GIA Museum to Launch Historical Collection of Jewelry
May 04, 08 by IDEX Online Staff Reporter
The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) Museum is launching a new campaign to build the “GIA Historical Collection,” a comprehensive assemblage of jewelry, object d’arts and gemstones from various time periods and cultures worldwide.
A corsage ornament circa
1905 featuring 39.8 ct pink
topaz and diamonds from
the GIA collection.
Photo: GIA, Harold & Erica Van Pelt |
The museum’s director, Elise Misiorowski, commented that the Institute intends to create “a wide-ranging, world-class collection that captures the essence of each period in gem and jewelry history.”
“Jewelry is like a time capsule,” she continued. “It can tell you about the economics, social structure, and technology of the culture it came from. Jewelry preserves this information in a very concentrated way. It’s like a Rosetta stone; if you know how to read it, you can interpret the socioeconomic climate of the period.”
The GIA Museum currently has some historical pieces, such as a late-18th century diamond floral brooch and a corsage ornament featuring a pink topaz and diamonds from about 1905. The Institute hopes to not only increase the number of pieces in its collection, but acquire examples from many different eras as well.
The GIA Museum plans to use the Historical Collection for display in other venues on a regular basis, accompanied by lecturers and experts, and pieces from the collection will be showcased further via podcasts and other educational vehicles.
