Ready for a stunning surprise? Put a gemstone under a high-powered microscope, and you’ll see a world of breathtaking beauty.
GIA researchers explore this hidden universe by photographing gemstones at magnifications up to 1,000 times larger than what the unaided eye can see. Called photomicrography, this technique is used to capture the internal gemological characteristics that are revealed under the microscope.
On this rough diamond from Wyoming, trigons, which are triangular indented growth marks on the surface, appear as colliding tectonic plates pushing pyramidal shapes into the sky – or so it seems to the imagination...
GIA researchers explore this hidden universe by photographing gemstones at magnifications up to 1,000 times larger than what the unaided eye can see. Called photomicrography, this technique is used to capture the internal gemological characteristics that are revealed under the microscope.
On this rough diamond from Wyoming, trigons, which are triangular indented growth marks on the surface, appear as colliding tectonic plates pushing pyramidal shapes into the sky – or so it seems to the imagination...