral growth and greenish blue phosphorescence is shown to be a natural, treated colored diamond.

A laurentthomasite rough sample from Madagascar displays an abundance of hexagonal etch features.

Sail-shaped etch features provide proof that a sample sold as aquamarine is actually a spodumene crystal.

A report from the fifth World of Gems Conference, held September 23–24 at the Loews Hotel in Chicago.

The surface texture of a diamond is affected by the gemstone’s structure.

Myanmar’s Kyatpin Valley yields an fascinating gemstone association.

A yellowish green crystal inclusion in a ruby is found to be vesuvianite.

Unusual needle-like inclusions in ruby were identified as sillimanite.

Single irradiated CVD synthetic was identified in a parcel of irradiated natural melee diamonds in the Tokyo lab.