Event Type: Educational

This year our fabulous line up of Scientific Seminars that form part of our Federal Conference will be available for all to attend, either virtually via zoom, or in person at various local GAA hubs around the country. Note that starting time is Perth time, as the Perth division is hosting this event. To book your place;

• New South Wales
• Victoria
• Queensland
• Western Australia
• South Australia
• Tasmania

Precious gemstones are celebrated for the outward beauty, particularly for shining colours that capture our attention. Beyond their fascinating beauty, each of Mother Nature’s gems encapsulates part of Earth’s history, a story millions of years in the making. Join us on a journey into this hidden space inside of a gemstone. Together we will explore the microscopic depths of rubies and sapphires, seeing a world that most have never glimpsed.

Billie will discuss microscopy techniques we can use to best observe inclusions. She will also demonstrate how to use their searchable Hyperion inclusion database to learn more about how inclusions can be used in gemmological identification.

Billie graduated from UCLA in 2011, she qualified as a Fellow of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain (FGA) in 2013.

Billie’s photographic work has been published in Terra Spinel, the Wall Street Journal, Ruby & Sapphire: A Collector’s Guide, Ruby & Sapphire: A Gemologist’s Guide and Inside Out. She has delivered lectures in China, France, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the UK, and the US. Her articles, gemological images and photomicrographs have appeared in Gems & Gemology, The Gemguide, The Journal of the Gemmological Association of Hong Kong, and InColor magazine. She has won prizes from the Nikon Small World, Gem-A, Clemson University, and Close-Up Photographer of the Year competitions.

This year our fabulous line up of Scientific Seminars that form part of our Federal Conference will be available for all to attend, either virtually via zoom, or in person at various local GAA hubs around the country. Contact your local division to book your place today! Note that starting time is Perth time, as the Perth division is hosting this event.

• What is a good cut and how does it influence the appearance of a gem?
• Understanding the fundamentals of how light reacts with a stone, and why some stones are darker or lighter, or why some even show two or three colours, all play a role in deciding how to cut a gemstone to its best advantage.
• In this presentation you will learn more about the science and art behind cutting a gemstone and the decisions a gem cutter needs to make, to yield the best gemstone.

Laura has been working in the jewellery industry for over 10 years, and obtained her gemmology diploma in 2014. She is the owner of Tatum Gems and has been professionally cutting gemstones for seven years, trained in both specialist repair work and custom cutting across all gemstone materials, including having dabbled in diamond cutting. Laura is a proud lecturer for the GAA and has held roles on the South Australian committee, including education officer, BOS&E representative and is currently the state president. She was most recently one of 12 lapidarists invited to participate in the Lapidary Extravaganza from Somewhere In The Rainbow at the 2019 Tucson show.

This year our fabulous line up of Scientific Seminars that form part of our Federal Conference will be available for all to attend, either virtually via zoom, or in person at various local GAA hubs around the country. Contact your local division to book your place today! Note that starting time is Perth time, as the Perth division is hosting this event.

The GAA in conjunction with the Australian Opal Centre (AOC) is currently developing an online opal course that will be accessible worldwide. Terry will be updating us on the current status of this course.

Terry Coldham is well known both locally and internationally in the gemstone industry. He has been involved wholesaling coloured gemstones including Australian sapphires for 50 years. He is a member of several trade associations including the Gemmological Association of Australia, where he is Patron and chair of the GAA Opal Committee and is the Australian ambassador for The International Colored Gemstone Association. He is also a founder member of Australian Opal Centre (AOC).

This year our fabulous line up of Scientific Seminars that form part of our Federal Conference will be available for all to attend, either virtually via zoom, or in person at various local GAA hubs around the country. Contact your local division to book your place today! Note that starting time is Perth time, as the Perth division is hosting this event.

Australia is home to two cultivated pearls – Pinctada maxima, producing Australian South Sea pearls in our tropical north, and Pinctada fucata, producing Australian Akoya pearls in the cooler subtropical waters. Both species produce amongst the finest pearls in their categories on a global scale. While the five ‘visible’ virtues of pearls are widely understood, little is known about the ‘invisible virtues’ around the journey of a pearl from farm to market that is generating greater interest from a new generation of pearl consumers around the world.

