Pearls from Lake Biwa mussels, left alone for 14 years, make an intriguing preliminary study of time-frame effects.

An overview of the Summer 2021 Gems & Gemology content.

A rare transparent and near-colorless sodalite contains two-phase inclusions linking it to its ancient formation.

CARLSBAD, Calif. – Aug. 24, 2021 – Jade motifs often represent the ancient relationship between gems and humanity; they tell important stories and traditions. These stories come to life in a rare, spectacular set of books, The Bishop Collection: Investigations and Studies in Jade, recently acquired by GIA (Gemological Institute of America).

Though long underappreciated, Australian sapphires could see a resurgence with the arrival of Fura Gems, a major mining and marketing company.

Though long underappreciated, Australian sapphires could see a resurgence with the arrival of Fura Gems, a major mining and marketing company.

CARLSBAD, Calif. – Aug. 19, 2021 – The Gianmaria Buccellati Foundation Award for Excellence in Jewelry Design is usually announced early in the year amid the glorious colors of the Tucson gem shows.

Provides criteria for detecting the resin filling of turquoise, an advanced treatment that reduces porosity and can dramatically improve appearance and stability.

A graduate of GIA’s Hong Kong Jewelry Design program hopes her award-winning design will help raise environmental awareness.

Thailand’s travel ban greatly affected the supply of raw materials from other countries, but the Pranda Group was able to keep employees safe and return to full capacity after just a few months.

A beautiful new gem and mineral museum in Tucson is home to the stunning Somewhere in the Rainbow collection.

Abnormal fluorescence supports the likelihood that this amber bracelet had been “baked” to enhance its color.

An overview of how the gem and jewelry trade, from miners to manufacturers, and from designers to dealers, dealt with the many challenges posed by the pandemic.

Two Australian rough diamonds demonstrate both pink and colorless sections in the same crystal.

A rare chatoyant effect is produced within play-of-color patches in a natural opal.

The Carlsbad laboratory recently examined an unusually large faceted hexagonite with iridescent cleavage cracks and needle-like structures.

An overview of the Spring 2021 Gems & Gemology content.

Provides a visual guide to the internal features of natural, synthetic, and treated spinel, as well as inclusions of spinel in other gemstones.

Presents a method for accurately predicting the color of a gem material when viewed in any direction as long as the polarized spectra and the viewing angle relative to the c-axis are known.

Presents the internal characteristics of natural P. maxima pearls, obtained from real-time microradiography (RTX) and X-ray computed microtomography (µ-CT) analysis of 774 samples.