Richard W. Hughes, of the American Gem Trade Association Gem Testing Laboratory (AGTAGTL) condoles Dr. Gubelin's death with the following message:
"I had the opportunity a decade ago to assist him in compiling a bibliography of his writings. As I perused the listings, I was struck by the sheer breathe of his work. And so often as I travelled to remote areas in pursuit of gems, I found myself travelling paths that he had blazed decades before.
While he is known first and foremost as a gemologist, his life was so much more. Dr. Gubelin was a Renaissance Man in the old-school style. Author, artist, filmmaker, traveler, poet. He had a love for life and living and that always came through in his writings. His death saddens us greatly. Dr. Eduard Gubelin was the father of modern gemmology. We are all his children."