On The Fly

In this episode, Mr. GIA . . . Can you name one person who, during your lifetime, changed your life in an extraordinary way? Was it a parent, a teacher, a historical figure, or maybe a serendipitous acquaintance? One person stands out among all others -  Richard T. Liddicoat . Sunday, March 2, 2025, would have been Mr. Liddicoat’s 107th birthday. Although he passed away in 2002, his memory lives on in me. In 1985, as a resident student at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) in Santa Monica, CA, I was invited by Richard T. Liddicoat Jr. (then Chairman of the Board) to his office. Liddicoat was a student of human nature, a lover of gemstones, and a lifetime GIA advocate. He would visit every Resident (on campus) Colored Stone/Gem Identification classroom just before each class was to graduate. He would often bring samples of remarkable gems submitted to the GIA Gem Trade Laboratory for the students to see. He would also stop by a classroom to discuss industry trends, the ...

In this episode, Mr. GIA . . . Can you name one person who, during your lifetime, changed the course of your life in an extraordinary way? Was it a parent, a teacher, a historical figure, or maybe a serendipitous acquaintance? One person stands out among all others -  Richard T. Liddicoat .  Sunday, March 2, 2025, would have been Mr. Liddicoat’s 107th birthday. Although he passed away in 2002, his memory lives on in me. In 1985, as a resident student at The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) in Santa Monica, CA, I was invited by Richard T. Liddicoat Jr. (then Chairman of the Board) to his office. As a student of human nature, lover of gems, and lifetime GIA advocate, he would visit every Resident (on campus) Colored Stone/Gem Identification classroom just before each class was to graduate. He would often bring samples of unique gem materials submitted to the GIA Gem Trade Laboratory for the students to see. Or he would simply stop by a classroom to discuss industry tren...

“There are over 3,000 known minerals. About 150 gem minerals. They are classified as: Group, Species, and Variety.” For example, “Can you identify the green stone now on the screen? Remember, there are a lot of possibilities.” Recently, I was invited to do a presentation on gemstones for two local North County San Diego clubs; Treasure Seekers of San Diego, and the Temecula Valley Prospectors. Their principal hobby is panning for gold. However, some dabble in mining gemstones. We had enthusiastic audience decidedly interested in learning more about gemstones, a proverbial “gold mine” for educators if you will. So, we dipped our fingers into some gem identification, discussed possible treatments, and reminded them to always suspect glass or plastic when they found something. I popped up a slide, gave them a few clues then asked the audience to identify the stone. Thankfully, this technique involved no awful smells from the use of refractive index liquid. The crowd lov...