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Conferences
WDC 2008.The 33rd World Diamond Congress will be held May 12–15, 2008, at the Portman Ritz-Carlton, Shanghai, China. Visit www.worlddiamondcongress2008.com.
GAA 62nd Federal Conference.The Gemmological Association of Australia will host its 2008 conference on May 16–17 in Coober Pedy, South Australia. Visit www.gem.org.au/newsf.htm.
Santa Fe Symposium 2008. The 22nd annual Santa Fe Symposium on jewelry manufacturing technology will be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, May 18–20. Visit www.santafesymposium.org.
Art2008. Held May 25–30 in Jerusalem, Israel, the 9th International Art Conference on Non-destructive Investigation and Analysis will focus on items of cultural heritage, but will have implications for gem testing. Visit www.isas.co.il/art2008.
Québec 2008: GAC-MAC-SEG-SGA. Held May 26–28 in Québec City, Canada, this joint conference organized by the Geological Association of Canada, Mineralogical Association of Canada, Society of Economic Geologists, and the Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits will include special sessions on "Diamonds: from Mantle to Jewellery" and "Challenges to a Genetic Model for Pegmatites,"as well as a short course called "Rough Diamond Handling." Visit www.quebec2008.net.
ASA Summer Classes. The American Society of Appraisers will be offering classes in appraisal techniques and standards and special gemological techniques at the Tuscany Suites Hotel in Las Vegas May 27–29, just prior to the JCK Show. Later this summer, appraisal theory, methods, and application will be offered at Hofstra University in Hampstead, New York, July 8–10. Visit www.appraisers.org/education.
NDNC-2008. The growth, processing, characterization, properties, and applications of diamond and related materials will be covered at the 2nd International Conference on New Diamond and Nano Carbon, held May 26–29 in Taipei, Taiwan. Visit diamond.iams.sinica.edu.tw/NDNC2008.
Maine Pegmatite Workshop.This short course reviewing current information and theories about pegmatite paragenesis, mineralogy and petrology will be held May 31 to June 6, 2008, in Poland, Maine. Visit homepage.mac.com/rasprague/PegShop.
SEG-GSSA2008: Africa Uncovered—Mineral Resources for the Future. Diamond presentations will be covered at this conference, hosted by the Society of Economic Geologists and the Geological Society of South Africa in Muldersdrift, South Africa, July 6–9. Visit www.seg-gssa2008.org.
Goldschmidt 2008. Held July 13–18 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, this geochemistry conference will include a session titled “Fluids Associated with Diamond Formation.” Short courses will include “Laser-Ablation-ICPMS in the Earth Sciences: Current Practices and Outstanding Issues” and “A Hands-On Introductory Tour of Kimberlites.” Visit www.goldschmidt2008.org.
IGC 2008. Held in Oslo, Norway on August 5–14, the 33rd International Geological Congress will include sessions with possible applications to gemology: mineral spectroscopy, metallogeny and mineral potential of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, and geology of Africa and development strategies for the mining sectors of African countries. Visit www.33igc.org.
9th International Kimberlite Conference. Held August 10–15 in Frankfurt, Germany, this conference will bring together the academic and diamond exploration communities to exchange information on kimberlites and related rocks. Visit www.9ikc.com.
IUCr2008. Crystal growth, characterization, and analytical techniques will be covered at the 21st Congress of the International Union of Crystallography, held in Osaka, Japan, August 23–31. Visit www.congre.co.jp/iucr2008.
6th International Conference on Mineralogy and Museums. Held September 7–9, at the Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado, conference themes are the relationships between museums and research, collection management, and society. Gems will form a significant part of the program, and pre- and post-conference field trips are being planned to kimberlite and pegmatite sites in Colorado. Visit www.mines.edu/outreach/cont_ed/ICMM6.
