Ronnie Bauer, the current Federal Chairman of the GAA has just been awarded the Association’s only Diploma in Gemmology (Diamonds). At the same time he also was awarded the Association’s accredited Diploma in Gemmology and Diploma in Gemmology (valuations). “I feel very honoured to be the first and currently the only recipient of the Diploma in Gemmology (Diamonds).” Said Ronnie, “ But that’s it! At 53 I don’t want to do any more exams.” That statement however was short lived. Ronnie revealed in the next breath that he has enrolled in the GAA’s jewellery sketching and design courses.

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In the May issue of the trade publication Jeweller, Anthony Bates of SGTL (Auscert) sounds off about local vs international labs. In the article, he states that he got a call from a retailer who perceived Auscert’s certificates to be inferior to those produced overseas. He then goes on to counter the retailer’s claim and explain why local labs such as Auscert are actually superior to those overseas.
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From early 2007 till mid-2008, the Australian dollar was riding high – at one point it nearly reached parity with the US dollar. At that time, many in the industry, including myself thought that diamond prices in Australian dollars were at their lowest point in years.
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According to a good source of mine, DCLA is now offering their certificates for stupidly low $20 – provided the diamond has already been certified by Auscert.
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One thing that amazes me about diamond vendors in Australia is that lack any respect for GIA or AGS certificates, or any overseas certificate for that matter. By certificate, I mean the actual paper, that in the case of it being lost, stolen or damaged means that the actual diamond needs to be sent back to the lab overseas.
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We’ve just received clarification from GIA that new report numbers beginning with 21 and 51 will be available on the online report check on October 1st.
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Whilst I wouldn’t say spam is a huge problem in our inbox, we do get our fair share of spam (about 10-20 messages per day). Most of it is deleted straight away, but about once a month, someone from China sends a spam email trying to sell their latest electronic gadget.
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Last week, Dragons’ Den, the BBC show which lets budding entrepreneurs pitch their business and/or ideas to investors, featured British jeweller Clive Billings from diamondgeezer.com.
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“We buy our diamonds direct from the cutter in Antwerp” is a popular tagline these days in the retail industry. However, is Antwerp really the biggest and best place to buy diamonds?
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With larger overseas labs such a the GIA taking the lion’s share of the certified diamond market, it can be hard for smaller or localised labs to compete. However, there are a number of small labs, including those in Australia that do an excellent job of certification, yet are ignored by consumers and the trade alike.
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