Imperial Gem Lab Ltd
3665 Kingsway # 300 V5R 5W2 Vancouver, BC, Canada

Oooo! Would love to appraise this one!

Some of my favorite gemstones are listed here!

Wow! Take a look at this one. A 102.39 carat, D, Flawless up for auction at Sotheby's, Hong Kong. Mined in Canada, the original rough diamond of 271 carats was discovered at the now closed De Beers Victor Mine located in Ontario.

GIA is finally "adjusting" to the demands of the trade with the decision to start issuing grading reports on lab grown synthetic diamonds with the same nomenclature as they do for natural diamonds. In my opinion furthering the blurring of distinction between the natural diamond and the lab grown.

What country produces the most diamonds in the world? Russia! With 12 open pit mines, Russia is the largest exporter of rough diamonds. Canada is also in top five for diamond production.

Obviously some of the world's citizens are not suffering too badly from this C-V19 thing.

The internal world of gemstones is incredibly beautiful, as seen through this GIF of a garnet that we bought in Ratnapura, Sri Lanka. Taking stacked photos as I zoomed the focus through the stone. Notice the needle like inclusions.

Old European cut diamonds are not seen very often in our lab. This style of cut preceded the modern Round Brilliant cut diamond and dates back to the late 1800's to early 1900's.

If only I could get up at 4:30am to watch this! Not possible. Jadeite is one of my favourite gemstones. The centre brooch contains jadeites of "Imperial" quality, fine translucency and emerald green in colour. Beautiful.

https://wolibill.sirv.com/2020-05-/2020-05-22-15-46-01.spin Dating back to pre-Stone Age time, man has treasured amber for millennia. A natural fossilized tree resin, rare pieces can contain fossilized insects, caught within the then sticky resin.

Interested in minerals? These Harvard Zoom conferences are a fantastic way to learn more about this fascinating subject.

5:00am PDT is a little early, but hey, what else would you be doing? These speakers are world-renowned!

My dream job!!! I missed my calling.

Feeling like a little pick-me-up? This joyful little piece by Cartier looks good enough to eat!

Stuck at home with the Covid blues..., register now for this Free G.I.A. webinar on the fascinating world of pearls. Starts tomorrow morning, Thursday April 30th at 9:00PDT.

Diamonds are used for more than just a symbol of love. New nano-diamond technology is used to filter toxic metals and chlorine out of drinking water and now this!

Spinel is still not commonly known, especially here in the local market, however it is a favourite gemstone of mine. The vibrant colours that it comes in, including blue, red and violet makes it a very versatile stone to wear. Visiting the mines in Mogok, Burma last fall gave me an up close look at the source for some of the worlds finest spinels.

Having a positive attitude can be make the difference between success and failure. I take some comfort from reading this article on how Choi Tai Fook Jewellers is adapting to the Corona virus.

Dior has put together some really inspiring, innovative pieces in the Moi et Toi collection.

Perhaps the Sky is not Falling after all....

An interesting read. Invaluable.com is a platform that I use to research auction results of previous sales of jewellery. Although some concepts presented within this article are not consistent with my understanding of appraisals, the article does contain a good overview.

Unfortunately my microscope cannot spot the covid-19 virus, however Imperial Gem Lab is taking the current threat very seriously. While we remain open for business, we are taking all precautions here at the office, with regular sanitizing and maintaining social distancing. Booking an appraisal consultation can be done online or feel free to call me for advice. Stay Safe. Harold Lindsay, Gemologist and Appraiser Burnaby Board of Trade

The candied colours of Swarovski's new lab-grown diamonds, coming soon to a market near you! Will these playful stones give DeBeers Lightbox a run for their money?

Now that would make for a pricey shake! Proceeds go to Ronald McDonald House.

Oops, this is not a good thing for the diamond industry! I am often being asked to appraise lab grown diamond engagement rings. Nine times out of ten my clients know theirs is a man made diamond, however it has recently come to my attention that not all lab grown diamonds are being disclosed properly at the point of purchase. I recently appraised a new wedding band where only the centre diamond was natural and the four side diamonds were all lab grown.

The purple variety of quartz, Amethyst is this month's Birthstone. However, amethyst has been treasured long before this tradition began. Worn by the Popes of Rome from early times and thought to have protected the wearer from getting intoxicated from drinking too much wine. Now, there is an idea! ...

Our NAJA sponsored guided pearl tour at the AGTA Gem Show brought our group around the show visiting select pearls dealers, such as this American pearl dealer, ASBA, specializing in Tahitian and South Sea pearls.

This ruby from Madagascar is "bathed" and impregnated with molten glass to create a facetable gemstone, from what would otherwise be almost valueless rough. Pretty when cut but not very durable, as the glass within the stone can react with weak acids and solvents found in household cleaners, etc.

Catching up in Tucson with my travel buddy to Mogok. Saurabh, from Idar Oberstein Germany. We were a great Karaoke team on our tour there!

Happy to be attending the world's greatest gem show, the Tucson Gem Show again this year! If you need that rare family jewel you always wondered about appraised, message me this week and I will try to do some market research for you. Book an appointment at imperialgemlab.com/calendar to have the results and printed report. See details for appraisal fees on the Website.

It's that time of year again! No better place to update my knowledge of gemstones, from pricing to keeping up with latest in gem treatments and new synthetics. And to meet and greet et the world's gemstone and mineral enthusiasts. If you have a rare or precious gemstone that needs appraising message me and I will try to research it for you.

The incredible colours of jadeite! I love the emerald green colours but the mauve and even Ice Jade can be spectacular. I am looking forward to scouting out all the gemstones at the Tucoson Gem Fair this coming week!

A Canadian geologist, Eira Thomas, is really making a mark in the diamond mining industry. The CEO of Lucara Diamonds, headquartered in Vancouver, B.C., Ms. Thomas has a good nose for finding diamonds. The Diavik Mine in Canada's Northwest Territories was her first contribution and now in Botswana, the Karowe Mine where this monster diamond was recently discovered.

The Coronavirus is certainly not good news these day, but political unrest in Hong Kong is also having an impact on its economy, as is born out in this JCK article on Chow Tai Fook Jewellery.

One my visit to Jaipur to attend the 2017 International Colored Association Congress, I was blown away by the opulence of the Maharaja's of India's past, as shown in this photo. On display at London's Victoria and Albert Musuem, along with a fascinating look into the role that jewellery plays in our culture and history.

Only 14 more sleeps! The must attend gemstone event of the year, held in (hopefully warm and sunny) Tucson, Arizona.