About

About microWorld of Gems

John Koivula

John guiding the installation of images
at the GIA Headquarters, Carlsbad, CA

(Courtesy of GIA)

microWorld of Gems was born of a love of beautiful gems and minerals that I developed over a 42-year relationship with my husband, John. After spending more than 30 years in marketing for trade organizations, the architectural, theme park and retail industries, my sights are now set on sharing the internal world of gems and minerals that I have been privileged to share with John. Late night microscopy sessions, looking for aquamarine in central Brazilian mines, taking our daughter 5,000 ft. underground in South Africa to see a working gold mine—these and many more experiences have given rise to the creation of microWorld of Gems. I hope that the educational focus of this website will inspire you to dig a bit deeper, turn over that specimen or stone and take a closer look!

— Kristi A. Koivula

microWorld of Gems is an extensive resource on the internal world of gemstones—for the beauty they display and the information they reveal about their identity, origin, and sometimes, treatment. microWorld of Gems is pleased to represent the work of gemologist John I. Koivula, the leading authority in the world today on inclusions in gems and minerals.

John Koivula has had a passion for the science of inclusions in gems and minerals since childhood. For him, a serious avocation led to a formal education in chemistry and geology, and subsequently, a career in gemology. His keen interest in the microworld of gemstones has produced seminal gemological research and the development of many new and useful techniques for photomicrography of gemstones. John continues to develop numerous identification methods that are standard in the trade.

The publication of John Koivula's work over the past 30 years — his photomicrographs and numerous articles, technical papers — has contributed to a growing interest in collecting gemstone inclusions. Signed copies of books by John Koivula are now available through microWorld of Gems.

Koivula's refined aesthetic sensibility complements the informative content of the subjects he photographs through the microscope, and so, his photomicrographs are appreciated for their beauty as much as they are for the documentary information they disclose. For the first time, John Koivula's photomicrographs are available to the public.

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