1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,360 Welcome to the GuiltTrips podcast. I'm your host, Kendra Lockhart. As a goldsmith and 2 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:17,560 gemologist, I'll be speaking 24 carat on all things jewelry, metals, and gems. Join 3 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:24,080 me plus a few friends to demystify both materials and designs as your private jeweler. Let's 4 00:00:24,080 --> 00:00:34,960 tune in on these topics and get golden. Previously, I've shared about my apprenticeship and what 5 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:42,880 a mixed bag that was as far as experience. Today, I'm discussing my gemology education 6 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:49,440 and how it was one of the best decisions of my career. Not only because of the doors that 7 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:56,560 it opened, not just for me, but for anybody who graduates from the program, but also how 8 00:00:56,560 --> 00:01:04,280 absolutely delightful it was to be in the company of so many people passionate to pass along 9 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:12,840 knowledge and empowerment to the next generation of students. The GIA, known as the Gemological 10 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:20,480 Institute of America, has two main campuses in the United States, one in New York and 11 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:30,280 one in Carlsbad, California. Both are centers for the three pillars, education, the laboratory, 12 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:38,520 where stones and not just diamonds get certified, and lastly, research. I'll be addressing 13 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:44,960 each of these, but I also want to talk about the genius of their curriculums and how that 14 00:01:44,960 --> 00:01:54,320 creates, develops, refines, and enhances the jewelers within all of us. Now, there are 15 00:01:54,320 --> 00:02:00,440 people I've met who have taken gemology courses strictly for pleasure and have no interest 16 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:10,040 whatsoever in anything vocational with these classes, but most of us go on to a variety 17 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:18,320 of opportunities as far as work. To name a few, I've seen people become jewelry designers, 18 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:30,480 appraisers, repair workers, goldsmiths, CAD designers, authenticators, buyers, valuators, 19 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:38,400 and many have gone back to work in the GIA lab and also to become a future educator for 20 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:49,280 the university. While I can't speak to every single course that is offered, I can share 21 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:56,360 the ones that I've taken and where I've put them as far as my career and industry. Before 22 00:02:56,360 --> 00:03:02,720 I get started, an important thing to address, the components or elements that go into your 23 00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:11,320 personal success with this type of learning. One, your understanding of the cost. It's 24 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:19,840 not cheap and scholarships at the time were almost exclusively need-based. Next is the 25 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:27,400 time commitment. It's not something that you can phone in and I was extremely discouraged 26 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:35,040 to do this coursework while going through my apprenticeship. Lastly, is your interest 27 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:42,040 level. If the idea of gems is the only part of this you can get passionate about, it's 28 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:50,440 going to be challenging when it gets a little dry, scientific, chemistry-driven, and extremely 29 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:58,760 formulaic, leading on traditional math for a bulk of the program. Another factor to consider 30 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:06,600 is do you want to do remote learning or beyond campus? Being on campus is immersive. It will 31 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:14,560 certainly accelerate the timeline that it takes to become a graduate gemologist. However, 32 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:21,320 I did some of my coursework remotely and was able to blend it in to the environment I would 33 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:34,800 end up applying my studies into. Now, why is the GIA such the gold standard in our industry? 34 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:41,960 Why does it give so much credibility to the people who end up participating in these classes? 35 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:47,400 We have to remember the modern system of grading diamonds. The way that you approach purchasing 36 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:56,040 one using the four C's was established by the GIA to be able to relate to a major purchase 37 00:04:56,040 --> 00:05:06,880 with a system that can speak to the color, clarity, cut, and care at weight for not just 38 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:14,320 commercial purposes, meaning the people buying it in the public, but to establish a language 39 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:21,480 and a structure that would be embraced by the entire world in the art of gemstones is 40 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:31,680 pretty impressive. The GIA has also been a powerhouse as far as developing equipment 41 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:39,480 for the job. It employs some of the most advanced minds in our industry to be able to come up 42 00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:53,560 with solutions to identify and authenticate the mystery of an unknown stone or jewel. 43 00:05:53,560 --> 00:06:00,760 Not only is the GIA considered cutting edge as far as the information, but we've had 44 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:07,760 the joy of watching it change with the times. This is not an old school institution that 45 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:14,920 is trying to keep things so traditional that it deters any sort of interest in the digital 46 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:23,000 application of its three pillars, education, the laboratory, and research. It was wonderful 47 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:30,200 to see the embracing of modern manufacturing and putting it into coursework for people 48 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:39,280 who may not have wanted to go down the path of older techniques, especially now that time 49 00:06:39,280 --> 00:06:48,240 is one of the most important factors in creating a piece of jewelry. 