The Winter 2000 edition of the Gemological Institute of America’s Gems & Gemology journal is a special issue titled “Retrospective of the ’90s.” That decade of change included some high drama in the diamond business. It began with the introduction of affordable synthetic gem-quality diamonds created by General Electric, Sumitomo Electric, and De Beers, along with a few Russian ventures. It ended with the “undetectable” high-pressure/high-temperature natural diamond color enhancement, which makes champagne diamonds colorless, courtesy of—again—General Electric.

The issue, which includes a large, well-documented fold-out map of the world’s gem localities, discusses the latest enhancements, detection methods, synthetics, simulants, and technologies. It concludes with a look at jewelry trends of the ’90s.

“In a sense,” writes GIA president William Boyajian, “what we have provided in this “Retrospective of the ’90s” issue is a snapshot of a decade—and a profound one at that … Our goal was to produce a valuable, thoroughly readable contribution to your gemological library: a decade of gemological knowledge brought together in a single journal.”

For more information about Gems & Gemology, contact GIA at (800) 421-7250, or visit www.GIA.edu.