The mysterious “they” have a certain power over our lives. “They” say that trans fats are bad so we avoid the deep fryer. “They” say red wine is good for the heart so we buy Charles Shaw or “two buck Chuck” by the case. “They” are the experts. Most of the time “they” are nameless scientists hidden away in laboratories somewhere else. But when “they” say the less color a diamond has the higher the quality, “they” work in Carlsbad at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA).

Recognized all over the world as the experts, GIA is able to offer unbiased advice on gems because they are independent and nonprofit. Headquartered in Carlsbad, GIA has three U.S. locations and 14 abroad. The Carlsbad campus is itself a gem. Its 18 acres crown the hill on Armada Drive overlooking The Flower Fields and the sapphire sea. And its contemporary architecture is among the best in Carlsbad.

The old bromide, “Those who can do and those who can’t teach,” pretty much explains GIA’s founding. Robert M. Shipley married into a family of jewelers and found himself in the business without knowing much about gems. And he realized he was not alone in this. Like art, the value of a stone was how much you could get someone to pay for it. But there is a science to gemology that is less capricious than art.

Shipley founded GIA in the early 1930s to help regulate the trade. As GIA former president William Boyajian put it in GIA’s trade journal Gems & Gemology, “He (Shipley) saw the opportunity to use sound training to set standards, raise ethics and professionalize the trade.” The reception of this idea was overwhelming. Shipley started teaching to packed auditoriums at the University of Southern California and ultimately ended up with the education branch of GIA.

Richard T. Liddicoat joined GIA in 1940. Shipley’s real gifts lay in leadership, but he recognized in Liddicoat a true scientist. Shipley chose Liddicoat as his successor at GIA and the arc of his career would leave him remembered as “The father of modern gemology.” A bronze statue of Liddicoat greets visitors at the entrance of GIA. Liddicoat created a grading system for diamonds that is now the world standard. It is known as the four Cs: Color, Clarity, Cut and Carat Weight. Oddly enough, we can us the same system to explain GIA.

Color
A truly colorless diamond is rare. Most diamonds have some color from a hint of yellow to a brown. GIA’s color scale runs from D (colorless) through Z (a light shade of brown). The less color, the higher the quality.

But in grading GIA itself we might say, the more color the higher the quality if we use color to represent the artistic expression gems have inspired. GIA’s color grade in our use would go to its support of the creative community. When science becomes art, the gem is fully appreciated. The institute maintains a collection of gems, jewelry and gemological art to educate and preserve history. There are some outstanding sculptures on the grounds including The Bahia a 600-pound quartz sculpture. The GIA Museum displays not only gems and works from its own collection, but brings in renowned artists’ works on loan.

At the beginning of 2008, the museum displayed “Reflections in Stone” the work of Bernd Munsteiner. Munsteiner, from a family of gem-cutters, is from a region in Germany whose gem-cutting reputation goes back five centuries. Called “The father of the fantasy cut,” Munsteiner’s sculptures are an innovation in mineral art and breathtakingly beautiful.

Munsteiner’s work goes back to Germany in March, but will be replaced by an exhibit called “Facets of GIA,” which will open in May. The exhibit will give visitors a broad overview of what GIA is about and will be illustrated with brilliant gem works from the GIA collection.

GIA also has on display a collection of brooches by award-winning designer Ricardo Basta. Each brooch is fantastic in its use of gems: a dragon breathing fire opal, a panda in black and white diamonds chewing on jade bamboo and a serpent guarding forbidden fruit.

Clarity
GIA’s clarity scale runs from Flawless to I3. The ‘I’ stands for inclusions, which are naturally occurring traits within the stone. One would be tempted to call them blemishes, but Munsteiner’s art can make inclusions the stone’s greatest glory. A truly flawless diamond is rare and so the less inclusions, the higher the quality.

Applied to GIA, the word clarity defines its founding purpose. The institute’s laboratories and grading services continue to bring clarity to the gem industry. The price of gems is market driven, but GIA’s laboratory can give an impartial grade of quality to a gem, thus giving the consumer confidence in his investment. And their research and instrument development division adds to the continually growing body of knowledge on gems and minerals.

Stones brought into GIA labs can also have a microscopically, laser inscribed number or sentiment cut on a diamond’s girdle. You can have a wedding date or avowal of love inscribed on the diamond as well as the wedding band. Diamonds used to be identified mostly by their inclusions. “Diamonds are forever” and so are their inscriptions now.

Cut
The way a diamond is cut either brings out or hinders its natural interplay with light. GIA’s cut scale runs from Excellent to Poor and considers three factors: brightness, fire and scintillation. Brightness deals with the diamond’s effect with white light. Fire refers to the flares of color given off by a particular diamond. Scintillation is an expression of the flashes given when the stone itself or the light is moved.

Using our four Cs to evaluate GIA, cut is a good model to use for its education branch. Brightness, fire and scintillation could describe a student’s learning style or her potential after being trained by the right mentor. GIA offers courses in gemology, jewelry manufacturing, arts and design and business. Graduates of GIA’s educational programs can add to the end of their names, G.G (Graduate Gemologist), G.J. (Graduate Jeweler), A.J.P. (Accredited Jewelry Professional, or their latest addition, B.B.A. (Bachelor of Business Administration).

Students come to the Carlsbad campus from all over the world. The student commons boasts national flags from current and former students’ home countries. The display rivals the foyer of the United Nations. GIA does not have dorms so housing can be an issue, but the fact that these students are coming to a tourist destination is an added attraction. International and domestic students find it hard to leave Carlsbad.

Not only does GIA hire many former students, but they also hold semi-annual job fairs, which are the largest in the gem industry. The New York campus will host a fair in July and the Carlsbad campus will host one on September 15. Anyone from job seekers to the merely interested are welcome to attend. It is the one day where GIA holds an open house, as it were, and no RSVP is required. There are workshops to attend and high-powered industry professionals to bump into.

Carat Weight
A carat is a unit of weight measurement used in the jewelry industry; one carat equals 200 milligrams. There is a point system assigned to stones under one carat. For example, 0.75 ct. would be 75 points. A half carat would be 50 points, etc. Obviously the greater the weight, the greater the possible value.

What gives heft to GIA as the world’s authority on gems is the Richard T. Liddicoat Gemological Library. It is the largest repository of gemological knowledge in the world. The library obtains any new book on the subject and also houses rare books, first editions, manuscripts and renderings. The library is open for public perusal, but only in-house. Books are not checked out. GIA also publishes two trade newsletters and Gems & Gemology, a quarterly magazine.

Final Grade
Using Liddicoat’s four Cs, what is GIA’s final grade? Liddicoat’s real rendering would look something like D/IF/Excellent/5.00, but we will keep it simple for us laypeople and just say Highest Quality, Exquisite. It is an institution quite rare among the trades.

Again, for us laypeople, the library, museum and tours are all available to the public underneath the “GIA Tower of Brilliance.” (That is the one ton, crystal octahedron that crowns the main building. An octahedron is what a diamond looks like in its uncut state). But you can’t just show up at the guard shack. •

To learn more, visit their Web site: www.gia.edu, e-mail them at guestservicesmailbox@gia.edu and then make sure you call ahead (760) 603-4116. You can imagine that security is, of necessity, state of the art. When GIA’s students and 800 or so employees go home for the night the campus is affectionately called, “The Vault.