Washington D.C. Chapter: The Origin of Natural Diamonds - Q&A with GIA

GIA research scientist, Karen Smit, PhD and GIA Business Development Director, Matthew Tratner talk diamonds — their formation and origin and how the GIA Diamond Origin Report helps tell their story.

Dr. Karen Smit is a research scientist at the GIA laboratory in New York. She earned a MSc in Geochemistry from the University of Cape Town (South Africa) in 2008 and a PhD in Geology from the University of Alberta (Canada) in 2013. She has studied natural diamonds from deposits around the world, including Ellendale (Australia), Zimmi (Sierra Leone), Marange (Zimbabwe) and Victor (Canada). Since joining GIA in 2014, she has been closely involved in researching the origin of natural diamonds and their colour treatments. Dr. Smit’s research is widely published in scientific journals like Science, Chemical Geology, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Journal of Petrology, Lithos, Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, and in GIA’s award-winning magazine, Gems & Gemology.

Matthew Tratner currently serves as Director, Global Business Development at GIA. Tratner has been in the jewelry industry for almost 20 years. His experience spans retail sales, manufacturing, e-commerce, publishing and marketing. His past positions include Director of Membership & Sales for Jewelers of America and Publisher of National Jeweler. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from SUNY Empire and an Accredited Jewelry Professional Diploma (AJP) from GIA.