Gold: Vortex, Virtues, and Values was hosted by Initiatives in Art and Culture (IAC) at Bohemian National Hall in New York City, April 12–13. Now in its eighth year, the conference has become an annual industry gathering for those looking to evaluate the market, discover exceptional work, and discuss key gold-related issues.

Projects developed by the GemHub to benefit miners, cutters, and others involved in the gem and jewelry industry.

Rare pearls, along with their shell, are studied in the Hong Kong lab.

An unusual assembled stone is examined at GIA’s New York lab.

A synthetic diamond seen in the Carlsbad lab is the largest faceted lab-grown diamond examined by GIA.

Irradiated CVD-grown diamonds are examined in the Carlsbad lab.

Over the last decade, the production methods used to create synthetic diamond melee have improved substantially, along with the quality of the specimens themselves.

Crassostrea virginica, the so-called Eastern or American oyster, is a commercial seafood widely distributed along the east coast of the United States to the Gulf of Mexico.

A sapphire cabochon with an unusual appearance is seen at GIA’s Tokyo lab.

Lotus Gemology receives submissions of star stones on a regular basis, so when we first saw the specimen shown here, it appeared to be one among many of our usual stones to test.

Aesthetically pleasing inclusions are found in topaz from Pakistan’s Shigar Valley.

A black star sapphire produced from eastern Thailand, showing both golden and silver rays, is studied at GIA’s Bangkok lab.

For the first time, wurtzite is found as an inclusion in gem material.

Seldom-seen inclusions are found in a host material that is rare in its own right.

A yellowish green specimen with horsetail-like inclusions is found to be glass rather than demantoid garnet.

A diamond examined in the Carlsbad lab shows chameleon coloring in an unusual pattern.

A look at the color zoning exhibited by the largest HPHT-treated blue diamond graded by GIA.

recently identified mineral is found, in whisker-like form, in a gem-quality tanzanite host.

An overview of the Summer 2018 Gems & Gemology content.