A third-generation Pearler, James was raised at Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm village on the Kimberley Coast, 240km north of Broome, and his education spans from Cygnet Bay Primary School to gaining a Bachelor of Science, Marine Biology from James Cook University.

Since 2000, James has honed his skills in all facets of the pearling industry, learned the intricacies of aquaculture, marine research, commercial marine operations, jewellery wholesale, and retail, and remote tourism, while overseeing the adaptation, survival, and diversification of his historic family business – the oldest operating pearl farm in Australia.

This year our fabulous line up of Scientific Seminars that form part of our Federal Conference will be available for all to attend, either virtually via zoom, or in person at various local GAA hubs around the country. Contact your local division to book your place today! Note that starting time is Perth time, as the Perth division is hosting this event.

The polarizing microscope, is the most important instrument used in the identification of minerals by optical methods. As the usefulness of optical methods of identification have been greatly superseded by high technical instrumentation in mineralogy, there are many applications for the continuing use in gemmology. Crystallography is the mainstay of understanding optical behavior of light in gemstones and the polarizing microscope permits observations to high magnifications, under both plane and crossed polarized lighting. Using thin sections, grain crushes and whole gemstones, methods of identification will be demonstrated as applied to gemmological minerals and materials.

Susan, a London University Honours graduate in geology, was initially employed as the Mineralogist at the Geological Survey in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). She qualified as an FGA by distance learning and practiced as a gemmologist and Valuer in London. After moving to Western Australia in 1998 she continued working as a Valuer and as a lecturer with the Gemmological Association of Australia.
Susan has published various papers in the Journal of Gemmology covering Zimbabwean minerals including emerald and euclase and, since moving to Western Australia, has authored and co-authored numerous papers culminating in the popular Gemstones of Western Australia bulletin. Susan has maintained close links with the Gemmological Association in London and is on the board of Examiners. She is currently Keeper of Gemstones for the Gemmological Association of Australia.

This year our fabulous line up of Scientific Seminars that form part of our Federal Conference will be available for all to attend, either virtually via zoom, or in person at various local GAA hubs around the country. Contact your local division to book your place today! Note that starting time is Perth time, as the Perth division is hosting this event.

• A brief overview of the Marshall Pool chrysoprase deposit and the varieties of chrysoprase recovered there.
• Gold from the Beta Hunt nickel mine, a once in fifty year find.

Murray has been working in gemmology for over 48 years, starting with a city-based jeweller in Adelaide, where he studied gemmology, valuing and store management. From there he progressed to faceting Australian emeralds in Kalgoorlie and prospecting for gold in WA, before returning to Adelaide, where he opened a gem cutting business.
In 1987 Murray won a Churchill Fellowship for international gem fashioning and display, which allowed him to visit gem cutters, jewellery stores, museums and gemmological studios across the world.
After more than a decade of gem cutting, Murray moved to Perth where he studied geology at Curtin University and the Kalgoorlie School of Mines, then worked as a geologist. After retiring, Murray resumed his gem fashioning business (Desert Fire Designs) concentrating on WA sourced material.

Learn to knot pearls like a professional! Quality pearl necklaces require quality pearl threading. This includes tying the knots in between each pearl to prevent loss of pearls if the necklace snaps, as well as preventing the pearls from rubbing together and abrading which is of particular help for the longevity of cultured pearls. This course demonstrates the type of materials that can be used for pearl threading, the number of strands for threading and a method for tying tight knots between the pearls. The course also includes some additional information about threading of other gems.

Bookings Essential.

Learn to knot pearls like a professional! Quality pearl necklaces require quality pearl threading. This includes tying the knots in between each pearl to prevent loss of pearls if the necklace snaps, as well as preventing the pearls from rubbing together and abrading which is of particular help for the longevity of cultured pearls. This course demonstrates the type of materials that can be used for pearl threading, the number of strands for threading and a method for tying tight knots between the pearls. The course also includes some additional information about threading of other gems.