Developments in Gemstone Analysis Techniques
and Instrumentatin During the 2000s
Christopher M. Breeding1, Andy H. Shen1, Sally Eaton-Magaña1,
George R. Rossman2,
James E. Shigley1, and Al Gilbertson1
1Gemological Institute of America
Carlsbad CA
2California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA
Abstract
The first decade of the 2000s continued the trend of using more
powerful analytical instruments to solve gem identification problems.
Advances in gem treatment and synthesis technology, and the discovery
of new gem sources, led to urgent needs in gem identification. These,
in turn, led to the adaptation of newer scientific instruments to
gemology. The past decade witnessed the widespread use of chemical
microanalysis techniques such as LA-ICP-MS and LIBS, luminescence
spectroscopy (particularly photoluminescence), real-time fluorescence
and X-ray imaging, and portable spectrometers, as well as the
introduction of nanoscale analysis. Innovations in laser mapping and
computer modeling of diamond rough and faceted stone appearance changed
the way gemstones are cut and the manner in which they are graded by
gem laboratories.
Gems & Gemology 46, 241-257.