H.E. Nguyen Thi Doan, Vice-President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, gave special official audience to the delegates of the 33rd International Gemmological Conference on 16th October 2013 in Hanoi.
On behalf of the delegates from 23 countries Dr. Jayshree Panjikar as the General Executive Secretary of the IGC Executive Committee presented the copy of the Abstract Proceedings to the Vice President H.E. Nguyen Thi Doan. Speaking at the occasion Dr. Panjikar said, “Your Excellency, we the IGC delegates and observers have come from all corners of the globe to this conference with the wealth of knowledge about diamonds, gemstones, pearls which the world considers as wealth. This wealth is in this copy of the proceedings. We are happy to see that in Vietnam, the Government, the Academia and the Business/Commerce have come together to help each other like a pyramid and therefore it forms a wonderful formula for growth. We take back with us wonderful memories of your beautiful country. ”
The International Gemmological Conference (IGC) is held every two years and for the last six decades the delegates are invited by selection strictly on merit of their publications and presentations at other conferences on various recent technical developments in the field of gemstones. Chairpersons for the various sessions were Prof. Dr. Emmanuel Fritsch (France), Dr. Pornsawat Wathanakul (Thailand), Dr. Karl Schmetzer (Germany), Dr. Henry Haenni (Switzerland), Dr. Jayshree Panjikar (India), Dr.Hanco Zwaan (The Netherlands) and Dr. Ulrich Henn (Germany).
GIA’s Research Scientist Dr. Jim Shigley gave a presentation on CVD diamonds, Hiroshi Kitawaki of CGL Japan showed how gem diamonds could be identified by High energy UV luminescence imaging. Dr. Stefanos Karampelas of Gubelin Laboratory spoke on pearls from Mexico. The corundum session had presentations on Montana sapphires, Burmese sapphires, Russian sapphires, Vietnam rubies and rubies from northern Thailand. Dr. Jayshree Panjikar of PANGEMTECH, Pune, presented a technical paper on the bi-coloured yellow-blue sapphire from Chinnadharapuram. New techniques like Electron Paramagnetic Resonance, Vibrational Spectroscopy, Digital colour analyses, Application of Di-Electric Constant Values for ruby identification, Atomic Force microscopy to study the effects of irradiation on diamonds, digital microscopy were also some of the interesting papers presented.