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INTRODUCTION

Gems stones are the bounty of Mother Nature; hundreds of minerals have been created and nurtured by her, of which some of them are rare, durable and most beautiful. These rare gem minerals are the most beautiful wonders of the nature and hence always been fascinated by mankind from time immemorial. These precious minerals have been cherished as a store of value and also symbol of love, affection, status and a most precious gift to the loved ones. The unique value of these gem minerals necessitated the need for identification and classification of them in to different species and varieties. Therefore the “gemstone identification” or “Ratna Pariksha” started in the remote era of human history.

In India the “Vedas” and “Sashtras” are also mentioned about the gemstone and their mystical values which simply indicate that the gemstones were part of Indian culture and civilization. In the saga of time, many changes have happened. Man has been relentlessly tried to imitate the precious gemstones and has succeeded in creating a “Test tube gem” ( laboratory grown gemstones); he has also succeeded in enhancing the colour of gem materials. ---- “Ingenuity thy name is man” !!

These scientific developments in the field of synthesis and treatments have created a whirl pool in the gemstone industry and business. Gemstones have been produced in a laboratory having the same chemical composition, optical properties and physical properties as that of a natural gemstones. These developments necessitated the need for the study of gemology, the science of gemstones.

Thus in the early 1900 the efforts were made to organize the study of gemstones and in the year 1908 the very first institution in the world “Gemmological Association of Great Britain” was born. Dr. Herbert Smith, Mr. Robert Webster, Mr. B.W. Anderson were some of the founder fathers of gemology and gem testing.

Over the years, almost all important gemstones such as Rubies, Sapphires, Emeralds and Diamonds have been grown in the laboratory as well as organic product like pearl has been cultured.

Side by side efforts were also made to improve the colour of gemstone by various methods of treatments, such as heat, irradiation, and impregnation of dye, chemicals and foreign substance. Identification of colour enhanced gemstone and the laboratory grown synthetics became a challenge before the gem trade and industry all around the world.

NEED FOR LABORATORIES

The study of gemstones by gemologists using highly sophisticated instruments became necessary to distinguish and differentiate the synthetic and treatments. The gemological laboratories like Gemmological Association of Great Britain, (UK), Gemmological Institute of America,, USA, SSEF (Switzerland), Gubelin Laboratories, German Gemmological Association, (Germany) and many more laboratories around the world have contributed immensely to develop methods for identification of gemstones and treatments.

During the last half of the 20th century the need for laboratory services especially in testing and identification and also for standardization of the quality aspects of gemstones, particularly those of diamonds were evolved. The contributions of Mr. Richard Liddicoat and Prof. Edward Gubelin in evolving the diamond grading standards and identification of gemstones by fluid inclusions respectively were beyond imagination.

For many decades, the Gem Testing laboratories have been catering to the basic requirements of identification of species and varieties of various gemstones. Identification of the latest synthetics and treatments in the recent times requires very sophisticated instruments. Therefore a conventional laboratory is not enough to identify and certify all type of newer synthetics and treatments.

The gem testing laboratories require not only the measurements of just the refractive index, specific gravity or microscopic study of inclusions; the laboratories must be equipped with the instruments like spectro-photometers etc. for elemental analysis.

QUALIFIED MANPOWER

The instruments may be highly sophisticated but they alone cannot give the complete solution of identification of a gemstone. Along with these instruments there needs to be highly qualified and trained gemologists and scientific personnel to operate the instruments and interpret the data.

DATA COLLECTION

Data collection is very important factor as far as the analyses of gem materials are concerned. Therefore it is absolutely essential to have a data bank which could be used as a library at all times. Collection of data on various gemstones for its geographical origin, various types of treatments, nature and type of inclusions etc are very time consuming and expensive. Similarly authenticity of sources of sample is a highly important factor.

Collection of data and use of various instruments like Raman Spectroscope, FTIR, Spectro-photometer, UV Visible Spectroscope, fluorescence meter, EDXRF, LIBS etc. are now becoming inevitable for exact identification of the sample.

The gemologists and scientists have therefore to work in very close network to find solution to face the challenges emerging from the latest synthetics and treatments, especially the HPHT treated diamonds and synthetic diamonds.

CERTIFICATION

The certificate should bear the basic details of the stones such as its weight, colour, shape, proportions etc. In addition it is preferable to give more transparency to the certificate by mentioning the inclusions and specific properties being measured. The certificate should also have the photographs of the stone and it should be worded in an unambiguous manner. Each of the stone should be studied minutely by minimum of 2 gemmologists . Certifications should be of security papers and preferably should have water marks, logo, hologram and bar-coding in order to avoid duplication.

CONCLUSION

In the present scenario a state-of-the-art laboratory for gem testing should have the sophisticated instruments as mentioned above as well as trained manpower. Gemmological Institute of India in Mumbai is fully equipped with the latest instruments for identification of all types of treatments and synthetics. Minimum requirements of instrumentation and qualification of staff for a laboratory should be prescribed by the authorities for recognition of a laboratory by the Council or Government.