Many Faceted

Two Trips to GIA Carlsbad

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GIA Carlsbad
Front entrance, GIA Carlsbad

I never did tell you about my first trip to Carlsbad, so now you get a two-for-one blog post about both trips. That’s three, three, THREE LABS in one!

So first, let me show you around.

The first thing I noticed when I got to GIA Carlsbad — because it’s quite sparkly in the morning light — is the campus “bell tower”. (I don’t know what it’s actually supposed to be, it just reminds me of a bell tower.) Instead of a bell, there’s a rotating figure of a diamond crystal, strung with Swarovski crystals, surrounding a silvery faceted “diamond”. Out front, there’s a life-size statue of gemologist and founder, Richard Liddicoat. You can see me befriending Mr. Liddicoat here.

GIA's "back yard", a beautiful common area for hanging out, eating lunch, etc "Diamond" Bell Tower at GIA Carlsbad GIA Carlsbad campus, looking toward the sea

The building is airy and bright inside, with a library, museum, cafe and lobby in front, classrooms in the middle (upstairs and downstairs), and a large student common room in the back, open to the second story. There’s lots of room to relax, get snacks, play ping-pong, and walk around.

If you need a breath of fresh air, there’s a large outdoor patio and lawn, with plenty of places to sit and eat lunch, and superb views of the sea. GIA overlooks The Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch, so I’d imagine the view is even more dramatic, once spring arrives! (Which looks to be about now; The Flower Fields open on Thursday. Did I mention we had a massive snowstorm last night, in the frozen north? I don’t think I did.)

Water Opal, 10.35 carats, part of the Dr. E. Gübelin collection at GIA Carlsbad
Water Opal, 10.35 carats

Unsurprisingly, there’s a lot of gemstones and jewelry on display, and I spent most of my free time enjoying it. I admit, mostly I was glued to one particular display case (in the student common room), featuring stones from the Dr. Eduard Gübelin collection. Dr. Gübelin was a prominent gemologist who had an unbelievable personal collection of stones, of which the water opal to your left is but one.

One that stood out to me (no decent photo, sorry) was a 13.23 carat taaffeite, a lovely pinkish-purple stone, one of the rarest gemstones in the world. There’s also a gorgeous alexandrite that I desperately wanted to see change color — GIA should install some sort of push-button light-switching device, like an interactive museum display. Make it happen, GIA. I want to push that button!

But what you really want to hear about maybe is my lab experiences.

I took Colored Stone Grading and Pearl Grading in November, and Gem Identification at the end of January. They were all a blast; my favorite by far was Gem Ident. It was definitely the most challenging, but I loved using the equipment and figuring out what a stone was (and what it was not). This will sound super-nerdy, but I love my lab manual. It is a magical, wonderful tome of gemstone-demystifying.

Comparing pearl luster
Comparing pearl luster

I enjoyed Pearl Grading — or maybe I should say, I thoroughly enjoyed the pearls; I found the grading pretty difficult. It was marvelous to see and handle green and grey Tahitian pearls, golden South Sea pearls, pastel Chinese freshwater pearls… I graded a bright golden South Sea pearl shaped like an acorn, with beautiful pink and green overtones and excellent luster. (Golden and shiny!) I had a hard time determining body color (base/background color), versus overtone (an overlay of secondary color), versus orient (multiple overtones.) Is it green, with a pink overtone… or is it gray, with pink and green orient? I salute the experts in this field. (I am not one of them.)

I spent my time in Colored Stone Grading looking at as many different species of stones as possible. The more, the merrier! I partook in much “microscope therapy”, as one of my wonderful instructors put it, and got lost in the jardin of emerald inclusions. (Jardin is French for “garden”, and it’s an apt description of what you see when you look at an emerald under magnification. Marvelous stuff.)

After microscope therapy, I promptly mis-graded the clarity of my emerald, having been overwhelmed by SO MANY INCLUSIONS. The grading system changes based on the type of stone, for each grade; an emerald could never have Excellent clarity if it were compared to, say, an aquamarine. Emeralds are almost always included; aquamarines are frequently water-clear. My emerald was Excellent; I think I graded it a Fair. Oops.

Gem Ident left the biggest impression on me, because it was amazing. While I have a lot of learning and practicing to do, I’m astounded that I can actually determine what a stone is (most likely.) I can’t wait to get my own set of equipment and start identifying things I have on hand. It’s so exciting!

Adventures in Tucson: the AGTA GemFair

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Entrance to the AGTA GemFair Tucson
AGTA GemFair welcomes you!

Even just one weekend in Tucson is too much adventure for one post, so first I’ll tell you about the AGTA GemFair, and show what bits I was allowed to photograph. The AGTA GemFair was my first stop in Tucson, and I spent the most time there, overall. It was a kaleidoscope of fine gems and finished jewelry, and (in my experience) very friendly people. I spent as much time chatting and networking as I did oggling!

The show floor, as seen from the Galleria
Just before the show opens...

I got to the show at around 9:30 am, Saturday the 4th, checked in, received my guidebook and fluorescent orange tote bag, and spent the time before show opening looking over the Galleria booths (societies, schools, and information-type things) and eyeing the GIA “Mega Gems” display (see last post.) I had some very good conversations that morning! I also strolled through the Designer Pavilion and admired some of the AGTA Spectrum Award winners. (What can I say? Not all modern jewelry is to my taste. I like my jewelry wearable, I guess….)

