Gems & Gemology (G&G), GIA’s award-winning peer-reviewed journal, is celebrating 80 years of publication, 1934-2014. The venerable journal has long been respected for sharing invaluable information with gem and jewelry professionals – and for its breathtaking photography.
Photographing visually rich subject matter like gems and jewelry is no easy feat. Capturing their true color, depth, and richness requires an artistic eye, mastery of the photography profession, and a resourceful mind. Only a handful of professionals have the expertise to do this.
Harold and Erica Van Pelt photographed gems and jewelry for G&G from 1981 to 2008. The husband and wife team originally specialized in commercial furniture photography, shooting entire living rooms in their cavernous Los Angeles studio. Over the years, though, they fell in love with, and began photographing, gems and minerals as well as jewelry. Their photos quickly became a hallmark of G&G, gracing 93 covers and hundreds of interior pages.
The tourmaline necklace (18.5 carats) and ring (13.8 carats) come from the Tourmaline Queen Mine in San Diego county, California. Photo © GIA and Harold & Erica Van Pelt.
The Van Pelts are known for their use of precise lighting, filters, attention to detail, and resourcefulness. For many of the G&G images, because of the limitations of the film and equipment available at the time, the Van Pelts developed special techniques to make the images accurately reflect the subject matter. For example, Erica used special dyes to retouch the color of an emerald in a 4×5 transparency, and special filters to minimize the white “hot spots” seen in the photographed image of pearls.
A magnificent Colombian emerald and diamond necklace with matching earrings designed by Jean Schlumberger for Tiffany & Co. graced the cover of the Summer 2006 issue. Photo © GIA and Harold & Erica Van Pelt, jewelry courtesy of a private collector.
Photographing gemstones is an art and a science. The Van Pelts reached the pinnacle of their profession in their work for Gems & Gemology.
Interested in photographing your gems and jewelry? GIA offers tips on how to take beautiful pictures.
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