Gemstone Gathering

 

The 1st Gemstone Gathering took place on April 26th, 2007

about " Update on the occurrence of Be in blue sapphire "

By Mr. Ken Scarratt

Director of GIA Research Thailand

 

Despite an untimely and massive rainy-season storm the first of the monthly GIA Thailand Gemstone Gatherings was attended by some 50 gemstone enthusiasts. Those who braved the inclement weather were students, alumni and industry professionals keen to network, state their views, listen, and learn and to generally have a sociable evening with like-minded people.

     

   

The evening began with a reception of drinks and snacks then a presentation by Ken Scarratt, GIA Laboratory's Director in Bangkok. Ken's presentation discussed the chemistry of ruby and sapphire and how the determination of this helps identify synthetic stones and treatments as well as assisting in the determination of origin. However, the main focus for the evening was on how Beryllium was determined and measured in corundum using Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Further, the presentation described how it was possible to distinguish between beryllium that is present naturally and that which has been diffused into the stone by artificial means.

   

The presentation was followed by a myriad of questions that overflowed into the networking opportunity that followed. Many suggestions were made for future presentation topics and these were duly noted.