The latest edition (June 2021) of SSEF’s Facette magazine is now available online as a PDF. This magazine brings you reports of our latest gemmological research and findings, courses and other SSEF activities.- The Science of Gem Testing - New Afghan emeralds- Machine learning...
The first detailed study characterising an emerald type from Afghanistan that has recently become available in the gemstone trade has been prepared by a team of scientists from the Swiss Gemmological Institute SSEF, and published in the most recent edition of Journal of Gemmology. One...
Origin determination of emeralds is a fascinating subject. In our efforts to gain greater insights into gemstones from different origins, SSEF has developed a new machine-learning-assisted chemical data visualization approach for emerald characterisation.The case study compared 168 emeralds from different origins using a t-SNE (t-distributed stochastic neighbor...
The Swiss Gemmological Institute SSEF is introducing a new service to support the documentation of the origin and provenance of pearls, in partnership with the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the University of Zurich. It is made possible by a substantial expansion of the organisation’s...
The latest edition (May 2020) of SSEF's Facette magazine is now available online as a PDF. This magazine brings you reports of our latest gemmological research and findings, courses and other SSEF activities.- Age dating of gems- GemTrack™- Laser inscription of gems- DNA fingerprinting of pearls...
BASEL, SWITZERLAND: MAY 19, 2020 - A breakthrough study entitled “DNA fingerprinting: an effective tool for taxonomic identification of precious corals in jewelry”, authored by researchers from the Swiss Gemmological Institute SSEF and the University of Zurich’s Institute of Forensic Medicine (IRM) and recently published in the leading peer-reviewed journal...
SSEF has been at the forefront of pearl research and developing new methods for testing natural and cultured pearls for many years. Dr. Michael S. Krzemnicki - director of SSEF- was invited to the Pearl Symposium in Bahrain in November 2019 to speak about these...
The Swiss Gemmological Institute SSEF has become the first gem laboratory worldwide to introduce DNA fingerprinting of ivory as a standard client service. It involves a scientific method that can provide valuable information about the species of ivory being used in jewellery and ornamental objects,...
The Swiss Gemmological Institute SSEF has successfully age-dated the historic ‘Ana Maria Pearl’ using carbon-14 (14C). This is the first time such a procedure has been conducted on a historic natural pearl, to provide valuable and new information on the age of a gem.Read Press...
GemTrack™ links a cut stone to a specific rough stone using gemmological techniques.GemTrack™ is based on a combination of crystallographic, structural, chemical and microscopic analyses that allow for detailed and potentially unique characterisation and fingerprinting of a rough stone. These same features are later investigated...