 |
- 1866 – Professor A H Church first described results from the use of a spectroscope for gem observation, in a letter to the ‘Intellectual Observer’, showing zircon spectra.
- 1893 – Six lectures were given in London on the science of gems by Lewis Abbott, editor of the ‘Watchmakers Jeweller and Silversmith’. He had helped to start up the National Association of Goldsmiths (NAG) in 1894. Six evenings for 2/6d (2 shillings and 6 pence in `old money’, now 12½ pence); members 1/6d.
- 1904 to 1908 – The production of Verneuil synthetic ruby was becoming commercial.
- Before 1908 – Professor Henry Miers lectured on the subject of non-destructive mineralogical testing of gem materials. Later, as Sir Henry Miers, he became the first President of the Gemmological Association.
Top
- 1908 – At the NAG Conference in Manchester, Samuel Barnett, a retail jeweller, proposed that courses and examinations in gemmology be organized. He suggested the use of the spectroscope for the observation of characteristic almandine and zircon absorptions.
- 1909 – Some lectures were given around the UK, but trade apathy was a noted major obstacle to initial progress made by few far-thinking people. Arthur Tremayne produced a general jewellers’ home-study course which included some basic gemmology.
- 1910 – A travelling lecturer was appointed by the NAG. A committee started work to develop gemmological education and examinations. The trade work was not supportive, however, and the work eventually fell to a British Museum (Natural History) mineralogist, G F Herbert Smith.
- 1910 to 1912 – Herbert Smith produced the earliest definitive gem course, in the form of a textbook entitled ‘Gem-stones’. Letters travelled back and forth concerning the amount of information required. The world’s first complete Diploma course in gemmology was produced and ran at Chelsea Polytechnic: it was called ‘Mineralogy for Jewellers’.
- 1913 – The world’s first gemmology Diploma examination was held. The first Diploma in gemmology was awarded to Samuel Barnett, the man who had first proposed the course and examinations. Herbert Smith was examiner.
Top
- 1920s – B J Tully was Director of Examinations in the early 1920s. Tully developed the table model refractometer for jewellers. After his death, the Tully medal was instituted as an award for the best Diploma candidate for the year. Diploma Distinctions were awarded from 1922. By this time, production of cultured pearls was becoming increasingly commercial.
- Irvine Jardine, gemmology lecturer at Chelsea College, produced the world’s first gemmology correspondence (home study) course in 1921; at first, he marked all the assignments. John H Stanley took over the correspondence course in 1926.
- 1925 – The world’s first gem testing laboratory was set up in response to the trade problem with cultured pearls. The new director was Basil W Anderson.
- 1929 – The first lady to gain a distinction was the late Miss Margaret Biggs, then aged 18, who recalled that Mr Robert M Shipley took his examination at Chelsea with her, before returning to Los Angeles and eventually starting the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and the American Gem Society (AGS); John H Stanley was the correspondence course tutor for both.
Top
A gemmology class at Chelsea Polytechnic 1930 |
- 1931 – The Gemmological Association (GA) was formed, as a branch within the NAG. It became an independent body in 1947 but shared its secretariat, under the same roof, with the NAG.
- 1933 – Thorold Jones, practical gemmology demonstrator, took over as lecturer at Chelsea, succeeding Irvine Jardine. Thorold Jones, of the Geological Survey and Museum, was a member of the earliest group of students; he lectured at Chelsea Polytechnic until 1951.
- 1934 – Robert Webster and R Keith Mitchell attended classes at Chelsea given by Basil Anderson; they were amongst the nine Distinctions in that class, out of 21 Diplomas for that year. Robert Webster joined the Gem Testing Laboratory and also taught practical gemmology at Chelsea ; he wrote the Gemmologists’ Compendium, helping to establish gemmology nomenclature, which appeared in 1937. Basil W Anderson produced his Gem Testing textbook in 1942. From 1947, R Keith Mitchell assisted Thorold Jones with the Chelsea gemmology classes.
|
Top
- 1950 – RKM took over the correspondence course, marking all assignments for ten years. Up until then, Anderson and C J Payne had marked the correspondence assignments. Anderson had done this throughout WW2. RMK revised the correspondence course notes and ran this course until 1969, when Webster continued this work.
