jewelrypassion

 Gemological Institute of America

The most recognized gemological credential in the Unites States. Offers a wonderful array of services along with on-line teaching and a lot of assistance with study by sending out specimens for grading, etc…. VERYexpensive, even for home study. Their strength is that the program is well supported technically and the GG is the most recognized designation in the US. Weaknesses are the exceptionally high cost. But there is a draw back on the GG program is the over reliance on expensive gemological equipment. Perhaps because the GIA owns Gem Instruments as a for-profit corporation, but the GIA courses teach students to rely heavily on expensive gemological equipment…all for sale by Gem Instruments. GIA Instruments

GIA also designs and manufactures professional equipment for grading, identifying, and selling diamonds and colored gemstones. These instruments are used to determine the physical and optical properties of gems and analyze their microscopic features.

The first GIA instrument, a 10x eye loupe, was introduced in the early 1930s. Darkfield illumination, a lighting technique that makes gem inclusions easily visible in the microscope, was patented later that decade by Robert M. Shipley, Jr., the son of GIA’s founder and an important figure in gemological instrumentation.

In addition to basic jeweler’s tools such as loupes, tweezers, and gem cloths, the GIA Instruments product catalog includes sophisticated instruments ranging from microscopes to spectroscopes.

GIA Diploma Programs and courses include:

• Graduate Gemologist
• Graduate Diamonds
• Graduate Colored Stones
• Graduate Pearls
• Accredited Jewelry Professional
• Applied Jewelry Arts
• Graduate Jeweler
• Jewelry Design Course
• Comprehensive CAD/CAM for Jewelry Course

GIA also exists to educate the gem and jewelry industry and the general public through its publications and outreach efforts. Most notable of these efforts is the quarterly publication of the magazine Gems & Gemology, a respected journal in the field. The journal includes full-length feature articles, as well as reports on GIA research, abstracts of relevant articles from other journals, book reviews, and industry news from around the world.