Luca D’Angiola, Bruno Martinez, Giovanni Pace and Liviano Soprani, longtime friends and supporters of IGR, shared their impressions after visiting the Tucson Gem Show 2025.
There are no words to fully describe the quality and quantity of exhibitors, hidden masterpieces and top-tier gems one can find at the show.
Bruno Martinez’s impressions
Tucson as a hub. The first notable aspect was the international guests’ turnout, which seemed significantly increased compared to previous years. The audience was much more diverse and the atmosphere felt electric. Many companies showed great interest in the event, bringing the majority of their samples to Tucson. They received positive feedback from all the guests, but especially from new buyers.
A major highlight in gemological research was the exclusive showcase of the Hybrid Diamond Master Set presented by AGA, Stuller and GCAL by Sarine.
There were also intriguing developments regarding artificial intelligence used to fasten gem’s color and purity screening processes, thus optimizing evaluation times. To make AI-assisted evaluations effective, they must match those of gemologists, minimizing mistakes made by an automatic analysis. That is not an easy step to make, but it could give some promising results in the future. Another much-appreciated initiative was the opportunity for visitors to get gemstones’ color evaluated using an arranged set at the show.
Why is Tucson growing? Because the event, as a whole, represents an important moment of gemological gathering that has made and continues to make possible the dialogue between enthusiasts and professionals in an environment conducive to better international collaboration. In this context, Italian gemology is increasingly attracting the interest of gemologists from all over the world.
Liviano Soprani wins Gem-A award for photomicrography
«We are thrilled to announce that our first prize winner is Liviano Soprani for his photomicrograph of a black hematite ‘rose’ inside a 31.15 ct hyaline quartz cabochon from Bahia, Brazil». The exciting news arrived during our delegation’s visit to Tucson: Liviano Soprani has been named “Gem-A Photographer of the Year”.
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As it does every year, the Gem-A (Gemmological Association of Great Britain) recognized the talent of the gemological community’s passionate members reviewing countless photomicrographic artworks.
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The picture was obtained by stacking 25 shots taken at 40x mag (field of view 3.50 mm) using darkfield illumination and a red filter for contrast and a warmer atmosphere. Oblique fibre-optic light was used to highlight the patterns of each tabular crystal. The photo was captured using a Leica S8APO microscope on an HRD D-Scope base with a Nikon Z6 full-frame mirrorless camera.
Liviano, an IGI Antwerp Graduate Gemologist, is one of the Italian members of the AGA and an IGI Alumni Italy Member as well. With a background in gemstone cutting and jewelry design, he later developed a deep passion for photomicrography, which he believes to be a powerful medium to achieve a deep understanding of gemstones’ nature. He also held one of the first photomicrography courses in Italy in 2023, hosted in Campania by the Gemological Institute Gem-Tech.
Billie E. Hughes, one of the judges of the competition, speaking about the winning photograph, outlines the importance of contrasts in the image, red against gray, sharpness against blur to enhance the “petals” of the rose. «All these elements come together to create a striking photo that catches our attention».
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Gem-A also announced that Liviano’s winning photomicrograph will be featured on the cover of the latest volume of Gems&Jewellery (Vol. 33, No. 4).
