Are the Gemological courses worth taking?

Keep in mind that these are my personal opinions and experiences, other people may have different ones.

There are many organizations that teach about gemstones and the business of selling gems. The GIA (Gemological Institute of America) is probably one of the most well known. But there are many other organizations that teach and offer certificates too.

Most of these organizations offer some type of certifications depending on the the courses a student takes and passes. One of the most common is Graduate Gemologist (GG). There are others, like pearls, diamonds, and often people will have multiple certificates.

Before deciding if going to school and taking gemology classes like the GIA Graduate Gemology courses are worth it to you or not. You need to decide what your goals are.

The reason I say you need to know what your goals are, is because there are several ways to approach this and it can be very expensive or not cost much depending on what you want.

Note: Commercial cut gemstones are only one segment of the gemstone market and often not what people think it is. The majority of course work at any commercial school or institution will only apply to cut commercial gemstones. Cut gemstones, not rough, GIA and most others will teach virtually nothing about rough gemstones or about how to cut.

Paying for and becoming "GG" from any of the major schools is one way to go and maybe some thing for you if...

If you want to ultimately work in the retail trade - This could include working as a sales clerk (most common) at low wage, a sales representative for a manufacturer or jeweler, working in shop as an appraiser (of gemstones) or even owning and running your own business.

Sell gems and jewelry - This is a general category, a lot of pawn shops, antique dealers and just people trying to make a buck fit this.

Appraise cut gems - This could involve buying and selling, insurance appraisals, and so on. Appraising also includes some testing and identifying genuine gemstones as well as various frauds and fakes.

Note: There are organizations that teach and deal strictly with appraising gems and jewelry, the GIA GG does not make you an appraiser. Appraisals are almost another subject and there are organizations and schools that specialize in appraisals and certifying appraisers. A GG degree is not the same as a jewelry appraisal certification and will not qualify you to be an appraiser.

If you fit into one of the above categories... Then the GIA GG certificate may be some thing you will want to have. A Graduate Gemologist certification is widely accepted in the "retail" part of the trade and is some thing that jewelers and manufacturer some times take into consideration when hiring. They may or may not be willing to pay you more for it, so do not count on it making you more money.

However a Graduate Gemologist certification is basically worthless when it comes to the rough gem trade and cutting part of the gem business. This what I meant when I said it depends on what you want to do.

If you are NOT in any of the above categories.

I recommend against the courses and certifications. The GIA Graduate Gemologist course is expensive, as are others. Last time I looked the classes required for the certification cost well in excess of $12,000.00, depending on what certification(s) you want and where you take the classes. The certification can cost a lot more depending on what, where, and how you do it.

If you just want to learn about gemstones - $12,000.00 (or more) buys a lot of equipment and books. There are plenty of written materials and books available that you can learn from. Everything one of these certification courses teaches, you can easily learn on your own. Plus you will likely learn a lot more on your own than any course will teach you.

If you want to learn about cutting - None of these certifications/courses will teach you anything about the actual process of cutting gemstones. They will teach you some basics of commercial grading and cuts of gemstone, but that is about it. Faceting/cutting is a completely different subject and usually not covered.

OK here are my personal opinions and observations.

GIA and most of the other commercial schools are mainly geared towards the commercial end of the gem business. By this I mean that most of these commercial certificates and classes deal with the gem trade as a whole. They focus on grading and selling commercially cut gemstones.

Think warm bodies (usually low pay) for the commercial trade.

They concentrate particularly (in my opinion) on selling commercial goods. This does include some testing and training for cut fakes and things of that nature.

By commercial goods I mean basically run of the mill quality commercially cut faceted stones from Bangkok, China, and other world cutting centers. There is nothing wrong with this, it is a major part of the gem and jewelry trade.

But most of these "schools" do not teach you about real quality faceting or cutting and how to grade high end quality type of goods. Of course the average GIA GG will seldom see these quality goods in the normal jewelry and gem trade.

Note: I should also point out that I (and many others in the gem trade) very often do not agree with many of the policies, politics, and business practices of some of these institutes. GIA in particular (in my opinion), but others as well, so keep in mind I am not really a fan of theirs.

The point I am trying to make is that (in my opinion) most of these certification courses are concentrating their curriculum on selling commercial goods and they do not really teach anything but commercial stones. This of course is what they are geared to do and what they do, nothing wrong with it, people that are looking to get into the gem business just need to realize that is what these courses are really meant to do. Then consider their situation and decide if a GIA class is what they want.

It is important to be clear here... The world of quality gemstones is almost not touched. Very little or nothing about rough, cutting, designing, buying and selling, and many other aspects of the trade are covered. Especially the high end art type of rough and stones I deal with. This is fine, it is not their thing... Just understand who does what, before you pay for expensive classes and of course what you want to learn.

For example... What most GIA GG graduates would call a very well cut stone using GIA standards (Bangkok cut stone) I would make my beginning student(s) re-cut because it was way below standard to me. There is that much difference between quality cutting and commercial cutting.

In the GIA courses they will hardly mention high quality cutting, because they are geared towards the commercial market. Things are starting to change, but slowly. So do not expect much about the high end trade on gemstones to be covered in the GIA courses..

If you are interested in really understanding gemstones, you will need to learn how to cut and you will need to study with some top cutters and suppliers. This kind of experience is some thing that GIA and other institutes cannot provide. It is just not some thing they are geared for.