Diamond 2008.The 19th European Conference on Diamond, Diamond-like Materials, Carbon Nanotubes, and Nitrides will be held in Sitges, Spain, September 7–11. Presentations on the growth, processing, and characterization of diamond will be given. Visit www.diamond-conference.elsevier.com.
Rapaport International Diamond Conference.The 2008 Rapaport International Diamond Conferencewill take place September 8, 2008 at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, New York. Topics will include diamond finance, rough supply, manufacturing, commoditization, and fair trade jewelry. E-mail IDC@diamonds.net.
ICAM 2008. Gems will be one of the subjects covered at the 9th International Congress for Applied Mineralogy on September 8–10 in Brisbane, Australia. Visit www.icam2008.com.
World of Gems. The inaugural session of this conference, addressing current developments in gem treatments, identification, diamond grading, and appraisal issues, will be held September 13–14, 2008, at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare in Chicago, Illinois. Visit www.worldofgemsconference.com.
Gems in Objects of Cultural Heritage. An international conference titled Geoarchaeology and Archaeomineralogy: Impact of Earth Sciences in the Study of Material Culture will take place in Sofia, Bulgaria, October 29–30, 2008. One of the conference topics will be Archaeomineralogy and Gemmology. A field trip will focus on “Role of Bulgaria in the History of World’s Jewellery Art.” Visit mgu.bg/docs/CircularEN.doc.
2009
IDCC-2.The 2nd International Diamond Cut Conference will take place in Lausanne, Switzerland, March 22–25, 2009, just before BASEL WORLD 2009 Jewelry and Watch Fair. A diamond cut exhibition will take place at the BASEL WORLD 2009.Visit idcc2.octonus.com.
Exhibits
Exhibits at the GIA Museum. From May 21 through December 2008, “Facets of GIA” will explain the various gemological services that GIA provides, including diamond grading, gem identification, education, and public outreach. As part of this exhibit, the Aurora Butterfly of Peace—a display comprised of 240 natural fancy-colored diamonds—will be featured through July 2008, courtesy of Alan Bronstein. Also currently on display in the Rosy Blue Student Commons are photo essays by Robert Weldon, manager of photography and visual communications at the GIA Library, and Gems & Gemology editor Brendan Laurs, depicting emerald mines in Colombia and the Paraíba-type tourmaline deposit in Mozambique, respectively (for more on the latter, see the article in the Spring 2008 issue). Advance reservations are required; to schedule a tour, call 760-603-4116 or e-mail museum@gia.edu.
Diamond Divas. On display until June 8, 2008, this exhibit will highlight diamond jewelry worn by royalty and celebrities from the past and present. Included will be pieces worn by Empress Josephine, Doris Duke, and Sophia Loren, among others, as well as the rarely-seen Moon of Baroda diamond, worn by actress Marilyn Monroe during her iconic scene in the movie “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.” Visit http://www.diamonddivas.be.
Gems! Colors of Light and Stone at the Bowers Museum. The Michael Scott collection has returned to the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California, with an expanded display of rare colored stones, carvings, and sculptures. The exhibit will run until June 16, 2008. Visit www.bowers.org.
The Aurora Collection at The Vault. “The Vault,” a new permanent collection of rare gemstones and mineral specimens, is now open at the Natural History Museum in London. Headlining the initial exhibit is the Aurora Collection, currently comprising 296 naturally colored diamonds (267.45 carats total weight) assembled by diamond collectors Alan Bronstein and Harry Rodman. Also on display is the 47.69 ct Star of Africa, which helped launch the 1869 diamond rush in South Africa, and the 1,385.95 ct Devonshire emerald crystal. Visit www.nhm.ac.uk/galleries.
Gold: Visions of the Americas. Beginning May 14, 2008, at the Musée de la Civilisation in Quebec City, Quebec, this exhibition will review the importance of gold to the cultures of North and South America, both ancient and modern. The 250 items on display will include gold objects and mineral specimens, as well as paintings, sculptures, and ethnographic objects. Visit www.mcq.org.
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