SSEF, Gübelin, and GIA Thailand Add Staff; Koivula Recovering

Gary Roskin, JCK Senior Editor -- JCK Online, 12/8/2006 11:05:00 AM

The world’s leading gem laboratories continue to grab top gemologists, with three labs making moves during the past week.

According to its latest newsletter, the Gübelin Gem Lab, preeminent in its ability to identify country of origin, has acquired Vincent Pardieu, former director of the AIGS in Bangkok, to join its team of gemologists. Pardieu recently undertook gemological fieldtrips to Asia and Africa on behalf of the Gübelin Gem Lab. Says Daniel Nyfeler, director of the GGL, "His experience with colored gemstones makes him a valuable member of our team."

SSEF, the Swiss Gemological Institute, has added antique jewelry expert Sabin Häberli to its gemological staff. Häberli, an FGA, is completing her doctorate in art history in Bern. She's been investigating medieval church objects, including crowns, crosses, monstrances, and tabernacles for the completion of her degree with special interest given to the stone adornments on the objects. Häberli published a paper in GIA’s Gems & Gemology on the Cross and the Monstrance.

Garry Du Toit, AGTA-GTC’s laboratory manager and expert in Raman spectroscopy, is leaving New York and returning to Thailand to work with Ken Scarratt—this time for the GIA.

In other AGTA-GTC lab news, world’s foremost inclusions expert John Koivula went through prostate cancer surgery just prior to the Thanksgiving holiday. Koivula has let people know that he is recovering nicely and the surgery was a complete success. To contact Koivula with good wishes for a quick recovery, write to jkoivula@hotmail.com.