Spring 2010

The Dr. Edward J. Gübelin Most Valuable Article Award

The votes are in, and we’re pleased to announce the winners of the 2009 Dr. Edward J. Gübelin Most Valuable Article Award. For the second year, we opened the competition to online voting, and nearly 90% of this year’s votes came from the online ballot. We extend our sincerest thanks to every G&G reader who participated.

The first-place article was “The ‘Type’ Classification System of Diamonds and Its Importance in Gemology” (Summer 2009), a guide to determining diamond type as well as its implications for identifying treated and synthetic diamonds. Placing second was “The French Blue and the Hope: New Data from the Discovery of a Historical Lead Cast” (Spring 2009), which used computer modeling and a recently found lead model of the French Blue to reveal important details about this fabled gem. Third place went to “Ruby and Sapphire Production and Distribution: A Quarter Century of Change” (Winter 2009), a review of the sources, treatments, and global developments that have transformed the corundum market.

FIRST PLACE
The “Type” Classification System of Diamonds and Its Importance in Gemology
Christopher M. Breeding and James E. Shigley
Christopher M. Breeding is a research scientist at the GIA Laboratory in Carlsbad, where he investigates origin of color in diamond and other gems. Dr. Breeding holds a PhD in geology from Yale University. James E. Shigley is distinguished research fellow at the GIA Laboratory in Carlsbad. The editor of the Gems & Gemology in Review series and contributing editor to the journal, he received his doctorate in geology from Stanford University.

SECOND PLACE
The French Blue and the Hope: New Data from the Discovery of a Historical Lead Cast
François Farges, Scott Sucher, Herbert Horovitz, and Jean-Marc Fourcault
François Farges is professor of environmental mineralogy at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHN) in Paris, where he is also curator of France’s national gem and mineral collection, established in 1633. Dr. Farges received his PhD in geochemistry from the University of Paris. Scott Sucher is principal of The Stonecutter in Tijeras, New Mexico. A former U.S. Air Force instructor pilot, he has created replicas of famous diamonds for more than 30 years. Herbert Horovitz is a jeweler in Geneva, Switzerland, who specializes in jewelry history. He studied jewelry at the Decorative Arts School of Geneva and is an avid collector of books on jewelry and gemstones. Jean-Marc Fourcault is the technician in charge of the mineral collection at MNHN. He specializes in microminerals and is vice director of Micromonteurs, a French microminerals society.

THIRD PLACE
Ruby and Sapphire Production and Distribution: A Quarter Century of Change
Russell Shor and Robert Weldon
Russell Shor is senior industry analyst at GIA in Carlsbad. Well known in the industry for his reporting as diamond editor of Jewelers’ Circular Keystone from 1980 to 1995, he also served as editor of New York Diamonds and GemKey. Mr. Shor has a degree in journalism from Temple University. Robert Weldon is manager of photography and laboratory publications at GIA in Carlsbad. Formerly senior writer and director of photography with Professional Jeweler and senior editor of colored gemstones at Jewelers’ Circular Keystone, Mr. Weldon has contributed to scores of international publications and several gem-related books.

Congratulations to Ruediger Hein of Henderson, Nevada, whose ballot was drawn from the many entries to win a three-year subscription to Gems & Gemology, along with all three Gems & Gemology in Review volumes: Treated Diamonds, Colored Diamonds, and Synthetic Diamonds.