RAPAPORT... The organizers of the World of Gems Conference II confirmed its list of speakers for this event, which will be held at Chicago's Intercontinental O'Hare from October 9 to October 10, 2010. The two-day conference will feature presentations on the latest information  about diamonds, colored gems, pearls, treatments, nomenclatures and legal issues.

Richard Drucker, the president of Gemworld and the conference chair, said the speaker lineup covers a broad base and that the conference will offer seminars unparalleled by any other conference in the industry.

The World of Gems Conference II speakers include: Dr. James Shigley, a distinguished research fellow at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA); Shane McClure, the director of West Coast Identification Services for GIA; Elizabeth Strack of the Gemmologisches Institut; Dr. John Emmett, the president of Crystal Chemistry; Christopher Smith, the president of  American Gemological Laboratories (AGL); Gemworld's Drucker and  Stuart Robertson, the research director of this organization's GemGuide; Jon Philips, the vice president of the World Jewellery Confederation's (CIBJO) Diamond Commission and a committee member of the Responsible Jewelry Council's (RJC) Standards Commission; Diane Flora, the director of the American Gem Society's (AGS) education division; and Michael Evers, Esq., the president of Gem Aficionado.

The event's industry panel will feature Tom Tashey, the president of the Professional Gem Sciences Laboratory, Antoinette Matlins, president of Antoinette Matlins, LLC and Joseph DuMouchelle, the president of Joseph DuMouchelle Buyers & Auctioneers.

LH