Gems & Gemology mourns the loss of Dr. Edward J. Gübelin, who died March 15, one day shy of his 92nd birthday. One of the most influential gemologists of the 20th century, Dr. Gübelin’s work inspired the contemporary study of inclusions and established their significance in gem identification.

Edward Gübelin was born in 1913 in Lucerne, Switzerland, to a well-known family of watchmakers. Dr. Gübelin found his calling early on, when his father provided a gemological laboratory for his use. He studied mineralogy at the universities of Zurich and Vienna, earning a Ph.D. in 1938. His studies continued at the fledgling GIA in Los Angeles, where he graduated as a Certified Gemologist (then the precursor to the Graduate Gemologist degree) in 1939.

After returning to Switzerland, Dr. Gübelin began his famous work on inclusions, painstakingly documenting how internal features can be used to help pinpoint a gem’s identity and origin. This research was the basis for several G&G articles he wrote during the 1940s, and GIA founder Robert M. Shipley encouraged the young mineralogist to expand his work into a book. The result was the groundbreaking Inclusions as a Means of Gemstone Identification (1953), which presented the first systematic classification of inclusions.

Numerous books, more than 150 research papers, and even a film (on the rubies of Mogok, Burma) followed, all in a style that was both scholarly and eloquent. He collaborated with John Koivula to write the classic Photoatlas of Inclusions in Gemstones (1986), which contains more than 1,400 photomicrographs and is widely considered the authoritative book on the subject.

Through the last two decades, at an age when most would be content to savor a lifetime of distinguished achievements, Dr. Gübelin never stopped producing. He continued writing, lecturing, and traveling to gem localities all over the world. His last book (with co-author John Koivula) is the totally new Photoatlas of Inclusions in Gemstones, Vol. 2, scheduled to be released this year.

Dr. Gübelin’s influence on this journal alone was extraordinary. He contributed as author or reviewer for seven consecutive decades, beginning in the 1940s. One article, a memorable update on peridot from the Red Sea island of Zabargad, was the lead paper of my first issue as editor, the beginning of our 25 years of collaboration.

Two years ago, we dedicated our Spring 2003 issue to Dr. Gübelin in celebration of his 90th birthday. We commemorated the milestone with a profile of the great gemologist (pp. 1–2) and articles that mirrored his interest in new gem finds and photomicrography. This issue also included an article he co-authored on the rare gem poudretteite from Myanmar (formerly Burma), a land he knew better than any other Western gemologist. In a gracious letter written shortly after the issue appeared, Dr. Gübelin confided:

“I may mention between the two of us that fame has never been my goal but enthusiasm and love for the science of gemstones have spurred me on.”

Later in 2003, Dr. Gübelin established a fund to support G&G’s annual Most Valuable Article award, which had been named in his honor in 1997. The interest from this fund will be used in perpetuity to reward the winning authors. Writing from Lucerne, Dr. Gübelin said he created the award fund in connection with Easter—“not exactly for merely religious reasons, but rather because Easter is the feast of hope. With this, though, I am truly combining the hope that Gems & Gemology…will last for many years to come.”

It is with great sorrow that I say good-bye to Edward Gübelin, a good friend as well as a treasured colleague. Like so many others, I shall miss his beautiful letters, his depictions of exotic locales he had visited as exquisite as his description of dolomite in a Brazilian emerald “besieged by a swarm of chromite grains.” Yet also like others, I feel every letter, every meal shared, every conversation was a gift that, like his impact on gemology, will truly last forever.

Dr. Gübelin is survived by five daughters, 12 grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren. In his honor, GIA has established the Edward J. Gübelin Research Fund, to perpetuate the science that he devoted his prodigious energy and intellect to establish.

Alice S. Keller
Editor-in-Chief