Gemprint Goes 'Hollywood'

Gary Roskin, G.G., FGA -- JCK Online, 4/1/2001 3:00:00 AM

If you watched "The Hubris" episode of NBC's Law and Order on Jan. 17, you may have noticed that the Gemprint diamond identification system was used to solve the crime. James Tuck, sales and marketing manager for Gemprint Corp., says the show's writers phoned—out of the blue—to ask about using Gemprint in their story. "You know, all of their stories are based on fact, with some literary license," says Tuck.

"This particular case was actually solved through diamond identification. And when the writer looked up 'diamond identification' on the Internet, she came across Gemprint. She called us to find someone close by who was on our list of users, and we found Nancy Stacy of Jewels by Stacy Appraisals, in Walnut Creek, close to San Francisco. Then we didn't hear anything for quite some time, until finally we received a call from the show's prop master who said they needed a Gemprint and asked if it would be okay to use one."

Stacy, a master gemologist appraiser and instructor with the American Society of Appraisers, was pleasantly surprised to get the call from the scriptwriter and willing to help out with the project. "The writer called and ran the script by me," she says. "I thought about it for a while because there were some things that weren't right, and then I helped her correct the story. I began by telling her first what the Gemprint can actually do for people, what it's used for."

After setting the story straight, Stacy helped with another prop. "They needed an idea for a unique diamond pendant, so I designed a pendant that would be distinctive, a heart-shaped diamond surrounded by rubies—like a valentine." Stacy was pleased with the end result: "The writer did a good job."

After the show aired, "The phone rang off the hook for the next three days from both jewelers and consumers," says Tuck. And while manning the Gemprint booth at The JCK Show in Orlando, Tuck heard a number of jewelers say, "Oh, you were the guys on TV the other night!" and "Did you guys know you were on TV?"

"The representation of Gemprint as a means of positive identification for diamonds and as irrefutable evidence in a court of law further solidifies the role of Gemprint as a leader in the field of diamond identification on an international level," says Tuck. Gemprint, touted as the world's only non-intrusive diamond identification system, allows for positive identification of diamonds without inscribing or physically altering the stone.

For more information on the Gemprint system, contact James Tuck at (888) GEMPRINT, or by e-mail at tuck@gemprint.com.