GIA to Hold First Graduate Gemologist Program in Shanghai

Six-month, on-campus program will be taught in Mandarin Chinese

CARLSBAD, Calif. – June 8, 2011 – GIA (Gemological Institute of America) announced today that students in China have an opportunity – for the first time – to enroll in the Institute’s on-campus Graduate Gemologist (GG) program in Shanghai. The course, hosted by the prestigious Shanghai Jiao Tong University, will begin in July 2011.

The six-month program will enable students to finish the GG program much faster than through distance education and the traveling lab classes, the only options previously available to them.

“Shanghai is the most cosmopolitan city in China and has the largest consumer base,” says Seung-Hae Moon, managing director of GIA Asia Pacific. “The jewelry industry needs professionally trained GIA graduates, and we are committed to fostering that need. That is the core tenet of our mission to protect the public’s trust in jewelry throughout the world.”

GIA Taiwan instructors will teach the GG program in Mandarin Chinese. All are senior instructors with many years of trade experience. Students will learn to understand the  4Cs (Color, Cut, Clarity and Carat weight) effect on diamond value; grade diamonds in the D-Z color range; use gemological equipment to grade and identify gemstones; detect synthetics, treatments, simulants and fracture-filled diamonds; confidently speak the language of diamonds and colored stones to suppliers and vendors; and knowledgeably guide customers through the buying process.

GIA has offered lab classes in China for more than a decade. The first Diamond Grading lab class was held in Beijing in 1999, followed by Gem Identification and Colored Stone Grading lab classes in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen.

The GG program will be held from July 11, 2011 to Jan. 19, 2012 at the School of Media and Design on the Shanghai Jiao Tong University campus. For more information, contact GIA in Taiwan by phone at 866-2-2771-9391 or by email gia.taiwan@msa.hinet.net, or visit the Taiwan website at www.giataiwan.com.tw.