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Like any scientific discipline, gemology requires learning through solid training. There are several methods to study it. We will see the advantages and disadvantages of each of them.
The very first question to ask yourself is “what am I going to do with it?” “. Training in gemology is expensive (between 1,500 and 8,400 € / year!) And you should ask yourself whether you want to train for personal interest or for professional reasons. For a professional, the answer is much simpler: you have to go to a recognized gemmology school that delivers a recognized diploma and listed on the market! For the hobby gemologist there are many more possibilities, which we will see in detail.
First, you can start learning gemology through specialized books and sites. This method allows you to get your foot in the door, but most books and sites are in the English language, which can be problematic. There is a whole set of books, but we quickly come up against the first pitfall: we are either on a resolutely practical book, or on a theoretical book. I have yet to read a book that takes the reader step by step from theoretical knowledge to practice. If I take the example of the excellent book by Antoinette Matlins best seller ” Gem identification made easy“, The author presents each instrument and its instructions for use. For the Chelsea filter, it tells us the most common reactions to the filter: aquamarine, emerald, sapphire, topaz, synthetic spinel, etc. All this is perfect you will tell me! Not quite … At no time do we understand whywhat we see through the filter is as it is. To use the filter, you must then memorize the reactions of the most common gems. And I am not talking about syntheses, imitations, confusions and other treatments! The same goes for the dichroscope, the spectroscope and all the other instruments! Personally my memory does not allow me to swallow everything to use it in a real situation and I need to group the reactions by family. And honestly, it’s still a lot easier if you know what to expect to see, because you know howthe filter causes a gem to react. This is the limit of practice without basic theoretical knowledge. A gem seen with a polariscope will not alter the brightness perceived through it if it belongs to the cubic system like diamond or spinel. By studying the seven crystal systems and the large mineral species associated with them, we can deduce the reaction we are supposed to see through the polariscope. A stone that lights up and goes out cannot be of the cubic system. If you’ve been sold it for a spinel, then you’ll know it’s not. The reverse is also true: one can be perfectly good in theory, without knowing how to put it into practice in the field. It is by this path that I started gemmology and even though I have read a large number of books and reference sites,I only managed to put all this knowledge in order with a solid training of the Gem-A. More information on these readings can be found here .
For those who still wonder about going further in the field of gemology, there are also gemology courses. These one or two day courses are offered by gemmology schools, by certain professionals, and even by laboratories. The advantage of these courses is that you are immediately in the bath, you manipulate the instruments, you see beautiful stones. But like everything that is condensed, unless you have the instruments and stones yourself when you get home, there won’t be much left after a few weeks. However, it is an excellent introduction to confirming or not a choice of professional orientation. These internships are also a good way to meet people from the gemological world and other enthusiasts. These courses can be a bit expensive (between 150 and 300 € / day), but the material and the stones are expensive. A very inexpensive course can give you the surprise of spending your time waiting for your turn because there would be 5 students per refractometer …
Finally, schools. So as much to say it openly, all are not equal, all do not have the same programs or the same ratios theory / practice. Part of the value of a school lies in the panoply of stones to analyze. For example, the collection of colored stones from AIGS in Bangkok is considered to be one of the most beautiful in the world! If you want to focus on diamonds, then schools like the GIA or the HRD in Antwerp will have a very “diamond” connotation. In the midst of this, there are schools like Gem-A that offer more generalist training. Gem-A’s theoretical corpus is one of the most comprehensive in the world.
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