The United Nations today, removed the “blood diamond” label from Liberia, in recognition of the Kimberley Process. The Liberian president admits to using diamonds in the past for years to fund wars. Liberian rough diamonds were banned in the gem trade since 2001, along with Sierra Leone, Angola, the [...]
Archive for April, 2007
U.N.removes the “Blood Diamond” label from Liberia
Posted in News, business on April 28, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Ethics and the Appraisal…. Part II
Posted in business, gemology, research on April 22, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Last week on Palmetto Gemology, I began to establish a working foundation from which to further build this series. I hope that I have made it easier to understand how appraisals can vary so much due to the room for human error or differences of opinions.
This week I would like to focus on explaining [...]
Ethics and the Appraisal…. Part I
Posted in business, gemology, research on April 15, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Wow, what a touchy subject… the valuation process of what a gem is actually worth right? Think again… The term appraisal means different things to different people, depending on their perspective to a particular matter at hand. There are three contestants in the game of appraising gemstones: the appraiser, the owner of [...]
HPHT Natural Diamonds… Where’s the Controversy?
Posted in gemology, research, science on April 8, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
From my personal perspective HPHT is a four letter word. The acronym HPHT stands for High Pressure – High Temperature, and refers to an artificial process that some diamonds are subjected to in order to “reinstate their natural beauty”. Certain companies such as General Electric, have found an efficient process of turning natural [...]
GIA Begins Certification of Emerald Origins
Posted in News, business, gemology, research on April 4, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
In the 76 year history of the Gemological Institute of America, it has never before certified the origin of any gemstone. The folks at GIA now offer origin reports on emeralds submitted to the process. The primary focus of the process, is to make the distinction in the market between emeralds originating from [...]
Wired Magazine on Lab Created Diamonds
Posted in News, business, gemology, research, science on April 1, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
In September of 2003, around the timeframe of the ratification of the Kimberly Process by the United Nations, Wired Magazine (article is found here) decided to properly cover a blossoming area of the gemological field: lab created diamonds. They are not similar to diamonds… they are diamonds, both chemically and physically. Historically, Russian [...]
