By Amanda J. Luke

Global politics, improved technology, shifting markets and savvy consumers have all played a role in the changing needs of the gem and jewelry industry.

The facts are familiar:
• New sources in Canada and Russia created a domino effect in the diamond industry: DeBeers shifted from a supply to demand driven organization; sight holders were required to create and implement marketing plans; which spurred competition in the market place and vertical integration within companies.

• Conflict diamonds created the Kimberley Process, followed by "beneficiation," which has led to new manufacturing centers in Africa.

• Technological advances in diamond manufacturing have made it possible to get higher quality gemstones on the market more quickly and with lower labor costs.

• India, the leading force in diamond manufacturing, has become a new frontier in consumer demand.

• China is the fastest-growing consumer market for diamond jewelry.

• The advent of Internet and TV shopping has created a jewelry consumer who is more engaged than ever before.

• Computers and other technology have made it possible to conduct business 24/7.

• The cultured pearl business has evolved into a highly diverse industry with a number of products that have captured the interest of designers, retailers and the jewelry consumer.

• Consumers have shown more interest in colored stones as more celebrities wear them. These progressive and positive changes in the gemstone industry made it clear that GIA needed to create a robust, yet flexible plan to ensure it remains steadfast in its mission to maintain the gemological standards it is known for all over the world, according to President Donna Baker.

"We've been entrusted with a global gemological standard created by Robert M. Shipley, Richard T. Liddicoat and G. Robert Crowningshield. We promulgate it through our Education, develop it through our Research and uphold it with our Laboratory services."

GIA plans to safeguard this standard in a multipronged, international expansion of education and laboratory services.

"We will extend our educational reach by making more of our Education courses available online so they are easy to access internationally," says Duncan Pay, director of Course Development. "This will enable students to start courses immediately and we are able to integrate all kinds of components – text, still photos, audio and video – in one complete package." GIA also plans to schedule more international Lab classes, such as Diamond Grading Labs in South Africa on Aug. 4-8 and Aug. 11-15.

Research and Lab services will be extended to key areas throughout the world, including Southeast Asia, Africa and India to deliver the most efficient and cost-effective gemological and grading services possible, Baker says.

"The ultimate goal is to protect the public's trust in our industry so they can make informed choices," Baker says.

HONG KONG
GIA Laboratory Services Center, Ltd.
Officially opened: March 2007
Lab services offered: A service center that creates accounts, sends gemstones to a full-service GIA Lab and returns stones and reports to clients. The staff answers questions pertaining to GIA Lab reports or grading procedures and help clients with additional services.

Sheryl Cashmore GIA file photo

Overview:
Sheryl Cashmore, who has worked for GIA for more than 31 years in the Lab and as a Diamond Grading instructor, is the manager of Lab Services in Hong Kong. She says her first years working in the Lab laid the groundwork for her role there.

"I did everything from grading diamonds to identification reports and helping out in any department that needed help," she says. "That was good preparation for starting our first Lab Service Center, since I initially hired two local Graduate Gemologists and the three of us did everything. Gemological services were my specialty in the U.S., but we added transport services, report processing, inventory control and accounts payable to the hats we wear in Hong Kong."

Business has been steady in the first year of operation, Cashmore says, and they have created more than 250 new accounts in Hong Kong, along with accounts from China, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore and Indonesia. The intake has varied from quantities of under 1 carat for Diamond Dossier® services to large items for diamond grading, as well as fancy colors, pearls and items for identification.

"This tells me that we are accepted as a full-service extension of the [U.S.] Lab," she says. "In less than a year, I believe we have shown that we are a user-friendly avenue to GIA and are here to assist and benefit the local trade."

Technology makes it possible for Cashmore and her team to track the progress of clients' goods and report to them during their business hours.

"We save the client time by being able to respond immediately to any additional requests or changes they might have to their orders," she says. "We are centrally located and many customers stop by several times a week to drop off or pick up items."

