GIA India Launches Pearl Identification Laboratory in Mumbai

GIA India announced the launch of its new pearl identification laboratory in Mumbai. The launch was held at the Trident Hotel in Nariman Point, Mumbai in the presence of Sriram Natarajan, Managing Director of GIA India, Apoorva Deshingkar, Senior Director – Education and Market Development, GIA India, Dr. Chunhui Zhou, Senior Manager Pearl Identification, GIA New York, Abeer Al-Alawi and Nicholas Struman, Consultants to GIA India, among several other dignitaries from the gem and jewellery industry. 

Sriram Natarajan, said, “India – particularly Mumbai – has had a longstanding reputation for being an important trading hub for natural pearls. GIA India’s trusted and independent pearl evaluation laboratory in Mumbai will not only provide an unbiased assessment of pearls but also give Indian pearl dealers local access to a globally-recognised report. GIA India will facilitate unbiased purchase decisions which are crucial at this point. Through its identification process, GIA India will propagate a standard terminology, a language that everyone inside and outside trade can understand.” 

The new GIA Pearl Identification Laboratory will offer the GIA Pearl Identification Report along with several add-ons and specialty services such as nacre thickness, Monograph™, Portrait™ Report, Notable Letter, and more. 

Susan Jacques, GIA President, and CEO, said, “GIA has a 90-year history of protecting the gem and jewellery-buying public through research, education and science-based gem grading and identification services for the trade. Evaluating pearls has always been a key part of that effort, and I am so pleased that GIA India has expanded its in-country offerings with a pearl evaluation laboratory in Mumbai.” 

Tom Moses, GIA Executive Vice President and Chief Laboratory and Research Officer, added, “Pearls were among the first gems that GIA reported on. The GIA laboratory in New York City first started testing pearls in the 1930s. GIA applies the same identification and tracking procedures to pearls as it does to coloured stones and diamonds. This newly-established pearl evaluation laboratory in Mumbai brings our pearl services closer to the vibrant Indian gem and jewellery industry.”