By informing consumers on jewelry and gemstone quality, care and treatments, you can make an educated buying decision. We want you to understand all the factors that help determine quality and value.

 

In 1934, when Robert M. Shipley founded the AGS, the country was trying to emerge from the depths of the Great Depression, and people were switching to any job or occupation they could find in order to survive. Unfortunately, those who entered the jewelry trade without the gemological training, ethical code, or professional dedication of the guilds of old were tarnishing the reputations of ethical jewelers.

 

Shipley saw the need to protect the consumer from those who would bend the truth to make a quick buck. He founded the Society as an organization in which membership was voluntary. But to be a member required gemological proficiency, truthfulness, high ethical standards, and re-examination EACH YEAR by educators and peers to maintain membership. What was true yesterday remains the same today; these standards build a solid foundation for success.

 

Members of the AGS abide by the most stringent criteria in the industry, and represent their merchandise correctly because they have both knowledge and ethics. One without the other is dangerous.