I became interested in gemstones inclusions after deciding to go to study gemology in Burma (Myanmar) in november 2000. At time my Burmese mentor, a Mogok gem dealer, told me to come to study in Burma with 2 things: A dark field loupe and a good reference book about inclusions...
I followed his advise and I decided to buy the "Photoatlas of Inclusions in Gemstones" from Prof Edward Gubelin and John Koivula. First I found the book very expensive and I hesitated: I was just a student, not very wealthy but finally I decided to follow my Burmese mentor advise as another friend: Ted Themelis told me that it was probably a good choice whatever the price of the book, as without a good reference book I will probably loose my time in Burma compared to what I could learn if I had the book with me and the possibility to look at the same time at many stones. It was a wonderful advise as it was for me the beginning of a growing passion: During my six months studying gemology in Yangon, Burma I had then the possibility to get the best of my time there as each evening with the Photoatlas and my dark field loupe I was able to look and learn from hundreds of Burmese gems and slowly acquire the knowledge which I use now commonly in the gemological lab I'm working in.
Probably without spending all this time with this book, I would not have the chance to begin to work as gemologist and finally as laboratory Director at the AIGS Gemstone Identification Grading and Research Laboratory in Bangkok, Thailand.

The "Photoatlas of Inclusions in Gemstones", "Ruby and Sapphire" and "The Heat Treatment of Ruby and Sapphire" were the books at the origin of my passion for gemology as a science and probably if I didn't bought them before my gemological studies I would not become what I'm today. For these reasons I consider Prof. E. Gubelin, John Koivula, Richard W. Hughes and Ted Themelis as my "book fathers". I believe that I own them a lot for the great books they published. Except for Ted, they were not aware of that until I finally had the chance to meet them. These books were the source of my inspiration and thanks to them I work today doing things that passionate me, and this is a great chance.

I was able to start working in a gemological laboratory at the AIGS in Bangkok, because of the knowledge I got reading and reading again their pages and visiting the world around not loosing one occasion to learn from the gemstones I was able to study and compare what I could see with what they have written. While starting my work at AIGS Lab, I was not surprised to find that these books were as used as mine. I was able there to continue studying gemstones inclusions and I was happy to see that getting the right advises at the beginning of my interest in gemology was decisive.
I soon realised that this passion was shared by other fellow gemologists in the lab as inclusion are interesting but also most of the time just beautiful and we decided to create a microphotography department.
Here are some of the photos I was able to take on my personal stones. Other interesting photos can be found on the inclusion photo gallery from AIGS laboratory.

Anyway the main reason to study inclusions in gemstones is that gem inclusions provide the gemologist with a wealth of knowledge as to the natural or synthethic origin of a given gemstone. Inclusions are also one of the more helpful things in order to discover if the gemstone was or was not treated and they are important in origin determination. The term covers not only foreign substances trapped during the growth but also flaws and blemishes in the form of fractures and cleavages. Inclusions in gemstones can be classified according to the scheme proposed by Edward Gubelin and John Koivula, which is based upon their age with respect to that of the host crystal. They are useful tools and their importance will certainly increase along with the growing sophistication of treated and synthetic gems.

Inclusion: Broadly defined, an inclusion is any irregularity observable in a gem by the unaided eye or (using) some tool such as a hand lens or a microscope. Inclusions can be divided into three different types:

Solids: Both crystalline (zircon in sapphire) or non crystalline (natural glass in peridot) are possible.

Cavities: These may form during the host gem growth (primary inclusions) or later (secondary inclusions). Either type may be filled with any combination of liquid, gas, and/or solid. Those with two or more phases are termed multiphase.

Growth phenomena: Color zoning and twinning are both examples of growth phenomena.

The study of inclusion is a educational experience, and the gemologists of today and tomorrow will be greatly appreciative of the beauty of mineral inclusions and the important information they provide.

I would like to recommend to all people willing to learn about inclusions in gemstones the two "Photoatlas of inlcusions in Gemstones": Volume 1 and Volume 2. They are great reference books. They teached me how to name and communicate about inclusions and they are great technical books. In my opinion they are absolutly necessary for anybody willing to learn about inclusions and especially for the non english speaking people willing to communicate correctly about inclusion in English. Besides their technical qualities, they are also just a pleasure to look, and to read. They are in my opinion real art books... Just go for them if you can!

Welcome to the gallery of inclusions from Field Gemology.com