Financial Times

Another Sri Lankan achievement!
Gemstation:Evolution of the gem industry
By Iromi Perera
Suranjith Gunasekara, a Sri Lankan gemmologist residing in Switzerland, has developed an unique software that will help the gem industry the world over.

It will enable the gem industry to identify and record the existence of a stone, at a magnification of 600 times, showing all the features and flaws that are distinctive in each and every gem, from any angle, which is vital for recording the unique fingerprint of a gemstone.

The pictures of the inclusions will make possible for each gem to have an individualized certificate and number. The images and information of each gemstone will be stored electronically onto a database, which allows worldwide access. A moving image at the same magnification is also possible.

This software will make it possible for gems to be certified and evaluated without having to see the stone. With the use of the software - Octogon Systems Gemstation - stones can be graded by certified Gemological Institute of America (GIA) Gemologists within days or even hours as opposed to the current process which takes eight weeks.

"It is not our intention to change the process of grading. It is purely about identifying it," says Danielle Schwoerer, Business Development Advisor of Octogon Systems, a company founded by Gunasekera in Switzerland and with an office in Colombo. Schwoerer, together with Gary Roskin, former head of GIA and current gemstone editor of the JCK Magazine, was due to perform the world's first ever live grading at the InterGem Show to be held in Idar-Oberstein, Germany from October 1 to 4. Schwoerer, who spoke to The Sunday Times FT before leaving for Germany, is planning to upload the image into the system while Roskin will be grading it through broadband.

According to Suren Kundanmal, Director of Octogon Systems (Pvt) Sri Lanka, the system documents images so clearly that even if the stone was recut, any gemmologist could distinguish it. This system will enable the industry to minimize the trafficking of gemstones in the country and prevent precious stones and foreign exchange leaving the country.

Currently there is no system to distinguish gemstones, which makes it impossible to track what goes in and out of the country. The company has approached the National Gem and Jewellery Authority in Sri Lanka and is hoping issue regional licenses and sub licenses to stations throughout the country in order to set up labs so that gems can be recorded and certified as soon as they're found.

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