To celebrate its 65th anniversary, the Finnish Gemmological Association (Suomen Gemmologinen Seura, SGS) is organizing a premier international seminar and evening gala on October 11–12, 2025, in Helsinki, Finland.
This significant event will bring together a panel of distinguished international experts to share current research and key developments in the field of gemology. The seminar promises to offer in-depth knowledge for professionals involved in research, laboratory practice, and gemological education, covering topics such as advancements in gemstone identification, spectroscopic applications, and innovations in instrumentation.
The two-day seminar will be held at the Helsinki Central Library Oodi. The event will culminate in an Evening Gala at the historic Restaurant Pörssitalo on Saturday, October 11, 2025.
The conference features a lineup of seven internationally recognized speakers, each presenting on a specialized and highly relevant topic within modern gemology.
A Look into the Seminars
Dr. James E. Shigley, a Distinguished Research Fellow at GIA, will open the seminar with his presentation, “The Changing World of Gemology – Gem Testing: A Look Back and a Look Forward”. His lecture will provide a historical review of the evolution of gem-testing methods, summarize the current testing and research being conducted at the GIA Laboratory, and offer insights into ongoing and potential future challenges in gem identification.
An expert in colored diamonds and Director of GGTL Laboratories, Dr. Thomas Hainschwang will present “The Plastic Deformation Game: The Link Between Olive, Brown and Pink to Purple to Red Diamonds and Their Color Origin”. His talk will explore how post-growth plastic deformation — sheering and faulting — introduces defects like dislocations and vacancy clusters into the diamond lattice. Dr. Hainschwang will explain how these defects, influenced by the temperature during the deformation events, are responsible for the distinctive hues of olive, brown, and pink to red diamonds.
Dr. Claudio Milisenda, Director of the DSEF German Gem Lab, will deliver a presentation titled “Paraiba and Other Gem Varieties of the Tourmaline Group”. He will delve into the tourmaline group, which boasts the widest range of colors of any gemstone due to its complex chemical structure. The lecture will focus on the geology, composition, and nomenclature of gem-quality tourmalines, with a special emphasis on the highly sought-after ‘Paraiba tourmaline’ discovered in the late 1980s, as well as other popular varieties like indicolite, rubellite, and ‘Canary’ tourmalines.
A leading figure in scientific gemology, Dr. Emmanuel Fritsch will discuss how to get the most out of analytical equipment in his talk, “From UV Lamp to Spectroscopy: How to Get the Most Out of Your Equipment”. Dr. Fritsch will argue that luminescence is a powerful but underutilized technique in gemology. He will explain how to move beyond classical UV lamps to more advanced tools like lasers and specialized instruments to produce a thorough description of a gem’s luminescence, offering examples of how this data can reveal a luminescence’s cause, such as the titanate groups responsible for SW blue luminescence in many gems.
Independent educator and Vice-President of CIBJO’s Coral Commission, Rui Galopim de Carvalho will address the trade of organic materials in his presentation, “Biogenic gems & CITES: a look into pearls and corals”. His talk will explore the biodiversity impact of using biogenic materials like pearls, coral, ivory, and mother-of-pearl in jewelry. He will clarify the three CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) listings and focus specifically on the regulations surrounding the trade of natural pearls and precious corals.
Alberto Scarani, co-founder of Magilabs, will present the innovative “Certified Hybrid Diamond Master Set – The Hybrid Solution for Diamond Color Grading”. He will address the long-standing industry challenge of obtaining GIA-certified diamond master sets, which has been hampered by supply and quality issues. The presentation will detail the development of a “hybrid” master set — combining synthetic diamonds for higher colors (E, F, G) and natural diamonds for lower ones (H-L) — a project driven by the Accredited Gemologists Association (AGA) in collaboration with Stuller and Sarine-GCAL. The first sets are expected to be available between October and November 2025.
Nathan Renfro, Senior Manager of Colored Stones at GIA Carlsbad and a specialist in photomicrography, will close the seminar with his presentation, “The Evolution of Gemmological Photomicrography – Film to Digital”. This lecture will examine the history of photomicrography in gemology and review the significant technological improvements that have occurred over the last century. To illustrate these advancements, Mr. Renfro will showcase a series of comparison images, with original photos recorded on film recreated using modern digital equipment.
Registration is open, with a deadline of Saturday, September 27, 2025.