BANGKOK
GIA Thailand Laboratory
Officially opened: 2006
Lab services offered: The Thailand Laboratory provides the region with the full range of GIA diamond grading services. GIA Diamond Dossiers® are done by an on-site grading staff; other diamond services are shipped to one of GIA's full service Labs.

The GIA Thailand Lab also provides GIA's full range of colored stone identification services ranging from Quality Assurance spreadsheets and traditional identification reports that may include country of origin determinations on ruby, sapphire, emerald and copper-bearing tourmalines, to full Analytical Reports on almost any gemstone. Reports that identify and describe natural and cultured pearls are also available.

The facility is located on the 10th floor of Bangkok's U-Chu-Liang Building, which is immediately opposite Lumpini Park, between Sathorn and Silom, on Rama IV Road. The building, a short walk from the Skytrain and subway stations, is served by two taxi ranks and has ample in-building parking.

Ken Scarratt GIA file photo

Overview:
Ken Scarratt, who has been in the gem and jewelry industry for more than 30 years, is managing director, South East Asia, and director, GIA Research, Thailand.

Scarratt was previously Laboratory Director of the American Gem Trade Association's Gem Testing Center in New York, where he had been since 1998. He has also served as director of Laboratory Services, Education and Research for The Asian Institute of Gemological Services (Bangkok) and chief executive and Laboratory director of The Gem Testing Laboratory of Great Britain.

The most recent, and significant, addition to GIA Thailand's Lab services, according to Scarratt, has been diamond grading. "The Laboratory's ability to serve the entire region with GIA diamond grading services has benefited the industry and the public, dramatically reducing the expenses involved in shipping to the U.S. and reducing turnaround times," he says.

Response to colored stone and pearl services has increased as GIA has expanded the types of services offered. "New, relevant and professionally presented services have elicited ever increasing submissions for GIA's Quality Assurance, Identification and Country of Origin, and full Analytical Reports," Scarratt says.

JOHANNESBURG
GIA Johannesburg Laboratory
Officially opened: First quarter 2008
Lab services offered: GIA Diamond Dossier®

Johannesburg graders Craig Bersiks and Richard Myers (top center and right). Paula Lundberg, Dorcas Nkosi and Elsie Govender (sitting left to right) trained in Carlsbad in late 2007 along with director Les Milner (top left). Photo by Valerie Power/GIA

Overview:
Les Milner, director, GIA Johannesburg Lab, has worked in the South African diamond industry for 27 years, most recently as executive director of the Jewellery Council of South Africa, which GIA has taken over. The Lab will initially provide on-site GIA Diamond Dossier® reports, but will also provide shipment services to other Lab locations.

Milner believes there's a need for GIA in South Africa to address diamond treatments. "You need a Laboratory with a research facility and the backup to be able to keep up with these things," he says.

He also believes that South African diamond buyers are looking for GIA-graded gemstones. "The [GIA] report is recognized worldwide. Overseas buyers want a GIA report," he says.

Milner and six of his diamond graders trained in the U.S. for six weeks at the end of last year. All have been impressed with the way GIA grades diamonds.

"GIA's methodology of grading is unbelievable – you've got an answer for everything because of the systems that are in place," Milner says. "The whole approach to color, cut and clarity is very scientific and makes a lot of sense. It makes it so much easier."

Graders Craig Bersiks, Richard Myers and Dorcas Nkosi, have been working in the diamond industry for some time and previously studied through GIA Distance Education. Bersiks and Myers have their Graduate Diamonds diploma and Nkosi has taken the Diamonds & Diamond Grading course; Bersiks and Myers plan to continue their studies to earn their Graduate Gemologist diploma after they return home.

"We've gained an absolute mountain of knowledge," Bersiks says. "It's been overwhelming but it has really helped bring us to a new level of work."

Myers says that learning to use the state-of-the-art equipment that GIA offers has been a valuable experience and increases their opportunity to excel and expand in their trade. "I am excited to see what people will think of GIA being in South Africa and how it will affect the industry," he says. "I think it will be very positive. Because they are such a large company, GIA can offer services that the Jewellery Council of South Africa Laboratory could not."

– Additional reporting by Jordan Clary