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Gem-A Instruments Now Distributor for GemPen
The portable device can be used to test diamonds to see if they are natural or lab grown and can also be used on colored gemstones.
The portable GemPen can be used on diamonds, rubies and sapphires to determine if they are lab grown or treated. Gem-A Instruments just became the official distributor of the device in the U.K. and worldwide.
London—Gem-A Instruments, a subsidiary of Gem-A, is now the official distributor of the portable GemPen screening device in the United Kingdom and worldwide.
Invented by gemologist, geologist and Gem-A accredited Teaching Center tutor Torbjörn Lindwall and made by Swedish company Gemometrics AB, GemPen uses full-spectrum Xenon ultraviolet light technology with a unique combination of wavelengths and filters.
When pointed at a diamond, ruby or sapphire, the instrument’s ultra-spectrum optical filtering, or USOF, technology displays the stone’s unique fluorescence.
By analyzing this effect and comparing what they see with The Gemstone Map, a virtual image bank of reference diamonds, sapphires and rubies tested by GemPen, a user can determine if the stone they are looking at is natural or lab grown.
The map is accessible online through the GemPen Academy.
GemPen can also be used to determine various treatments (HPHT, irradiation, etc.) in both natural and lab-grown diamonds and gemstones.
The GemPen Diamond Screener with filters 1 and 4 is priced at €2,050 ($2,419). GemPen Premium, which comes with all the filters, sells for €2,500 ($2,949).
The premium version of the instrument is marketed more toward gemologists, as more knowledge is needed to get indications on sapphires and rubies, while the Diamond Screener can be used by anyone.
“[GemPen] is a beautifully portable tool that can be used for colored stones as well as being a valuable diamond screening instrument and I am sure that as we continue to test it, it will present many more applications in the future,” said Samantha Lloyd, instrument manager at Gem-A.
Gemometrics AB is a technology company based in Luleå, Sweden.
Gem-A Instruments is a subsidiary of Gem-A, a London-based provider of gemology education that has been around since 1908 and says it is the oldest provider of gemology education in the world.
The instruments division has supported Gem-A students and members with essential gemological equipment for more than 50 years.
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