GIA Thailand

Spinel dazzles with its vibrant colors and exceptional durability. Once mistaken for ruby and sapphire, it's now celebrated as a remarkable gem in its own right. Here's a look at some of its most notable sources.

- Myanmar (formerly Burma): Famous for highly-valued vibrant red and pink spinels with exceptional clarity. Many are found in the legendary Mogok Tract and Namya.

- Sri Lanka: Produces spinels in a remarkable range of colors, including violet, blue and the rare, highly sought-after cobalt blue.

- Vietnam: The Yên Bái and Lục Yên mining areas produce fine red, blue and pink spinels.

Mahenge spinels from Tanzania are prized for their electric pink to vivid reddish hues. Blue spinels are also found in Tanzania. Tajikistan is known for pink to red spinel, especially from the historic Kuh-i-Lal mines.

Learn more about spinel origins on our website.
https://www.gia.edu/birthstones/august-birthstones

Spinel, one of August's birthstones, is prized for its exceptional range of colors and durability. Bright red, pink and cobalt blue spinels are among the rarest and most valuable, while gray and violet spinels have grown in popularity for their distinctive beauty and affordability.

With a Mohs hardness of 8, spinel is durable enough for everyday wear, making it an excellent choice for rings and other frequently worn jewelry. Once mistaken for ruby and sapphire, spinel is now celebrated as a remarkable gemstone in its own right.

Which spinel color is your favorite?

Learn more about different spinel colors and origins on our website: https://www.gia.edu/birthstones/august-birthstones

Prepare for the upcoming Bangkok Gems and Jewelry Fair with this special, limited-time offer.

The GIA® Bangkok Laboratory is offering a 5-business-day turnaround with the purchase of a GIA Colored Stone Report.

Available for Colored Stone Identification as well as Identification & Origin Reports

📅 Submission period:
August 17–28, 2026

For more information:
📩 Email: [email protected]
☎ Tel: 02-460-6945

Save the Date GIA will be exhibiting at the Bangkok Gems & Jewelry Fair 2026

📍 Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC)
📅 8–12 September 2026

Visit us for laboratory services, gemological education information, and special activities during the show.

Orange gemstones radiate warmth, energy and optimism. Here are the orange gemstones to know:

- Orange diamond: Incredibly rare—even rarer than dominant pink and blue natural diamonds—orange diamonds are the hardest, most brilliant and most valuable orange gem. Famous examples include the 14.82-carat The Orange and the 5.54-carat Pumpkin Diamond, both graded Fancy Vivid Orange by GIA.

- Orange sapphire: Colored by trace elements with colors ranging from soft pinkish orange “padparadscha” to saturated orange and are prized for their rich hues and hardness.

- Citrine: The golden-orange variety of quartz admired for its sunny color, affordability and wide availability.

- Fire Opal: Often from Mexico, fire opals may display exceptional transparency and vivid yellow to orangy red body color.

- Imperial topaz: Known for its rich reddish-orange hue, this prized variety of topaz is traditionally associated with luxury and royalty.

- Spessartine garnet: Also known as “mandarin garnet” and celebrated for its bright, fiery orange color, spessartine garnet is valued for its high brilliance and lively appearance.

- Melo pearl: A rare natural non-nacreous pearl from Southeast Asia, melo pearls are known for their rich orange color and flame-like structure.

- Sunstone: Named for its warm glow, sunstone often displays sparkling copper or hematite inclusions that create a distinctive shimmer.

Which is your favorite orange gemstone? See the full list of must-know gems on GIA website: https://bit.ly/4m3AJ6T

Fancy Black diamonds are not often seen in the industry. They are particularly difficult to fashion. This 278.88-carat Fancy Black diamond, named The African Galaxy, is a natural diamond with natural color, with its dramatic color created not by the diamond crystal structure itself, but by abundant graphite and other dark inclusions trapped within. It was reported to come from South Africa.

Under magnification, graphitized fractures and reflective crystals create a celestial, galaxy-like effect unique to heavily included black diamonds. GIA confirmed its natural color. Microscopic examination, along with visible spectroscopy, was important in determining the diamond’s natural color origin. Infrared spectroscopy proved it was type IaB, a rare classification.
These analytical methods and others allow GIA to distinguish natural Fancy Black diamonds from their treated counterparts.