50 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:57,520 How I first heard about the GIA courses was working as a designer at my first job. It 51 00:06:57,520 --> 00:07:05,720 wasn't through the GIA, but there was an opportunity for a weekend diamond hands-on crash course 52 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:12,680 using GIA standards. I would walk away with a weekend certificate from Diamond College 53 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:21,960 XYZ, but it was the beginning of my interest. The time was only a couple days, and it gave 54 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:28,680 me the prep work to know if this was something that I could truly commit to, or if I was 55 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:35,180 going to take a pass and be thankful that at least it accelerated my conversation and 56 00:07:35,180 --> 00:07:40,920 comfort with the communicating to clients on their stones. It turned out it was something 57 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:47,440 I absolutely needed more of in my life. The subject came up in my apprenticeship. I've 58 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:53,120 made the joke before that my undergrad degree taught me how to etch a penny and anodize 59 00:07:53,120 --> 00:08:00,040 some aluminum wire, but it didn't really set me up for how to size a ring or set a diamond. 60 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:08,360 So we both agreed a crash course of some basic usable techniques and practical skills was 61 00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:14,920 overdue. The owner of the store where I did my apprenticeship was a gemologist, so I got 62 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:20,720 to see a lot of the equipment that I would end up studying with and eventually using 63 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:27,760 as a professional myself. We had a microscope in the showroom and in the studio there were 64 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:34,120 refractometers, polariscopes, and a variety of other pieces that were critical to make 65 00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:40,240 sure that the gems that we were using since we did all the work in-house were as stated 66 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:46,280 so that when you gave them to the setter, he knew exactly how much force or pressure 67 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:55,400 or what the risk would be regarding each jewel. I ended up diving into the gemology program 68 00:08:55,400 --> 00:09:04,240 which is divided into three categories. The first is diamond grading. In that, as it sounds, 69 00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:11,600 you'll learn the four C's, cut, color, clarity, and carat weight. You'll learn the formulas 70 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:18,800 of how to understand calculating the weight, especially if a diamond is already in a ring. 71 00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:25,000 Where the diamond grading part comes in most useful is being able to understand how to 72 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:33,560 read a lab report on any shape diamond, as well as the confidence and the credibility 73 00:09:33,560 --> 00:09:39,400 to make your own assessment of diamonds that haven't been to the lab or don't come with 74 00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:47,560 papers so that you can relay that to a client and potential customer. The middle section 75 00:09:47,560 --> 00:09:56,040 is colored stone grading. Why this is important is less in the identification like diamonds 76 00:09:56,040 --> 00:10:02,320 because we don't necessarily use their inclusions and their color as talking points for choosing 77 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:10,560 a stone. But to be able to understand the large swing in pricing around colored gems, 78 00:10:10,560 --> 00:10:17,200 it's not like diamonds where you can look at something at a G color and a VS2 clarity 79 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:23,040 and have a rough understanding of the price per carat within certain size ranges. That 80 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:31,520 doesn't apply to the world of jewels. Also, as I've discussed in previous podcast episodes, 81 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:37,200 more gems can go through different treatments that obviously don't apply to the world of 82 00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:47,120 diamonds. So that is the second part of the entire degree. Lastly, would be gem identification. 83 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:52,400 And this was the one I had my heart the most because it allows you to play detective and 84 00:10:52,400 --> 00:11:00,960 explore the mysteries of seeing an assortment of materials that have not been disclosed 85 00:11:00,960 --> 00:11:08,560 as to their nature. You would be going through them based on their specific gravity, their 86 00:11:08,560 --> 00:11:16,880 refractive index, the type of inclusions they have, the nature of the hues and colors that 87 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:23,360 they're expressing, the way that they are damaged, and how that can be a fingerprint 88 00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:31,520 into exactly what species of gem I'm looking at. And the exciting part, which is also the stressful 89 00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:40,000 part for many students, is the 20 stone exam at the end of the program where 100% passing is required 90 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:48,720 in order to obtain the degree. Yes, you can test, you can also retest. It gets a little more expensive 91 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:53,840 each time you don't pass. And at some point, that's no longer an option. 