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Field report / Traceability / Free

Field Gemology: Building a Research Collection and Understanding the Development of Gem Deposits

How GIA’s field gemology programme builds reference collections with known origins to support geographic origin determination.

Gems & Gemology, Winter 2019 · GIA

For researchers & practitioners · PDF · 22 pages

Download Free ResourceRead on GIA website
Cover of Field Gemology: Building a Research Collection and Understanding the Development of Gem Deposits

About this resource

By Wim Vertriest, Aaron C. Palke and Nathan D. Renfro. GIA’s field gemology programme was established in late 2008 to support research on the geographic origin determination of coloured gemstones.

Through more than 95 field expeditions on six continents, the collection now includes over 22,000 samples. The report explains how field work documents mines, local conditions, new deposits and treatments — context that is increasingly important to the trade and the public.

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