Thoughts from a longtime Tucson exhibitor on responsible practices and the changing market trends.

The Jewelry Development Impact Index (JDI), one of the initiatives from the second Jewelry Industry Summit in January 2017, has become the flagship project of the Minerals, Materials and Society (MMS) program at the University of Delaware. Patricia Syvrud, development manager of MMS, discussed the program, which she calls a “road map to responsibility.”

Mother-and-son team Laurie and Geoffrey Watt (Mayer & Watt, Maysville, Kentucky) noted that while there were plenty of customers at the AGTA show this year, the formula for success was a wide selection of materials and competitive pricing.

The third Jewelry Industry Summit, held in Tucson February 2–3, revealed the successful implementation of several initiatives mapped out since the conference’s inception in 2016.

Advanced testing helps to identify the largest gahnospinel seen at any GIA laboratory.

An update on the activity at Potentate’s Montana deposits.

A gem dealer gives back to the mining communities that have supplied gems over the course of his career.

A 283.74 ct rough tsavorite from Merelani, Tanzania, yields a square cushion-cut gemstone weighing 116.76 ct.

A summary of “The Ethics of Jewelry” panel, held at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art on January 25, 2019.

A graduate of GIA’s Jewelry Design program in Taiwan is the recipient of the Buccellati Award.

At the AGTA show, Rod Griffin (Rod Griffin Boulder Opals, Silverado, California, and Queensland, Australia) told us that the world market for all types of opals continues to be strong, but Australia’s opal industry is shrinking due to the costs, challenges, and changing regulations of mining.

Eye-catching stones at Jeffrey Bilgore’s AGTA booth.

A unique doublet displaying a yellowish chatoyant sheen is examined by the Tokyo lab.

The president of Oregon’s Desert Sun Mining and Gems provides the outlook for activity at the Ponderosa sunstone mine.

Spinel is often inclusion free but occasionally showcases unusual inclusions.