Gem-A Diploma

Why I’m studying gemmology

As I began working more with natural gemstones, I realised that choosing them well required more than simply having an eye for colour and form.

I wanted to be competent in selecting stones: to understand what I was buying, where it had come from, whether it had received any enhancing treatments and whether its price reflected its value. I also needed to understand durability. A beautiful gemstone is not necessarily suitable for every piece of jewellery or for the way someone intends to wear it.

Rather than relying solely on suppliers’ descriptions, I wanted to learn the skills to examine gemstones myself, ask the appropriate questions and make informed decisions on behalf of my clients. That led me to begin studying with Gem-A, the Gemmological Association of Great Britain.

What started as a practical decision has opened up an extraordinary world. What we see as a beautiful colour or an unusual pattern is the visible result of something that may have formed deep within the earth over millions of years. Heat, pressure, minerals and tiny changes in chemical composition all leave their mark.

Although I have always loved natural gemstones, studying gemmology has made me look at them differently. The more I learn, the more extraordinary it seems that each carries evidence of how - and sometimes where - it was formed, with every change in its environment leaving a mark and becoming part of its story.

I sit

In peaceful

Contemplation.

Formed

By nature

And circumstance.

I wait

For you

To see me.

To acknowledge

My every

Inclusion.

Each ‘defect’

Part

Of my story.

I hope

Someday

You’ll know me