Diamond World (DW) July - August 2020

In ConversatIon
“The Institute’s eLearning courses have helped many working
professionals access GIA’s research-backed curriculum anytime,
anywhere and learn at their own pace. During the lockdown period,
GIA offered its online GIA Essentials courses – including Jewelry
Essentials, Colored Stone Essentials and Diamond Essentials – at no
cost, and received more than 10,000 enrolments from 110 countries.”
You have taken over this new
role as the MD of GIA at a rather
challenging time - as the MD what
are your immediate priorities?
These are indeed challenging times
that have impacted just about every
industry. I am thankful to be a part of
the gem and jewellery industry, which
is resilient and has emerged stronger
from downturns in the past. I also
feel privileged to be a part of GIA–
the leader in gemmological research,
instrumentation, grading analysis
and education – and help further the
Institute’s mission to ensure the public
trust in gems and jewellery.
I thank Nirupa for putting together a
great team, and as a leader, your job
is already half done when you have a
strong team.In these times, our focus
is on creating a safe environment for
our employees in Mumbai and Surat
and pushing ourselves to meet the
needs of our clients.The lockdown has
accelerated the pace of digital adoption
to stay connected with people, and we
are doing our part in reaching out to the
trade extensively using digital tools.
Why do you think education and
awareness in the gems & jewellery
industry is more critical now, given
the current scenario?
Education has always been important
and will continue to remain important
for the ever-evolving gem and jewellery
industry, and GIA has been a pioneer
in gemmological education. GIA issued
its first Graduate Gemology diploma
in 1948, and has helped train more
than 365,000 students since it was
founded in 1931.GIA’s comprehensive
gemmology and jewellery education
prepares people starting a new career
or looking for the next step in their
profession for success in the industry.
The new and improved Melee Analysis Service now has the capability to
analyze fancy-shaped melee diamonds
Unfortunately, the pandemic has forced
us to keep some of our schools closed.
However, GIA remains as committed to
sharing knowledge and has capitalised
various digital avenues to reach a larger
audience across different geographies.
The Institute’s eLearning courses have
helped many working professionals
access GIA’s research-backed
curriculum anytime, anywhere and
learn at their own pace. During the
lockdown period, GIA offered its online
GIA Essentials courses – including
Jewelry Essentials, Colored Stone
Essentials and Diamond Essentials – at
no cost, and received more than 10,000
enrolments from 110 countries.
GIA has been organising weekly
webinars – GIA Knowledge Sessions
– that are led by GIA Ph.Ds., field
gemmologists, educators and research
scientists. In the past months, we’ve
covered various topics with roughly
20,000 viewers from 150 countries
tuning in. We’ve alsolaunched the
weekly emails, Knowledge Rocks,
and our Gems & Gemology (G&G)
Facebook Group to help the trade
access gem knowledge from GIA more
effortlessly.
In India too, GIA has been actively
engaging with trade members through
webinars as well as specialised training
programmes for retailers’ staff. The
webinars attracted more than 1,900
participants, while we trained more
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