Participating at the February American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) Show in Tucson, the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) will be offering gem identification and country-of-origin reports for coloured stones at its ‘GIA Show Service Laboratory’. The GIA has created a Show Service Laboratory as a mobile version of its Laboratory, to provide trade show participants with coloured stone services. The laboratory will be supervised by some of GIA’s most senior coloured gem experts for providing the reports.

The contents of the GIA Identification Reports includes a detailed assessment of any type of gem material, identifications of characteristics such as colour, transparency, shape, cut, dimensions and weight and a colour photo of the gem. The report mentions whether the material is natural or synthetic, and if a treatment to enhance the stone’s appearance has been detected. The GIA Origin Report applies to rubies, sapphires and emeralds, and includes all details of a GIA Identification Report and an opinion on country-of-origin. The reports are printed on-site.

The GIA will also keep its GIA GemPassbook™ launched in September 2009, at the AGTA Show. Each passbook contains 50 pre-paid GIA GemPasses™ and are good for identification or country-of-origin services. Gem Identification GemPasses are priced at US$50 each, while Country-of-Origin GemPasses are priced at US$100 each. Each GIA GemPass is redeemable for one stone submission.

To cater to the AGTA attendees, the GIA has arranged for the attendees to drop off their gemstones at the AGTA Show in the Onyx Suite of the Tucson Convention Center. The GIA Show Service Laboratory will be available February 1–7, 2010.