The Hooker Emerald, part of the National Gem Collection, visits courtesy of the Smithsonian Institute
The Hooker Emerald visits Tucson

One of my first stops on the show floor (and the only part I could take pictures of) was the Smithsonian Institution’s gem display. As I haven’t yet been to see the National Gem Collection in Washington, DC, this was my first in-person look at the Hooker Emerald. A 75.47-carat Colombian emerald (over an inch square, by my guess), the Hooker Emerald “was once the property of Abdul Hamid II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1876-1909), who according to legend, wore it in his belt buckle.” (Description from the Smithsonian Institution.) AWESOME.

Peridot, 100.15 carats, Pakistan
Peridot, 100.15 carats

I also enjoyed seeing some new donations to the National Gem Collection, including a faceted, extraterrestrial peridot (donated by Palladot); a gorgeous, 100.15 carat terrestrial peridot from Pakistan; and a colorful 43.52 carat sphene (titanite). I came back to this booth a few times. (And back upstairs to the Mega Gems display; the contents are exactly what it sounds like. Big stuff.)

I made a beeline for the Pala Gems booth, particularly to see this amazing bi-color topaz, but also to look around. I adore Pala’s website, and it was a treat to see some of those stones in person.

43.52 carat sphene (titanite)
43.52 carat sphene

I saw a lot of amazing opal: fantastic arrays of Ethiopian opals, lovely fire opals from Nevada (not so fiery, but a warm, sunny glow), and boulder opal from Australia. Some sellers had mined and cut the material themselves. It was a pleasure to talk to them; enthusiastic about their wares, and eager to share their knowledge. I was told before I went to Tucson that I could trust anything I bought at AGTA GemFair. I definitely felt that to be the case. Sellers were open about stone origins and treatments, and I think I learned a lot! I met some terrific people that day.

Among the terrific people I met was AGTA CEO Doug Hucker, who is also one of the first confirmed readers I’ve had here at Many Faceted (besides friends and family.) Hi, Doug! It’s a neat, and still pretty new experience for me, to meet someone who reads my online ramblings. I bet readership would go up if I rambled more often. Still working on a regular posting schedule.

It’s been nearly three weeks and I still feel I have a ton of experiences to sift through, mentally, all from that first day at AGTA. (Yes folks, we’re still on Saturday; haven’t even touched Sunday yet. Stay tuned!) So while I sift, and prepare the next segment of my Tucson adventures, I leave you with a faceted quartz the size of a football (okay, maybe not quite that big. But BIG.)

Note on photos: click to enlarge. If you got all the way down here without clicking on anything, please know that I would never deprive you of jumbo-size gem images. That’s mean.

Quartz, 21,299 carats
Quartz, 21,299 carats. Yes, you read that right. It's a big'un.

Fall Update

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Phew, it’s been a while! I had it in mind to write “article”-type posts here (read: LONG), which I think may have been a mistake, as I’ve missed several “update”-type opportunities to post over the past few months. And now here it is, November, and interesting things have been happening, none of which I’ve told you about!

Here’s a sampling of what I’ve been up to, since July:

I completed my Accredited Jewelry Professional diploma through GIA, which means I can add the words “dangerous enough for retail” to my credentials. Wait. No. It means I can add the initials AJP to my credentials. Sorry about that.

I started Colored Stones at the end of July, and Pearls at the beginning of September; I am nearly done with Pearls now, about halfway through Colored Stones (somewhat behind, in my original estimate; got bogged down with work this fall, which has curtailed the studying significantly.) I am going to Carlsbad next weekend to take the Colored Stone Grading and Pearl Grading labs. I plan to take the Gemstone Identification lab in late January.

Chatham Created emerald crystal
My prize: a Chatham created emerald crystal (a bit over 1/2" long.) I keep it on my desk.

In late September, I had the pleasure of meeting Tom Chatham, of Chatham Created Gems in San Francisco. Tom was very kind, extremely generous with his time, and quite patient with this googly-eyed gemology student (who spent the entire visit with her fingers in a bowl full of synthetic emerald crystals. Don’t judge me. You wouldn’t be able to resist them either!)

Art Deco 26 Carat Star Sapphire Ring at Lang Antiques
Lavender star sapphire ring, Art Deco. Yes, please.

After my visit at Chatham, I made my way over to Lang Antiques and met some of their enthusiastic staff (hard not to be enthusiastic, working with their inventory every day!) I was happy to finally meet the awesome Barbra Voltaire, administrator and gem-goddess of GemologyOnline.com and the helpful GO Forums. (I visited Lang earlier in September, but she was off that day. I did spend some time ogling the stone to your left, which is probably my favorite piece in their inventory. Not sure, but I think I need to be queen of something before I can wear a ring like this.)

Art Deco Onyx and Diamond Locket at Lang Antiques
The back/inside looks as good as the front/outside.

This visit, I spent some quality time with the piece to your right, a fabulous onyx and diamond locket from the Art Deco period. You really must go look at all of the pictures, because the inside is as beautiful as the outside, and the whole thing is just… dreamy. [swoon] Why is it, that I always like the expensive things? Maybe if you work with expensive jewelry every day, you get over it. (I’d like the opportunity to test that theory…)

For the record, Barbra was swooning over the locket, too.

Last but not least, a week from today, I will be joining the GIA Alumni Association’s Los Angeles chapter on a field trip to the famous Stewart Lithia Mine in Pala, CA. I’m going in a mine!! And then I get to sort through mine tailings and look for gems!! I’m ever so excited about all this. (In case you can’t tell.) I hope to have PILES of gems to photograph and post (but really, I’d be happy with just a small handful.)

There’s more to tell, but that will have to wait for the next post. Stay tuned!