Gems and jewelry, particularly diamonds, faced a challenging year in 2024 due to reduced consumer demand in major markets, leading to lowered activity for every sector of the global industry, from the mines to retail. Facing these challenges, GIA, the Gemological Institute of America, continued its decades-long mission to ensure the public trust in gems and jewelry, making important advances in gemological and technical research, education for coming generations of industry professionals, and science-based gem identification and grading services in its laboratories around the world.
“The gifting of gems and jewelry is ingrained into every culture,” says GIA President and CEO Susan Jacques. “As global conditions continue to improve, our industry must be prepared to meet consumers’ stronger demand with integrity, transparency, and quality. GIA stands ready, as always, with groundbreaking scientific advances, industry-leading education programs, and the independent gem and jewelry reports that the trade and consumers expect and rely on.”
GIA Jade Reports
GIA began the year with a new gemological report for jade, a new advanced microscope and a state-of-the-art diamond grading laboratory in Dubai. Throughout the year, we offered new laboratory services, announced a significant event for 2025 and continued our work to advance traceability and sustainability in the global gem and jewelry industry.
Introduced late in December 2023, the GIA Jade Report recognizes the importance of jade to the global trade and its special significance in the Asian market. One notable improvement is the addition of details about the type. When appropriate, the commonly used trade term “Fei Cui” will be listed in the comments section.
GIA Instruments
GIA has a long history of innovation in gemological instruments, starting with the iconic jeweler’s loupe 90 years ago. GIA applies its extensive research and technical expertise to the practical aspects of everyday work in the trade. In January 2024, GIA introduced the latest gemological microscope, the GIA Gemolite® NXT. Developed in conjunction with GIA’s Global Research Team, the ergonomically designed microscope meets the needs of gemologists and scientists, whether grading diamonds, colored stones, or pearls.
Protection Against Diamond Fraud
Recognizing the concerns raised by reports of fraudulent inscriptions on laboratory-grown diamonds cut to nearly match GIA-graded natural diamonds, GIA launched a same-day in-person service to confirm that a diamond with a GIA inscription matches its corresponding GIA report. Announced in January, the service is available at all GIA laboratory locations.
GIA Laboratory DMCC
To further meet clients’ needs and ensure the public trust in gems and jewelry, a new GIA laboratory opened in the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) free trade zone. The GIA Laboratory DMCC expands the Institute’s trusted, efficient, and recognized science-based diamond grading services to that important global diamond center. The GIA Laboratory DMCC offers diamond grading services for D-to-Z diamonds weighing up to 3.99 carats.
Converge
In a very exciting development in June 2024, GIA and the American Gem Society (AGS) announced they would come together for a singular, joint event offering insight into cutting-edge gemological research, education, training and opportunities for gem and jewelry professionals to network globally. Converge will be held September 7-10, 2025, in Carlsbad, California, U.S., the location of GIA’s world headquarters. Speaking about Converge in the announcement, GIA President and CEO Susan Jacques says, “This joint event will blend the best of AGS and GIA, harnessing each organization’s unique capabilities to offer innovative educational and professional development programming, together with the latest scientific research in a unique environment.” More information about Converge will be available soon.
Traceability
Traceability for gems and sustainability are two crucial issues for GIA and the industry. GIA continues to engage with governments and other organizations in the trade to cooperatively develop robust systems and protocols for diamond provenance. This effort complements our robust, science-based services for colored stone origin reporting. We recently added a new way to trace some cultured pearls through their journey. Leveraging technology that embeds radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags in bead-cultured pearls, GIA will now include the unique RFID reference number on the pearl’s corresponding GIA report.
GIA Education
Education remains at the center of GIA’s mission, and, like GIA’s industry-leading gem identification and grading services, it builds on the work of the global research team. That greater understanding of the fundamental nature of gems informs what students worldwide learn in GIA classrooms through digital learning every day. The needs of the trade also inform GIA education. The Institute recently worked with Signet Jewelers, the largest retailer in the United States, to bring training for bench jewelers right where they work. The program is co-facilitated by GIA and two GIA-certified Signet team members, who work with program students in person at Signet’s Akron, Ohio, facility and via Zoom-style classes with live instructors.
GIA Alumni Collective
An essential part of GIA education is the continuing relationship with and support for GIA graduates. The GIA Alumni Collective connects GIA graduates worldwide with opportunities for continuing education and networking throughout the gem and jewelry industry. There are 165,000 alumni with 58 active chapters in 18 countries around the globe from Manhattan to Mumbai, including Shenzhen and the recently relaunched Shanghai chapter plus Hong Kong and Macau in China and chapters in Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka and a new chapter in Thailand.. Sign up and find a chapter at https://collective.gia.edu/.
Looking to the Future
“The challenges and successes of 2024 will set the stage for 2025,” says Susan Jacques. “I am tremendously excited and optimistic about what the new year will bring for all of us as we work to preserve the all-important confidence consumers have in our industry.”
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This article was published and printed on Gem Spectrum print magazine Issue #2 Winter 2025, page 6. Please browse the Flipbook below. Full-screen viewing and downloading possible.