There is no substitute for real life quality experience.

Basically what this all boils down to is you need to decide what you want to do.

If you want to work for some one in the retail part of the gem trade then a certification of some kind maybe what you want. In my opinion and experience having a certificate may help find a job and it may not. Most jobs are in the "clerk" or "sales" category and will not pay a lot. Plus you will not really be working with gem stones so much as selling jewelry. There are of course some exceptions.

If you want to be in business, learn to cut, learn about gemstones in depth. Then you probably need to learn how to cut yourself and self learn gemstones and identification. No certification or course that I know of will do much but scratch the surface.

Also remember $12,000.00 will more than buy you all the equipment you need to cut. It will probably buy you all the equipment needed for cutting and gem identification too.

If you have the money, these two goals are not mutually exclusive. There is nothing saying you cannot take a GG certification course and learn to cut stones too. It is just that most people are on a budget and cannot afford to do both. If you are lucky enough to be able to afford both and want to do them, then fine. Just keep in mind that $12,000.00 will buy a lot of some thing... like gem rough, or microscopes and gem identification tools.

Recognized Laboratories

American Gemological Laboratory (AGL) - The American Gemological Laboratory function primarily as a buyer’s lab. Sellers interested in protecting their reputation and the interest of their clients, commonly prefers a buyer's report. AGL’s main focus is comprehensive coloured stone examination including detailed country of origin analysis, enhancement detection and full quality reports for important coloured stones.
American Gemological Laboratory (AGL)
580 Fifth Avenue, Suite 706
New York, NY 10036
1-212-7040727
1-212-7647614 (Fax)
aglgemlab@yahoo.com

Gemological Institute of America (GIA) - Established in 1931, GIA is one of the world’s largest gemmological research and learning centers.
Gemological Institute of America World Headquarters
The Robert Mouawad Campus
5345 Armada Drive
Carlsbad, California 92008
800-421-7250
760-603-4000
Fax 760-603-4003
E-mail: eduinfo@gia.edu
http://www.gia.edu

GIA New York Branch
580 Fifth Avenue, Suite 300
New York, New York 10036
800-366-8519
212-944-5900
Fax 212-719-9563
E-mail: nyedu@gia.edu http://www.gia.edu

International Gemological Institute (IGI) - Established in Antwerp, New York, Mumbai, Bangkok, Tokyo, Toronto, Los Angeles, Dubai, Tel Aviv, Cavalese and Seoul, IGI is the world's largest independent gem certification and appraisal institute . IGI issues more than 550,000 reports a year.
IGI Belgium - World Head Office
Schupstraat 1 2018
Antwerp BELGIUM
Tel: +32-3-231.68.45
Fax: +32-3-232.07.58
Email: info@igiworldwide.com

IGI - New York
589 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10017
USA Tel: +1-212-753-7100
Fax: +1-212-753-7759
Email: info@igi-usa.com

The Gemmological Association and Gem Testing Laboratory of Great Britain - In 1990 the Association joined with the Gem Testing Laboratory of Great Britain to form the Gemmological Association and Gem Testing Laboratory of Great Britain (Gem-A). The status of Fellowship, with the letters FGA, is recognized worldwide, as is DGA, diamond membership. The Gem-A is a non-profit making organization whose principal objectives are: • The scientific study of gem materials • To establish education systems and hold examinations • To provide laboratory services to the jewellery trade • To maintain libraries and collections of gem materials
Gem-A 27 Greville Street (Saffron Hill Entrance)
London EC1N8TN
Tel: +44(0) 207-404-3334
Fax: +44 (0) 207-404-8843
e-mail:gagtl@btinternet.com

Asian Institute of Gemological Sciences - The Asian Institute of Gemological Sciences was founded in 1978 as Southeast Asia's first educational and research institute devoted exclusively to the training of students in the scientific and practical aspects of gemmology and the gem trade. Asia has been regarded as the source for some of the world's finest gemstones for over 2000 years.
Asian Institute of Gemological Science Jewelry Trade Center
33rd Floor 919/1 Silom Road, Bangrak
Bangkok Thailand 10500
(66-2) 267-4315-9
(66-2) 267-4320
Email: info@aigsthailand.com
Web: http://www.aigsthailand.com/

Gubelin Gemmological Laboratory - Dr. Gübelin is one of the most highly recognised and influential gemmological personalities in the world, devoting his life and career to unveiling the mystique of gemstones. Over the decades, as a result of Dr. Gübelin's work, the Gübelin Laboratory gained in recognition and stature, and has become one of the world's highly recognised gemmological laboratories.
Gübelin Gem Lab Ltd.
Maihofstrasse 102 6006
Lucerne Switzerland
Tel: (+ 41) 41 / 429 17 17
Fax: (+ 41) 41 / 429 17 34
www.gubelinlab.com
info@gubelingemlab.ch

Recognized Gemmological Schools Antwerp Diamond High Council - The educational department of the Antwerp Diamond High Council is the HRD Institute of Gemmology. It offers a range of highly qualified training programs in diamond grading and gemmology. The courses of the Institute of Gemmology aim to train professional diamond graders, sorters and gemmologists.
HRD - Antwerp Diamond High Council Hovenierstraat
22 BE-2018 Antwerpen Belgium
Tel. +32 (0)3 222 05 11
Fax +32 (0)3 222 06 95
E-mail hrd@hrd.be

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