Lapis lazuli is an aggregate of several minerals. Lazurite grains provide its characteristic blue color, while golden flakes of pyrite can add attractive contrast. Lapis lazuli is a rock, which means ...

By contrast, the pearls sometimes labeled as “Chinese akoyas”, “baby akoyas”, or “freshwater akoyas (AK)” are freshwater ...

Figure 1. This demantoid was faceted to better reveal the “horsetail” inclusions. The sample is 8 mm in diameter. Photo by U. Hennebois. The exact origin and composition of the “horsetail” inclusions ...

Rough pink diamonds are rarely found, and although the cause of color has been correlated with plastic deformation, the precise mechanism and atomic configuration for the resulting color are topics of ...

CARLSBAD, Calif. – August 26, 2025 – GIA, the Gemological Institute of America, will launch revised evaluation services for D-to-Z laboratory-grown diamonds on October 1. Current GIA laboratory ...

Diamond fluorescence can occur in a wide range of patterns and colors, helping to tell the story of a diamond’s unique growth history. These HPHT laboratory-grown diamonds exhibit strong ...

The Karowe Diamond Mine in Botswana, owned and operated by Lucara Diamond Corp., has gained international recognition for producing large, high-quality type IaB or coexistence of IaB with IIa diamonds ...

Raman spectroscopy confirmed the identity of the material as pezzottaite by an intense peak at ~1100 cm –1, which is not present in beryl. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy showed features ...

Sapphire, rough and faceted, from the Rock Creek deposit in Montana has become one of the pillar gems of American origin in the global colored gemstone market. Over the past 10 years, Potentate Mining ...

CARLSBAD, Calif. – June 2, 2025 – Beginning later this year, GIA (the Gemological Institute of America) will start using descriptive terms to characterize the quality of laboratory-grown diamonds and ...

Metrology, the science of measurement and its application, plays a critical role in the accuracy of GIA’s research and laboratory services. The metrology team closely monitors the performance of ...

Diamonds have a long history as a premier gemstone—a natural consequence of their beauty, rarity, and superlative physical properties such as extreme hardness. Diamonds that are mined for use as ...