BrillianceScope Leads New Jewelry Technology
(The second in a series of interviews with Gary Gordon, CEO of Samuel Gordon Jewelers, conducted by Gordon Walker, General Manager of Friday.)
GW: Your latest advertisements have announced a new machine called "The BrillianceScope." Just what exactly does it do?
GG: The BrillianceScope rates the light performance of a diamond. It analyzes three things: brilliancy, which is the return of white light back to the eye of the beholder; fire or dispersion, which is the diamond's ability to display spectral colors, and finally, scintillation, which is sparkle or twinkle.
GW: It's my understanding that you were selected to be the first independent jeweler anywhere in America to unveil this technology to the public. How did you find out about the BrillianceScope, and why were you selected?
GG: About five years ago, a friend of mine in New York told me that this technology was going to be available to the jewelry industry. I contacted Gem-Ex Corporation, the manufacturer, and began negotiations to have the machine when the time was right. They decided to associate themselves with Samuel Gordon Jewelers because of our interest in the latest developments within the jewelry industry, our marketing techniques and our involvement with industry associations such as the American Gem Society.
GW: Tell me a little bit more about the technology behind the BrillianceScope.
GG: The BrillianceScope is a photospectrometer. It's been in existence since the early 1930s and for decades has been used in industries such as aerospace, medical, optics, automotive and astronomy. The diamond application is used regularly at colleges in the Far East and at the Gubelin Gem Laboratory in Switzerland. For the past five years, the manufacturer has scanned more than 20,000 diamonds and established rock-solid reliability. I have scanned several hundred diamonds and have marveled at the information that the machine has yielded.
GW: When someone interested in the BrillianceScope comes in your store, what specifically do they see?
GG: They see four things: first, the computer - a diamond is placed on the computer's "eye"; and it then views the stone from five different positions. Then they see the monitor where they can actually watch the analyzing process. They then see a "result document," which is generated after the BrillianceScope has concluded its work, showing, by a bar graph method, how the diamond rates for its brilliancy, its fire and its scintillation. Finally, they see the viewer, which allows them to look at the diamond under the exact conditions that the BrillianceScope's "eye" saw the diamond. This is a separate apparatus that is fabulous for comparing two different diamonds and witnessing firsthand their respective light performances.
GW: Advanced technology in any field is always exciting. Any final thoughts?
GG: The BrillianceScope enables jewelers to enlighten and inform customers in a way that is useful and important. The machine does not replace the human eye or human judgment. What it does do is give us a perspective that allows everyone to make a better and more informed diamond choice. After more than 30 years of looking at diamonds, I now look at them with more insight than I ever thought possible, and this can be shared with anyone interested in buying a diamond. If my job as a jeweler is to inform, educate and provide great diamond choices for my customers, then, with this technology coupled with my experience, I will have performed my ultimate obligation.