Gem-A Speakers, Workshops and New Sponsors for 2014 Conference

Press release provided by Gem-A

Gem-A Speakers, Workshops and New Sponsors 

for 2014 Conference

The Gemmological Association of Great Britain (Gem-A)) has announced its sponsors for this year's international Conference at the Business Design Centre in Islington,  November 1-4, 2014. 

The Conference invites members of the Association and the wider gem and jewellery industry to join them for a four day event comprising of speakers, workshops, trips and social events for anyone from the aspiring gemmologist to the seasoned professional.

The line up at this year's conference is impressive to say the least...

Saturday - November 1st - Speakers:

Bruce Bridges - The history of Tsavorite and legacy of Campbell Bridges 

Edward Boehm gg cg - Analyzing gems on the go: tips from the field

Dr Thomas Hainschwang fga - The challenges faced by green to greenish blue diamonds 

coloured by natural or artificial irradiation

Alan Hart fga dga - Gems at the Natural History Museum: a review and a forward look

Dr Ulrich Henn - The different types of moonstone 

Brian Cook - Paraíba Tourmaline: an update and Bahia golden rutilated quartz: introduction

Vincent Pardieu gg - From Jedi to Windex: a quest to the origins of the ultimate red and blue spinels

Sunday - November 2nd - Speakers:

Craig Lynch gg - The recovered jewellery of RMS Titanic

Dr Laurent Cartier fga - An update on worldwide cultured pearl production

Chris Smith fga gg - Ruby and sapphire source — type classification: an objective approach to help make country of origin determinations more consistent

Dr Menahem Sevdermish fga - Further developments into digital colour analysis, grading, 

pricing and trading of gems

Terry Coldham fgaa - Australian sapphire — a forgotten foundation stone of Thailand’s gemstone industry

Richard Hughes fga, with special guest John Saul - Heretical gemmology

Monday, November 3rd - Three practical seminars will take place at Gem-A Headquarters in London. Guest hosts:

Richard Drucker fga gg, President of GemWorld International Inc. 

Coloured Stone Grading and Pricing Workshop

Mikko Åström fga and Alberto Scarani gg, GemmoRaman

Gemmological Applications of Raman and Photoluminescence Spectroscopy

Dr Franz Herzog

A Portable EDXRF Device in Gemmology: Toy or Dream?

Register HERE

Gem-A has recently confirmed two new sponsors and one associate supporter for the 4-day event in November, adding to an A-list of top companies already backing the event. Recently confirmed sponsors include The Company of Master Jewellers (CMJ) who, alongside taking up position as a sponsor, will be backing Gem-A education courses by marketing them directly to members over the coming months. Joining the CMJ will be Italian-based gemmological laboratory Gemological Education Certification Institute (GECI), who will make up the final of our current sponsorship spots.

Alongside our sponsors are our associate supporters; avid supporters of the Association that have pledged sponsorship money or resources for the event. The most recent addition to this list is C W Sellors, who support the conference for the 2nd year running and will also be bringing the largest piece of Whitby jet ever found to be studied by attendees.

In addition to these three sponsors, the Gem-A Conference is also supported and sponsored by a number of companies from across the globe, including: 

US TV-giant Jewelry Television will be joining the conference as Major Sponsors

Spectrometry wizards, GemmoRaman532 will be joining the conference as Sponsors

AnchorCert, Institute of Registered Valuers (IRV), GemWorld International and Marcus McCallum FGA will be joining the conference as Supporters

The British Jewellers' Association (BJA), T.H. March and Aspara Gems will be joining as Associate Supporters.

Commenting on the raft of sponsors lined-up to support the 2014 Conference, Gem-A CEO James Riley said: "For another year Gem-A has managed to pull together some of the largest international companies to sponsor our conference. It's no wonder, with the calibre of speakers at this year's event, that we've had such overwhelming support from all aspects of the trade. We're extremely pleased to have the CMJ, GECI and CW Sellors on board, alongside our other sponsors. It's a welcome return for CW Sellors (who supported and spoke at our conference in 2013) and a huge bonus to have GECI and CMJ joining us for the first time. Having all three of these companies supporting our Conference is superb news and we thoroughly look forward to working with them in the coming months."

Gem-A is still accepting offers for sponsorship from the trade and encourages any company interested in becoming a sponsor to get in touch. The Conference itself runs for 4 days from 1-4 November with tickets starting from £225 for one day. For more information on how to attend the Conference or be listed as one of our sponsors, visit the Conference pages on the News & Events section of the Gem-A website at: www.gem-a.com 

About Gem-A:   The Gemmological Association of Great Britain, or Gem-A, a London-based educational charity, is the world's longest established provider of gem education and a membership organization that forms an international community of gem professionals and enthusiasts. Gem-A seeks to serve the best interests of the gem and jewellery industries worldwide through its commitment to supporting gemmological research and high educational and trade standards. For information see www.gem-a.com.

Follow Gem-A:  Twitter:twitter.com/GemAofGB   Facebook: fb.com/GemAofGB and LinkedIn:linkedin.com/company/gem-a 

Gem-A will be holding its November 2014 Conference at the Royal Agricultural Hall, now the Business Design Centre. The Hall is a Grade II listed building, which opened in 1862 in the district of Islington in London, England, for holding agricultural shows. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Agricultural_Hall)