On May 19, 2010, the DC Chapter of the GIA Alumni Association had the opportunity to hear from Ms. Suzanna Stull, Director of International Sales for ImaGem Inc., in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Ms. Stull’s presentation was entitled “The Future is Here: Technology and Gemology” and focused on recent advancements in automated technologies for identifying and grading gemstones, particularly diamonds.

Ms. Stull commenced her presentation with historical background regarding ImaGem’s founding and technological milestones.  The company was begun by Dr. Lalit Aggarwal in 1998 to commercialize for the analyzing of gems powerful statistical modeling techniques developed by Dr. Aggarwal and subsequently patented.

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Ms. Stull then chronicled briefly how ImaGem had employed those methodologies over the succeeding years to introduce three principal pieces of automated equipment addressing diamonds and a recent addition having application for colored stones.

Ms. Stull next profiled in greater detail each of the three primary machines produced by ImaGem for diamonds.  The VeriGem unit measures light behavior.  The Grader unit grades diamonds for color and clarity and also measures light behavior.  The Clarity unit maps inclusions and grades clarity.  A further important feature of these technologies is the manner in which they enable rapid fingerprinting and verification of the stones assessed.   The units are available to the industry and may be customized to the standards of each client.

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Lastly, Ms. Stull highlighted the recent Viewer, an example of which was available for demonstration after the meeting.  This unit has found its key use to be in visually identifying the composite rubies now prevalent in the marketplace.

The DCGIA Chapter thanks Ms. Stull for this chance to learn about current developments impacting the trade.

You can reach Suzanna at:
Suzanna Stull, GG, GP, AJP (GIA)
Director of International Sales ImaGem Inc.
Telephone: +1.215.477.9920 x218
ImaGem Inc. Website
Suzanna Stull’s E-Mail

Summary prepared by Andrea Blake, G.G.