At Press Time

The Gemological Institute of America offers a new pearl grading course beginning this month. The two-day or four-night course is designed to build a universal understanding of quality.

The course will teach sales associates, appraisers and buyers how to judge the factors that affect cultured pearl quality. It will be offered throughout the U.S. and on GIA's campuses in Carlsbad, CA; New York City; and Los Angeles, CA. The course will be expanded next year to Italy, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Moscow. GIA also plans to unveil an updated distance education pearl course next year.

Because the cultured pearl industry has changed so much since the current course was written, GIA dedicated a team of research scientists to revising the content. The South Sea Pearl Consortium, Perles de Tahiti G.I.E. and the Japan Pearl Exporters' Association donated money toward the course's development.

by Stacey King

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