The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has opened a new facility in Kowloon in a bid to offer more advanced gem identification and grading services to the Asian market.

“We are proud to meet the needs of consumers and the trade throughout Asia with this newly expanded laboratory and the GIA Hong Kong education campus,” Susan Jacques, GIA president and CEO, said. “Hong Kong is a vital centre of the global gem and jewellery industry and we are pleased to be here, working to ensure consumer confidence.”

Tom Moses, GIA executive vice president and chief laboratory and research officer, said GIA has seen an increased demand for laboratory services since it opened its lab in 2010. “This expanded facility allows us to advance our mission to ensure the public trust and to better serve our clients with high-quality gem identification and grading services.”

The GIA Hong Kong laboratory is on the 20th floor of the Goldin Financial Global Centre on 17 Kai Cheung Road, Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong. The lab take-in centre in Central is on the 11th floor of the New World Tower on 18 Queen’s Road.

In addition to Hong Kong, there are new and expanded GIA facilities offering industry-leading laboratory services in India and Europe – a new laboratory in Surat, India that opened in 2018 and a new grading laboratory and expanded research facilities in Antwerp, Belgium.