I have just completed my GEM-A foundation course in Singapore I have also learnt most of the basic equipments like Refractormeter, dichroscope, polariscope, loupe, microscope etc...
Can anyone advise me what is the next advance stuff I should go into ? I am very interested in knowing more on Heat treated corundum and their detection apart from using the loupe and microscope to detect the usual tell tail signs of a heated corundum such as broken rutile etc ...
The articles has been very informative ! Thanks ! Ok. If I am to go a little further, what is the next equipment that I should look into ? I am a little confuse with the Raman spectrography, FTIR. I saw them selling in http://www.cigem.ca/research-technology gem spectrometer, raman.
Anyone can provide me a website that I can go and purchase such stuff ? Thanks !!
Great. Thanks for the advise ok, may I say both serve about the same purpose ? If I am to get either one of this, which one would you advise me to buy and learnt first.
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:22 pm Posts: 21602 Location: San Francisco
Quote:
may I say both serve about the same purpose ?
Absolutely NOT!!!! Hold your horses! That's the point I'm trying to make with all the articles I've posted. I'll see if Alberto or Mikko can weigh in on this.
Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2008 5:00 am Posts: 344 Location: Finland
OK, I think your path after foundation should be pretty straightforward... go for FGA
I really don't think there is a shortcut for skipping it and jump directly for purchasing test equipment. And after that... before even thinking in which order to purchase, we would suggest to go a little bit back and start for spotting spectroscopy-related articles published during the last 15 years. Today this is extremely easy and, even more importantly, free... for example all the G&G issues has been made available free of charge at the GIA website. All the information needed to get started are right there, one just needs to revisit the articles and read again the sections which were probably skipped back then.
We are trying our best in order to spread the message that many of the so called "advanced" instruments, such as UV-Vis-NIR spectrometer, Raman spectrometer, FTIR-spectrometer or fluorescence microscope should not be considered so advanced anymore... all the major labs use them on daily basis and they should be called simply as spectroscopic instruments. We are beginning to see interest from those providing gemological education to incorporate these in to their syllabus... but naturally it will take some time for this transition to actually happen.
None of these instruments can really do the job of another, and actually major labs do utilize a bunch of more tools for being able to test for everything... These include for example confocal micro-Raman, XRF, mass spectrometers, LIBS-spectrometers, photoluminescence spectrometers, electron microscopes, X-ray tomography etc...
Still, investing in your education should remain the #1 priority right now, so please take my advice and go for the Diploma course.
I second Mikko on this one! You should invest in your education first, get a diploma in a certain field. Stick to your specific field and start self-study along.
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