92 00:11:57,760 --> 00:12:04,160 The second program was the graduate jeweler program, beginning bench jeweler techniques, 93 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:12,480 intermediate, and of course advanced. It also had specialty studies that you could take in an 94 00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:21,520 a la carte manner, such as wax carving, and the one that really charmed me was countersketching, 95 00:12:22,560 --> 00:12:28,960 the ability to both quick draw somebody's idea as they were describing it to you. 96 00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:38,080 But also the technique of a full fine rendering and illustration, all the way up to a watercolor 97 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:45,760 image of a piece that was either being proposed on speculation, or one that had been commissioned 98 00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:53,600 for creation. In this program, I learned the basics of repair, obviously sizing was a big 99 00:12:53,600 --> 00:13:00,800 part of it. But so was setting and breaking it down into the ratios that I would see 100 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:09,440 out in the field. prongs would be the majority of requests, but also channel setting, flush setting, 101 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:15,840 and bezel setting would show up and require a steady hand and plenty of practice. 102 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:27,920 If I hadn't taken those courses, I wouldn't have been able to support myself with repair work 103 00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:34,400 while I was building out my brand. I can't say that about too many classes I've taken, 104 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:40,400 where there is such an instantaneous return on investment that even while you're learning 105 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:47,120 the skills before you finish the course, you can convert them, apply them, and monetize them. 106 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:54,320 Time has passed and advancements have been made as far as a bench jeweler's toolkit. 107 00:13:54,320 --> 00:14:01,520 Now the GIA will teach CAD programming, which stands for computer aided drafting. 108 00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:08,880 The majority of jewelry is now made this way, versus drawing something up and carving a wax. 109 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:18,080 Also, in the last 20 years, the introduction of laser welding, instead of using a gas-driven torch, 110 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:23,840 is becoming the new normal, with good reason. It allows for different and more delicate types 111 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:30,880 of repairs that would have been time-consuming in the sense of having to remove stones to be able 112 00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:39,120 to execute the work, or not even possible, because it would be too destructive to go ahead and dismantle 113 00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:45,280 or attempt to expose to such high temperatures. The laser welding is truly a solution for the 114 00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:53,680 times that we're in and the jewelry that we have. One of the classes that I was interested in 115 00:14:53,680 --> 00:15:01,120 but time never presented itself to take was the Pearls course. Sadly, pearls have fallen off as 116 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:09,600 far as desirability or even trendiness, but there is such a romance to studying them. And I really 117 00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:17,840 appreciated the ways that they were not only evaluated and graded, but how they were presented. 118 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:28,080 Learning became as romantic as the gem itself. Currently, there is an offering that leaves 119 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:37,280 a graduate with the initials of AJP. This is primarily a retail-focused certification that 120 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:43,440 turns somebody into an accredited jewelry professional. It is a bit of a survey and an 121 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:51,280 overview on not just the areas and competencies of being in a showroom and being a salesperson, 122 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:58,400 but also the cross-functionality of what it takes to communicate to a potential client, 123 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:04,320 buying a ready-made piece, doing custom work, and having a repair conversation. 124 00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:16,080 While not all of my colleagues love to nerd out and talk about diamonds or grading or exactly 125 00:16:16,080 --> 00:16:23,440 what color that amazing tanz knight is showing primarily, or the nature of the inclusions of 126 00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:31,280 that Brazilian emerald, it is a joy to be able to come together and have meetings of the minds 127 00:16:31,280 --> 00:16:39,200 when all of us who do have a gemology degree spark up a talk around design or what it was 128 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:44,640 like to take their first CAD class, or if they did or didn't become a jeweler. 129 00:16:46,640 --> 00:16:51,360 The years that we may have spent using the education in wholesale, 130 00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:57,040 the friend we know who went on to become a diamond grader for the GIA, 131 00:16:57,040 --> 00:17:04,640 the person who asked to sort and pick all the accent stones for a multi-ring project, 132 00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:10,960 the graduate who struck out on their own and opened a brick-and-mortar store, 133 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:21,600 our peers at the auction house, esteemed minds that went into the estate realm, 134 00:17:21,600 --> 00:17:29,920 those who advise us as far as reselling, and those who are busy using their studies to help 135 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:36,080 purchase when it's time to relinquish property or divide assets for a trust. 136 00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:45,280 Those dollars of mine were well invested and my time was well spent, 137 00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:52,320 and while it's been over 20 years since I set foot in the Carlsbad, California campus, 138 00:17:52,880 --> 00:18:01,440 now the day goes by where I'm not thinking about what an excellent adventure I had and how many 139 00:18:01,440 --> 00:18:07,520 wonderful people it's brought into my life, including all of the clients that I've been able 140 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:18,880 to help and serve and assist knowing what I know. Thank you for listening and learning with me. 141 00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:23,680 I would love you to share this project with people finding rare beauty in today's world 142 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:38,400 and throughout our times. Until the next episode, keep your own stories sparkling.