Glittering Stones News,Diamonds news,Gems and jewelry news

GIA, the Gemological Institute of America Thailand will host its next gemstone gathering on March 31st. The gathering speaker will be Vichian Veerasaksri, owner and director of Aquarius Gems Trading Co Ltd and also an exporter and wholesaler of gemstones located in Bangkok.

He plays an important role in the World Jewelry Confederation, otherwise known as CIBJO where he was a elected president of the colored stone commission since 2004. In the presentation, vichian speaks about the “CIBJO and its role within the gemstone and jewelry industry – informing and setting standards”. Also, he reviews the role of CIBJO and update attendees regarding the happenings held in the last CIBJO congress in Germany.

Vichian is an active participant in wholesale side of the gemstone industry. He also involved in the Thai Gem and Jewelry Trade Association and International Colored Stone Association.

On Thursday, De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd announces its intention of inviting expression of interest from mining companies regarding disposal process. De Beers initiate the disposal process in respect of its jagersfontein diamond property in the state of South Africa.

The process is to be followed in inviting mining companies to express their interest. It will be initiated by the advertisement of DBCM request for expression of interest in jagersfontein diamond property. It expects to proceed later this month with the public process. The De Beers has engaged with the appropriate government authorities at national, provincial and local government level.

The International Colored Gemstone Association (ICA) has signed an agreement with Beijing Caishikou General Merchandise Co. on cooperation to promote colored gemstones in china. The ICA president Wilson Yuen finalized the details with Ms. Chun Li Wang, General Manager of Beijing Caishikou General Merchandise Co., also known as Cai Bai. Ms. Wang proposed a launching the cooperation with an exhibition in Beijing in September this year.

The agreement states that it is a 5 – 10 days exhibition pursued by in-store promotion of colored stones and gemstone jewelry. On closing of the exhibition, the products will become the part of permanent display at Cai Bai in Beijing.

The American museum of natural history in New York City has extended the exhibit of world’s rarest natural color diamonds. The Olympia diamond collection comprises five diamonds in blue – green, orange – yellow, purplish – pink, blue and orange. Each gem is individually examined by the gemological institute of America (GIA) and graded as vivid.

The diamond size ranges from 1.01 carats to 2.34 carats and represents five of the strongest colors that naturally occur in a diamond. The scarselli 1.17 carat heart-cut, natural red color diamond is the largest one in the world graded as fancy red by the GIA and has an estimated value of some $10.

GIA Gem Project

The Gemological Institute of America has recently launched a gem project comprising of data collected from gemstones in Edward J Gubelin collection. The institute acquired the collection in 2005 and the online resource includes photo, description and gemological properties for each sample.

For the public and the trade, the GIA gem project is free at anytime from anywhere in the world. The information about the gemstones is available in PDF format.

For more information about GIA gem project, visit www.gia.edu/GIA-Gem-Project.