Jean-Pierre Chalain

Director of Diamond Department
SSEF Swiss Gemmological Institute
Falknerstrasse 9
CH-4054 Basel / Switzerland
Tel. +41 61 262 0640, Fax +41 61 262 06 41
e-mail: gemlab@ssef.ch

Jean-Pierre Chalain is director of the SSEF-Diamond department.

Before joining the SSEF Swiss Gemmological Institute in 1994, he was manager of a family jewellery shop in Paris where he worked for 13 years.

His major contribution to gemmology and consequently to the Jewellery trade is certainly his pioneer works on the detection ability of the HPHT-High Pressure High Temperature treatment of type II diamonds. In 2000, this research project coordinated by Prof. E. Fritsch and Prof. H.A. Hänni demonstrated that this HPHT treatment was identifiable and that a Raman microprobe is the key instrument for its detection.

From 2000 to 2004, Jean-Pierre Chalain was President of the Laboratory commission of CIBJO-The World Jewellery Confederation. Harmonization and registration of gemmological laboratories are his main goals that he now still targets as vice-President.

Jean-Pierre Chalain is also the SSEF Swiss Gemmological Institute representative at the LMHC-Laboratory Manual Harmonization Commttee.

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