What do you think of this diamond?

Diamond courtesy of

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After being lost at sea for 363 years, the Spanish galleon “Nuestra Señora de Atocha” was finally discovered off the coast of Florida in 1985.

Treasure hunter Mel Fisher and his team spent 16 years searching for the wreck, which had sunk in a hurricane in 1622 while carrying colonial cargo from the Americas to Spain. Among the discoveries were gold, several tons of silver and nearly 70 pounds of emeralds.

Several emerald crystals, along with an emerald-and-gold rosary and other artifacts, were later submitted to GIA for analysis. Researchers confirmed the emeralds were Colombian in origin, reflecting the Spanish colonial shipments of emeralds and other treasures from the Americas to Europe.

One remarkable gem from the wreck was a 5.27-carat emerald, later set into the ring shown here. The stone was kept by the CEO of Perdue Farms, who helped fund the expedition, and used it to propose to his wife. After his passing, the emerald was sold at auction for charity in 2022, fetching about $1.2 million.

Have you ever seen jewelry recovered from a shipwreck?

Video 1 courtesy of Phoebe Shang. Image 1 large crystals courtesy of Roz and Gene Meieran. Small crystals courtesy of Ron Ringsrud and Hernando Sanchez, Perfect Emerald, Ltd. Bogotá, Colombia, image 2 cross courtesy of Eileen Weatherbee, image 3 jewelry produced by J. Grahl Design/ image by Sylvia Bissonette

Ruby is one of the world's most treasured gemstones and has several prominent origins. Here are several legendary ruby-producing regions:

- Myanmar (Burma): Rubies from Myanmar have long set the standard for beauty, with material from the Mogok region prized for its saturated red color and remarkable vibrancy.

- Vietnam: The Luc Yen and Quy Chau mining regions are known for producing rubies with vivid red hues and strong fluorescence.

- Mozambique: The Montepuez ruby deposit has become one of the world's most important modern sources, producing many stunning crimson-red stones.

- Thailand & Cambodia: Historic deposits in Chanthaburi, Trat and Pailin are known for producing darker-toned rubies and helped establish the region as a major center for gem mining, cutting and trading.

Rubies are also found in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Kenya, Tanzania and Madagascar.

ทับทิม (Ruby) เป็นหนึ่งในอัญมณีล้ำค่าที่สุดของโลก มีแหล่งกำเนิดที่มีชื่อเสียงหลายแห่ง ต่อไปนี้คือแหล่งผลิตทับทิมระดับตำนาน

เมียนมา (พม่า): ทับทิมจากเมียนมาได้รับการยกย่องมาอย่างยาวนานว่าเป็นมาตรฐานแห่งความงดงาม โดยเฉพาะทับทิมจากโมกอก (Mogok) ซึ่งมีชื่อเสียงในด้านสีแดงอิ่มตัวและความเปล่งประกายอันโดดเด่น

เวียดนาม: แหล่งเหมืองลุกเอียน (Luc Yen) และกวีเจิว (Quy Chau) มีชื่อเสียงในการผลิตทับทิมที่มีสีแดงสดและการเรืองแสงที่เด่นชัด

โมซัมบิก: แหล่งทับทิมมอนเตปูเอซ (Montepuez) ได้กลายเป็นหนึ่งในแหล่งผลิตทับทิมที่สำคัญที่สุดของโลกในยุคปัจจุบัน โดยให้ผลผลิตทับทิมสีแดงเข้ม (crimson red) ที่งดงามจำนวนมาก

ไทยและกัมพูชา: เป็นแหล่งทับทิมที่มีความสำคัญทางประวัติศาสตร์ ในไทยที่จังหวัดจันทบุรีและตราด ในกัมพูชาที่จังหวัดไปเลิน (Pailin) ซึ่งมีชื่อเสียงในด้านทับทิมโทนสีแดงเข้ม และมีบทบาทสำคัญในการพัฒนาภูมิภาคนี้ให้เป็นศูนย์กลางการทำเหมือง การเจียระไน และการค้าอัญมณีระดับโลก

นอกจากนี้ ทับทิมยังพบในอัฟกานิสถาน ทาจิกิสถาน ปากีสถาน เคนยา แทนซาเนีย และมาดากัสการ์ อีกด้วย