Sriram “Ram” Natarajan is now GIA’s senior vice president of laboratory operations and is based out of the lab’s headquarters in Carlsbad.
Univ. of Arizona, Gem Collection Partner for Exhibition
“A Modern Gem and Jewelry Collection,” which opened Feb. 1 in Tucson, showcases gems in their natural forms and the evolution of gemstone cutting.

Tucson, Ariz.--Gems and jewelry are really having their day in the museum spotlight, as there’s another exhibition now open that gives the public a closer look at some exceptional gemstones.
Somewhere In The Rainbow is partnering with the University of Arizona’s Mineral Museum, located in the school’s Flandrau Science Center and Planetarium, for “A Modern Gem and Jewelry Collection.”
Somewhere In the Rainbow is an organization that speaks to museum curators, gallery owners, jewelry designers and gemologists with the goal of promoting the enjoyment and education of fine colored gemstones.
It also includes works from 20 lapidary artists and designers, all of whom have won a Spectrum Award from the American Gem Trade Association in the past 20 years.
There also is a lapidary project, which was launched last year in Tucson with 11 of the top gem cutters, each of whom bring their own style of cutting, along with examples to illustrate the evolution of stone cutting.
A sapphire called the Buddha Blue, which was faceted between 1400 and 1500 A.D., inspired the lapidary project. Both Cigdem Lule of GemWorld International and Chris Smith of the American Gemological Laboratories have done documented research on the stone.
The museum’s visitors also will learn about the history of gemology in a display of historical gemological tools that were used to identify and study gemstones over time, featuring equipment from geologist Basil Anderson donated by the Gemmological Association of Great Britain.

“We are thrilled for this collaboration of educational forces in the mineral, gemstone and jewelry world to be experienced and enjoyed. This will be the first time that the Somewhere In The Rainbow Collection will be available to this extent as an educational exhibition, and we are honored to share it with U of A and all who visit,” said
The exhibition will run through Jan. 15, 2018. The cost is admission to the university’s Flandrau Science Center and Planetarium.
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