Danat seminars in Jewellery Arabia

DANAT, the Bahrain Institute for Pearls & Gemstones, is offering seminars on a wide range of topics by expert gemmologists on each day of the five-day event at its pavilion in the Al Fanar Hall.  

Lectures will focus on topics including the new sapphire discoveries in Madagascar, ruby deposits in Asia as well as the history and exploitation of natural pearls in the Isle of Cubagua, in northeastern Venezuela and which was discovered by Christopher Columbus.

“Visitors, enthusiasts and clients are welcome to visit our stand in the Al Fanar Hall to enhance their knowledge of the history of precious stones while enjoying other complimentary offerings including a dazzling exhibit of exquisite jewels from different parts of the world,” said Kenneth Scarratt, Chief Executive Officer of DANAT. The daily lectures will begin at 7 pm with the last talk scheduled to begin at 9 pm. 

Peter Balogh from the Funda Prehistoria (Prehistoric Foundation) will be giving a public talk uncovering the findings of an archaeological expedition on Cubagua island in the Caribbean in which a treasure of natural pearls dating to 15th Century was found buried in a clay jar. He will be joined by the globally renowned gemologist, Vincent Pardieu from VP Consulting. 

Pardieu’s daily lectures will focus on the latest discoveries of blue sapphires in Madagascar, a major sapphire supplier since the 1990s. More recently, new sapphire deposits in the northeast region, near Ambatondrazaka, were found to have produced exceptionally high quality 50 carat stones, the finest quality during the past three decades.

Pardieu gained comprehensive experience in key positions in the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the Asian Institute of Gemological Sciences (AIGS) and the Gübelin Gem Laboratory. He will also enlighten visitors and gemstone enthusiasts on newly found amphibole ruby deposits.

The international guest speakers will be joined by DANAT’s team of experts who will also be talking about pearl testing in DANAT at different scheduled times every day.