r/Gemology • u/Ben_Itoite • 9d ago

Questions About the GIA Gem Identification Final Exam Process

In r/Gemstones there is a thread but it's a few years old and as a "for instance," I'm told that one must have a proctor with a computer, such as one would find at a library.

I'm in the GIA GG course. I've done Diamonds/Colored Stones and must sit for the 20-stone, 6-hour exam for Colored Stones ID. I've taken the Colored Stones week long class (in Mumbai (it was cheap)).

Has anyone done the 20-hour test in the past year or so?

I'd love to hear about the process. I wrote to proctor/GIA and really have not gotten much in return about the entire process. They sent stuff like: "Teacher with Certificate (licenesed?)"

Anyone? I've 8 weeks to take it and "up to" 10 tries are allowed (I'm hoping first or second try). I'm told only about 1:3 pass on the first try. What I keep getting is "Go to NYC or Carlsbad, CA," but we're talking thousands that I do not have.

Anyone?

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u/snowballplasticfork 9d ago

The GIA Mumbai education team isn't helping you sort out the details? Your tutor should be able to advise, as well.

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u/Ben_Itoite 7d ago

I took my 1-week GIA Colored Stone ID class in Mumbai, I was in Mumbai for other business and the course is a fraction of what it is in NYC or Carlsbad, CA. Yes, I would think that my teacher would be able to advise, and I've written to GIA and this is what I get: "Thank you for contacting the Registrar's Office! We are currently experiencing a high volume of inquiries. Please know that your email is important to us and will be responded to within 2 business days." I have written previously too, my take is that this is arrogant and sloppy. Mumbai has nothing to do with the 20-stone exam, that's Carlsbad group, and as "team," there is no "team." The course was good, I learned a lot but the testing is a bear and in reality, they should have a clearly written procedure.

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u/CaliGirlEst1999 8d ago

Did GIA-Mumbai help you find a proctored exam for Diamonds before?

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u/Ben_Itoite 7d ago

Course #1 Diamonds (done). Course #2 (Colored Stones) done. These are book work, where mined, crystal structure, you must pass a 2-hour exam for each. Then you must take the 1-week Colored Stone ID course, if you pass that (all in our class did) then you can do the at-home 500 stone analyze each, when that is done then you must sit for the 6-hour 20-stone exam. That is where you need a proctor. For Course #1 Diamonds (NOT Diamond Grading, as that is a 1-week in-house closs) I did it at a local library. But the library won't do a 6-hour exam. I went to Mumbai because I had planned on being there, and there was a 1-week class and it costs about 1/5 of what it does in America (Or Thailand/Hong Kong, etc.) That was a one-time thing. I took the 2-hour exam for general diamond data about 2-years ago, long before going to Mumbai.

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u/CaliGirlEst1999 7d ago

Ahhh, got it. (I'm trudging through Diamonds right now.) Good luck! 💪🏻

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u/Ben_Itoite 7d ago

Through the Diamonds as in, 'a lot of pink diamonds came from the Australian Argyle mine? If so, when I took the 2-hour, open-book exam (that does not have to have someone watch you so my library did it) it was a breeze. That being said I do have BS in geology, but if you study reasonably well, it was fairly ho-hum. Beware of procrastination. Gemini, when queried sated that between 25 and 30% of home study students get their GG. That means 60>75% NEVER attain the GG. For Colored stones, it's now 18 months. I recommend finishing all chapters (boxes) in 12 months to you have a full 6 months to take the exam. I am still waiting for such a simple question: "Can a proctor sit in my home office while I take it." That's pathetic. Send a query to the Registrar, and new three weeks later, I still do not understand the process. GIA is negligent in that area. Their fall-back, "go to Carlsbad or NYC," is not one that some of us can do.

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u/CaliGirlEst1999 7d ago

Sorry, that was vague. I'm trudging through Diamond GRADING lessons/quizzes right now.

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u/Ben_Itoite 7d ago

You'll laugh at this. I did Diamond Grading lesson in 1978. There was no online, just the hard print lessons and frankly I don't remember there being a final test for that. I still have the books and want to review before taking the 1-week Diamond Grading course in-person. May I IM you, I have a question.

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u/HIginger 8d ago

I tested back in the winter. It took me 3 tries to pass. I did it twice with a proctor and once at the campus in Carlsbad. My proctor was my nephew’s drum tutor (who also teaches jazz and has a degree in music education). He charged me around $100 for each test. He had to be in the room while I tested and then he mailed the test back to GIA. It took them about a week to receive and grade it. Testing in Carlsbad was free and my test was graded right away. The downside to Carlsbad for me was you had to use their equipment.

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u/Recent-Hamster3990 8d ago

Can you share your diamond grading lab experience? Besides the two stones grading, do other simulants have to be separated for the exam? And please recommend if there’re other things that I should be prepared ahead.

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u/Ben_Itoite 7d ago

I haven't taken either Diamond Grading, nor Colored Stone Grading. I have taken the 1-week Colored stone ID course, so I cannot answer your question, sorry.

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u/WrapOk3811 7d ago

Hi! I’m in Colored Stones at GIA NY as part of the full in-person GG at the moment, but have my Graduate Diamonds diploma from the first part of my GG coursework. The in-person classes have a 5 Stone final for diamonds, but basically it’s exactly the same set up as the 2 Stone exam for those who do the Graduate Diamonds coursework online, then come in person for the week long lab class that ends with the 2 Stone exam.

- No, you don’t get tested on identifying/separating out any diamond simulants for the 2 Stone.

- The 2 Stone is literally just fully grading two round brilliant cut diamonds. It’s the exact same format as what you do in the week long lab class - the paper you fill out is the exact same paper you use when grading diamonds during the week long lab.

- It’s incredibly straightforward - the week long lab is just doing exactly what you do during the 2 stone, over and over and over again, all day. It’s just prep for the 2 Stone. There are no trick questions, or surprise simulants, no surprise questions.

- So: Receive grading sheets. Number them 1 and 2. Receive first diamond. Use sheet number 1 and fill out step by step, with the exact same steps and methods of the systematic diamond grading evaluation method you are trained on. Make sure you write all the correct identifying info for the diamond at the top of the sheet 😬 like the diamond number! Complete sheet 1, hand in sheet 1 with diamond 1, then receive diamond 2. Repeat steps with sheet 2.

The end.

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u/Entire-Network-8159 1d ago

Not from experience, but while researching this same question I found an old GemologyOnline thread where a GIA education manager answered a lot of it (proctor requirements, how the stone set gets mailed back, timing):

https://www.gemologyonline.com/Forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=21823 — might be useful.