Gemmology - what’s that?
I was at home during week 1 of the UK lockdown due to the COVID19 pandemic, on my terrace enjoying the sun chatting to neighbours in adjacent gardens and balconies. The talk came round, as it usually does when talking to others for the first time, to what we do for a living. One neighbour was a lawyer, others a dentist, a yoga teacher, a non-executive director and business school students. In turn I was asked what I do. “I’m a gemmologist”, I replied to my quizzical neighbours. ‘What’s that?’ said one.
Let's define the word. Gemmology is the study of gems. Wikipedia has “gemmology is the science dealing with natural and artificial gemstone materials.” Note in the US the spelling is gemology.
In the 19th century it emerged as a branch of mineralogy, the study of minerals; most gems are attractive, durable and scarce varieties of minerals (a few gems have an animal (e.g. coral and ivory) or vegetable (e.g. jet and amber) origin. We shall see how the sciences of geology, chemistry, analytical physics and biology are also encountered within gemmology.
I’m a gemmologist. A professional gemmologist. My career has been one of identifying gems and their treatments (Gem Identification) and judging the quality of polished diamonds (Diamond Grading). When I started work in the London gem laboratory in the late 1970s the prime task when testing a gem, whether a diamond or a coloured stone, was to determine its authenticity. That is if it had a natural origin (from the Earth) or if artificial, grown by Man, to look like a natural gem. Pearls were tested to distinguish the rare natural pearl from the more common cultured and imitation pearl.
During my career the testing of a gem developed to include the identification of any treatments to the gem to enhance its beauty hence value. Most gem varieties are routinely treated; various chemical and physical processes are employed to improve colour and clarity. The identification of many modern gem treatments is now more challenging to the gemmologist than testing gem authenticity.
Lately, identifying the geographical (and sometimes the geological) origin of a gem has gained commercial importance as ‘country of origin’ affects the value of some gem varieties. The gem trade attaches more value to scarce fine examples of Kashmir sapphires, Mogok, Burma rubies and Colombian emeralds. Determining where a gem was mined is challenging for a gemmologist demanding the expert use of specialised laboratory instrumentation. Today, the jewellery buyer is asking where and how a gem and the precious metal of a jewellery item has been mined and whether sourcing and trade commerce was transacted in a responsible and ethical way.
To carry out the tasks of a gemmologist, one needs to acquire a thorough knowledge how gems form in the Earth (and how their man-made counterparts are grown), their crystal form, the chemical makeup of the gems, their physical properties, such as hardness, toughness, density and optical characteristics, particularly refractive index, and their behaviour when subjected to various spectroscopic and elemental analysis.
Yet gemmology can extend beyond all these analytical tasks, beyond the physical sciences to art, history, economics and other disciplines. The history of the use of gems in jewellery through the ages and as shown in art since the fifteenth century, their symbolic relevance to diverse cultures; the geology and geography of gem deposits in the world, the economics and social responsibilities of exploration, mining, distribution and pricing of gem materials, the history of gem cutting (lapidary) and of global gem trade routes and marketplaces, all add to the rich field that is modern gemmology.
Do you have a question about gems or gem-set jewellery? Get in touch so we can start a conversation.