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 ...

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 ...

This chart focuses primarily on the types of natural inclusions found in tourmaline, as well as the minerals in which tourmaline can be found as an inclusion. Treatments such as enhancement of ...

Figure 1. Diamonds such as this 1.15 ct round brilliant are some of the most highly sought-after gem materials and may contain inclusions that give the gemologist clues about their origin or treatment ...

The Karowe Diamond Mine in Botswana, owned and operated by Lucara Diamond Corp., has gained international recognition for producing large, high-quality type IaB or coexistence of IaB with IIa diamonds ...

Each summer, when the waters off Florida’s east coast are calm enough for shallow diving, treasure hunters from 1715 Fleet Queens Jewels explore the seafloor for artifacts lost in a Spanish shipwreck ...

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 ...

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, ...

“Rabbit hair” quartz is a commercial variety of quartz with special inclusions. These inclusions resemble rabbit fur and are shorter and thinner than the typical rutile, tourmaline, or other acicular ...

Figure 1. A suite of nine rubies from the Rock Creek sapphire deposit in Montana. The stones range in weight from 0.172 to 0.578 ct. Photo by Kevin Schumacher, courtesy of Jeffrey R. Hapeman, Earth’s ...

Figure 1. An iolite-sunstone overgrowth crystal specimen. Photo by Kevin Schumacher. At the GIA Carlsbad laboratory, the authors recently examined a cabochon of “bloodshot” iolite (containing red, eye ...

At the AGTA show, we spoke with Alex Skachkov of Misfit Diamonds (Vancouver, Canada) about some of their unusual diamonds (figure 1). When asked what was popular, he showed us their aptly named “salt ...