Staff

Members

Dr. Michael S. Krzemnicki FGA

Dr. Krzemnicki has been with SSEF since February 1998. Following his tenure as director of education, he became director of the SSEF laboratory in June 2009. He is involved in gemstone testing, education and management of the laboratory. Dr Krzemnicki holds a Master's degree in Mineralogy and received his PhD in 1996 from Basel University (Switzerland). He received his FGA Diploma in January 1998. He is a fellow of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain and of the Swiss Gemmological Society SGG.

Jean-Pierre Chalain DUG

Jean-Pierre Chalain has been with SSEF since July 1994, now as director of the diamond department. He completed his Diploma of Gemmology at the University of Nantes in 1992. His main working fields in the laboratory are colourless and coloured diamonds, but he is also involved with the testing of coloured stones and pearls. Jean-Pierre Chalain is delegate of Switzerland at the World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) and is a member of the Laboratory Manual Harmonization Commission (LMHC).

Dr. Franz Herzog FGA

Dr. Franz Herzog has been an analytical scientist with SSEF since April 2009. He operates the analytical instruments such as ED-XRF, UV-Vis, FTIR, X-ray radiography, Raman microspectrometry and LIBS. He is responsible for providing gemmologists the chemical and spectral results they require for identification of gemstones.  
He received his doctorate in theoretical elementary particle physics from Basel University (Switzerland) in 1982. He subsequently worked in different professional fields such as particle physics, hydrology and providing scientific and technical support in environmental agencies and the IT industry. Franz got his FGA Diploma in August 2011.

Pierre Lefèvre, MSc, DUG

Pierre Lefèvre joined SSEF as a gemmologist in August 2005. He currently works with coloured stones, diamonds, and pearls. He holds a Master’s in mineralogy from Liège University in Belgium, having completed his studies in 2003. In parallel, he followed courses at the "Société Belge de Gemmologie" in Brussels, and received the FEEG Diploma (Federation of European Education in Gemmology) in 2003. In 2005 he completed his studies on gemstone treatments with a DUG Diploma (Diplome Universitaire de Gemmologie à Nantes, France). From 2003 to 2005, he was lecture assistant at the University of Liège, Belgium.

Petra Niggli

Petra Niggli has been with SSEF since August 1995. She is the head of the administration department. She is concurrently furthering her education by pursuing a part-time diploma in business administration.

Chiara Parenzan, MSc, GG

Chiara Parenzan has been a gemmologist with SSEF since November 2007 and her work focuses on pearls, coloured gemstones and diamonds. She holds a Master’s in Mineralogy from Bologna University (Italy), graduating in 2006. She received her Graduate Gemologist (GG) Diploma at GIA (Carlsbad) in 2004.

Luc Phan

Luc Phan has been with SSEF since June 2006. He works on quality assessment of small diamonds and grading of large diamonds. He is our in-house photographer of gemstones and jewellery items.

Julien Xaysongkham

Julien Xaysongkham has been with SSEF since March 2008. He is a specialist in the quality control of small diamonds and grading of large diamonds.

Chi Hun Yang

Chi Hun Yang has been working in SSEF administration since January 2008. She holds a Bachelor’s in Economics from Basel University (Switzerland).

Dr. Wei Zhou

Dr. Wei Zhou joined SSEF as a gemmologist in April 2011. She holds a Bachelor in gemmology from the China University of Geosciences (Beijing) and a Master in mineralogy from the same institution. She completed her PhD in 2011 at the Institute of Mineralogy and Geochemistry at the University of Freiburg in Germany.

Research Associates

Prof. Henry A. Hänni FGA

Prof. Dr. Henry A. Hänni is a research associate with SSEF. He was director of SSEF from 1990-2009. He received his doctorate in Mineralogy from the University of Basel in 1980 and earned the title of professor in 1996 from the same university. He received his FGA Diploma in 1978. He has been regularly teaching gemmology courses at Basel and Lausanne universities for three decades. Prof. Hänni has published over 150 articles on gemstones and analytical techniques in numerous journals.