GIA offering services, museum preview in Las Vegas

Las Vegas--The Gemological Institute of America will offer a number of services and educational sessions during market week.

The GIA’s offerings can be found at various locations at the Mandalay Bay hotel, including at booth L99 at JCK Las Vegas, a room in the hotel’s convention center and a bungalow at the show’s closing event.

More information about the GIA’s presence in Las Vegas can be found here. Details about the offerings in Las Vegas are as follows:

Show Service Laboratory
Show attendees will have access to gem identification and country-of-origin services through the GIA Show Service Laboratory.

Expert GIA gemologists will accept gemstones at Palm G at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center through Sunday, June 1 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Monday, June 2 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

In-Booth Briefings
GIA will offer, for the third year in a row, a series of free 20-minute in-booth briefings, where experts will shed light on some of the industry’s most pressing issues, including “Field Gemology in Sri Lanka, Brazil and China,” “The Latest on Synthetic Diamonds,” “Enhancing Your Online Presence,” and “Jewelry Quality Assurance Benchmarks.”

The briefings will take place from Friday, May 30 through Monday, June 2 at booth L99.

Museum Displays
Also at booth L99 at JCK, the institute will give a sneak peek of its “The Beauty of Science: Gems & Gemology Celebrates 80 Years, Featuring the Artistry of Harold and Erica Van Pelt” exhibit in Carlsbad.

Jewelry pieces of historic and gemological significance that have appeared on three different covers of the GIA’s scientific journal, Gems & Gemology, will be on display side-by-side with their iconic photos.

GIA Alumni Bungalow
The GIA Alumni Association will host Bungalow 2 at The Beach at Mandalay Bay during the “JCK Rocks the Beach” party featuring Rob Thomas, who is the lead singer of Matchbox Twenty but also performs as a solo artist, on Sunday from 8:30 to 11 p.m. Show attendees can stop by the bungalow to network with GIA alumni and industry members.

The event is open to all JCK badge holders. Tickets will be distributed based on a first-come, first-served basis Friday and Sunday at the show’s ticket centers.