French Association of Gemmology Announces Speakers For 18th Gemmological Symposium

The Association Française de Gemmologie (the French Association of Gemmology) has announced the line-up of speakers for the 18th Paris Gemmological Rendez Vous, its prestigious annual gems symposium, which will take place on September 9, 2019, at: l’ASIEM, 6 rue Albert de Lapparent, Paris, France.

The speaker list in alphabetical order is:

• Alan Bronstein, President of the Natural Color Diamond Association
• Aurélien Delaunay, director of the French Laboratory Of Gemmology (LFG)
• Richard Duffy : CEO of Petra Diamonds
• David Fisher, Principal Scientist, De Beers Technology
• Stéphane Fischler, President of the World Diamond Council
• Peter Karakchiev, Head of the International Relations Department, ALROSA
• Jim Pounds, Executive Vice-President Diamonds, Dominion Diamond Mines Martin Rapaport, Chairman, Rapaport
• Eddy Vleeschdraeger, Director at the Scientific and Technical Research Center for
  Diamonds (WTOCD – Belgium), author of “Hardness 10”
• Feriel Zerouki, Senior Vice-President of International Relations and Ethical Initiatives,
  De Beers

The moderator of the symposium is Didier Giard, President of the French Association of Gemmology and a member of the French Academy of Overseas Sciences. “This year’s symposium will be taking a comprehensive look at diamonds,” said Giard. “During a period of many challenges to the natural diamond industries including synthetics and a volatile international market, we are very proud to host such distinguished members of the diamond industry. They will be giving us their considered views, backed by years of experience, on the diamond industry from many different angles.

“This is a one-day event (9.15 am to 6.00 pm) that will give the audience plenty of food for thought, from diamond mining, the current state of the market, and coloured diamonds to the scientific, gemmological and historical aspects of natural diamonds. I would urge members of the trade to register as soon as possible in order to secure a place at the symposium since there are a limited number of places available. The symposium will have simultaneous French and English translation.”