Hi Richard,

It is not all bad with the GIA, however, their pearl course leaves a lot to be desired and is basically a pearl-platers' marketing tool. Considering the amount of time the GIA spends on teaching you that doublets and triplets are not lab gems and that lab gems are afterall not valuable real stones and how to detect treatments in diamonds and colored stones isn't the pearl course and its grading values an utter and total farce? It is to me.

Zeide