GIA (Gemological Institute of America) Hong Kong celebrated the relocation and expansion of its laboratory on Feb. 18 – just three days after the Institute marked its 88th anniversary. Susan Jacques, GIA president and CEO, and Tom Moses, GIA executive vice president and chief laboratory and research officer, attended the opening reception for the new facility in Kowloon with laboratory clients and industry executives. The laboratory will continue to expand its services.

“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,” said Jacques. “Hong Kong is a vital center of the global gem and jewelry industry and we are pleased to be here, working to ensure consumer confidence.”

“Since the laboratory first opened in 2010, we have seen an increase in the demand for our laboratory services,” said Moses. “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 located on the 20th floor of the Goldin Financial Global Centre on 17 Kai Cheung Road, Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong. The lab take-in center in Central Hong King is located 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.

GIA laboratories are located in major gem and jewelry centers around the world including Antwerp, Bangkok, Carlsbad, Gaborone, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Mumbai, New York, Ramat Gan, Surat and Tokyo.

Benjamin Chau, deputy executive director of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council; Lawrence Ma, GIA Board of Governor; Tom Moses, GIA executive vice president and chief laboratory and research officer; Susan Jacques, GIA president and CEO; Ephraim Zion, former GIA Board of Governor; and Wai Man Cheng, director of the Hong Kong GIA laboratory cut the ribbon for the grand opening of the new laboratory in Hong Kong.