Top
- 1964 – A gem diamond certificate course and examination were introduced, after Norman Harper started the first gem diamond courses in Birmingham. Eric Burton started this course in London 1967. In 1966, Basil Anderson retired from evening class lecturing after 36 years.
Top |
Robert Webster and class 1960 |
From left: C J Payne, Alec Farn, Denis Bradshaw, Basil Anderson and Robert Webster, at Goldsmiths' Hall in 1975 on the 50th anniversary of the Laboratory
|
- 1970s – The first Far Eastern gemmology classes to teach the GA Diploma course were started in Hong Kong by Marcia Lanyon. In 1974 Anthony Bonanno founded the Alumni of the GA (AGA) in the USA and continued GA Diploma classes near Washington. Diploma classes at Schoonhoven in the Netherlands were run from 1972 and Dr George Hamel continued these for over 25 years. GA courses and exams were run by affiliate institutions including the Escola de Gemmologia de la Universitat de Barcelona, the Canadian Gemmological Association and the Gemmological Association of Australia.
|
Top
- 1980s – New Preliminary and Diploma course notes were under preparation for the Correspondence Course; these were issued in 1987. Up until this time, the Correspondence Course was the mainstay of GA education; however, numbers of students wishing to study at home were dropping rapidly by the 1980s. The first Chinese mainland courses were started in China by Professor Yan Weixuan at China National University in Wuhan, in conjunction with Professor Chen Zhonghui, from an introduction by Mrs Ou Yang in Hong Kong. The first course was initiated by Mr Alan Jobbins and by Dr Jamie Nelson and his wife.
Top
- 1990s – After 65 years of collaboration in gemmology education and examining, the Gemmological Association (GA) and The Gem Testing Labatory (GTL) of Great Britain joined to become GAGTL in 1990 under the direction of Kenneth Scarratt and Dr Roger Harding. The first ten Diplomas awarded to students within China mainland were issued in 1990. Brand new course notes were issued for the new Gem Diamond Diploma course and examination, leading to a new DGA membership alongside the FGA (Fellowships) for of the Diploma in Gemmology. Under Ian Mercer, who directed the GAGTL Education Office from 1990, the world-wide Allied Teaching Centre (ATC) system was set up with course notes, including translations where necessary, for all students and tutors to realize the modern GAGTL examinations requirements as part of a new and efficient world gemmology education service. The headquarters-based Gem Tutorial Centre was also set up, and GAGTL started to operate its own courses in central London in the early 1990s, including the daytime London Diploma Course. In 1995 GAGTL, together with a number of other European gemmological institutes, founded the Federation for European Education in Gemmology (FEEG). The Preliminary course was completely revised, with a new Gem Observation Guide added in 1996. The Gemstone Library system was set up in 1999 for European Correspondence Course students
Top
- 2000 to present date – GAGTL was re-branded as Gem-A in 2001. By this time, Gem-A Education Office, with two administrators, operated more than 30 ATCs and over 50 exam centres, with papers in eight different languages. In 2003, Gem-A USA was formed as a bureau directed by Anne Dale, extending our operations in America. Together with the complete revision of all Diploma course notes, the Gem-A Education office published two new course manuals, the Practical Gem Handbook and the Diamond Grading Manual. A new Diamond Practical Certificate course and examination was started, with provision for later update to Gem Diamond Diploma and DGA for Certificate-holders. The gemmology Foundation Certificate course and examination were developed, to replace the Preliminary course and examination, which had not been separately certificated for over fifty years. The two Certificate and two Diploma courses were eventually accredited by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), with Gem-A as the officially-recognized Awarding Body. The renowned daytime London Diploma Course was re-programmed as a five-month course with two courses running each year.
Top
|
|
