Ruth Fitzgerald was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina. She attended University of Oklahoma and University of Georgia. Ruth had a recent article published in the OC Register entitled "Your Money", informing how to select a jeweler and buy a diamond. Ruth is a member of the Accreditation Committee of GIA.
Fitzgerald is a private pilot and is the past president of the Experimental Aircraft Association of Spartanburg, South Carolina. She owns Jewelry Designs by Ruth Fitzgerald and Jewelry Appraisals of Orange County in Laguna Niguel, CA.
Daniel Wilson was born in Huntington Beach. Growing up, he participated in surfing, sailing, diving, swimming and fishing. Wilson always loved the natural environment and wondered about the natural forces that shape our planet. When he discovered the amazing geology of earthquakes and volcanos, he became more interested in this science.
Wilson's life-journey has allowed him to pursue his hobby of rockhounding and a career as a gemologist. Wilson graduated from the Rancho Santiago Canyon College Gemology program in 2007. He also worked at Ben Bridge Jewelers in South Coast Plaza.
David was born and raised in upstate New York, went to college in Ohio, New York and Massachusetts. he received his Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Sommers is a Registered Geologist and Gemologist and has practiced geology for more than 40 years. As a geologist, David had the opportunity to visit numerous mines in various parts of the world and was always fascinated by the mineral crystals, fossils and gemstones he found. He pursued his life-long interest in gemology at Santiago Canyon College and was awarded his Certificate in Gemology in 2007. In 2008, he completed the GIA Colored Stone Grading Course at Carlsbad, California.
David recently joined the Faceters Guild of Southern California and is learning how to facet gemstones.
Sommers is a Fellow and Chartered Geologist with The Geological Society (London). He is avidly interested in collecting, cooking and eating wild mushrooms as well as hunting and fishing.
Jo Ellen has been in the jewelry industry since 1978. She earned her GG in 1979 and passed the F.G.A. examination in 1982. Jo Ellen has worked in wholesale and retail before accepting a job in an appraisal laboratory. She held a management position at Guild laboratories in Los Angeles, CA, and was a research librarian at GIA in 1991. In 1994, she became the Curator of the Permanent Stone Collection at GIA for seven years.
Jo Ellen is currently the owner of Cole Appraisal Services in Carlsbad, CA.
Blaire Beavers is a self-described gem-geek. Brought up as the daughter of a geophysicist, her father used the deserts of Southern California as a textbook in geological formation, and planted the seed that blossomed into a lifelong love of gems and minerals.
Blaire holds diplomas for Accredited Jewelry Professional, Graduate Pearls, and Graduate Diamonds, and is working to complete her Graduate Gemologist Diploma from the Gemological Institute of America.
In 2006, Blaire started a small business specializing in exotic pearls. In 2007 she was lucky to claim a coveted spot on the GIA Alumni Pearl Tour, traveling to Tahiti, New Zealand and Australia.
Blaire was recently honored with the winning essay for the National Association of Jewelry Appraisers Scholarship to the 2008 Winter Conference in Tucson, Arizona and was invited to write an article for GIA’s The Loupe on the 2008 Sinkankas Symposium.
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Click photos to meet the Board of Directors of the past.
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Michael Watson
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Daniel
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Blaire
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Sharon was born in Ashland, Oregon. She lived in Germany for three years and moved to Irvine, CA, in 1988.She loves Shakespeare,studied ballet, and is an avid reader. Sharon owned a computer programming business at age twenty-five, then married and had three children.
Sharon soon rekindled her childhood passion for jewelry making and studied silver and gold smithing for nine years. She currently teaches at the Irvine Fine Art Center, and sells her jewelry through various galleries and art shows.
"The forces of nature mark the world around us with fire, water, wind and dramatic earth movement. I use these forms as the inspiration for my designs."
Michael Watson spent most of his life in New Albany, Indiana, and graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration from Indiana University. He worked ten years as a diamond merchant and came to California in 1989.
Michael is the founder of the national Why Mom Deserves a Diamond® contest, in which thousands of kids express their written and spoken words of love for their mothers. Michael is also a member of the American Adoption Congress and the author of, Adopted Like Me- Chosen to Search for a Birthmother. He is the president of Gallery of Diamonds and the CEO of Why Mom Deserves a Diamond Inc. in Newport Beach, CA.
Watson served o the board of GIAOC from 2005-2009.
QuickTime Video: Gallery of Diamonds
