Michael D. Cowing

Michael D Cowing is an educator, gemologist and appraiser operating an Accredited Gemologist Association (AGA) Certified Gem Laboratory. His career in the diamond, gem and jewelry business spans over 35 years. He began as an amateur faceter and gemstone cutter in the late 70”™s involved in the early computer aided facet design of gemstones and ray tracing analysis. He progressed through goldsmithing and jewelry making, and then into the field of gemology. There he earned the Fellowship Diploma (FGA) of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain after study with the Columbia School of Gemology. He is an AGA Acredited Senior Gemologist. Mr. Cowing also progressed in the field of gem and jewelry appraising where he reached the Senior Member level with the National Association of Jewelry Appraisers (NAJA). In 2000, he was hired as a researcher by EightStar Diamond Company under whose auspices he and Al Gilbertson developed a patented diamond performance analysis tool. That instrument was the foundation of a research contract garnered with the American Gem Society. They subsequently purchased that patent and modified it to become their Angular Spectrum Evaluation Tool (ASET). He was a 2006 nominee for the Antonio C. Bonanno Award for Excellence in Gemology. Mr. Cowing”™s focus in gemology has centered on all aspects of diamond grading and valuation, especially re-search in diamond and gemstone computer aided design and light performance analysis. He is the author of over a dozen articles educating the diamond trade, gemologists and consumers in areas such as diamond light performance and professional diamond grading technique, history and science. science. Among them are:

• Journal of Gemmology, “Diamond brilliance: theories, measurement and judgment”, 2000
• Journal of Gemmology, “Describing diamond beauty ”“ The optical performance of a diamond”, 2005
• Journal of Gemmology, “Accordance in Round Brilliant Diamond Cutting”, 2007
• Journal of Gemmology, “A Place for CZ Masters in Diamond Color Grading”, 2008
• Journal of Gemmology, “The Over-Grading of Blue Fluorescent Diamonds”, 2010
• Journal of Gemmology, “Objective Diamond Clarity Grading”, 2014
• Gems and Jewellery, “The Central Ideal”, 2009
• Gems and Jewellery, “A Cure for the Fluorescence Blues”, 2010

Other diamond and gemology related articles were published in the Accredited Gemologist Association journal, JCK magazine, Modern Jeweler, New York Diamond Magazine, Israel Diamond Magazine, NAJA Jewelry Appraiser quarterly, and the American Gem Society Lab News. His parallel livelihood began with a Master of Science degree from the University of Maryland and progressed for three decades in Research and Development in the fields of electronic communications, speech digitization and compression, and speech understanding and recognition.

Michael D Cowing, M.Sc, FGA AGA Certified Gem Laboratory