About GIA London
"The best way to learn how to function in a foreign country is to become immersed in its culture. GIA's international campuses afford students the rare luxury of learning the gem and jewellery skills they need – in any one of the most important jewellery centres of the world. In effect, the jewellery centres become their second classroom. What better way is there to learn?"
DILIP MEHTA
Founder and President
Rosy Blue
GIA London has recently relocated in a new 17th century building with a modern extension that was fully renovated, redecorated, and redesigned. With a floor plan covering four stories, GIA London now has three gemology classrooms, a bright and open Jewelry Design classroom with glass walls, a student library, reception, staff offices, kitchen, and a multi-purpose room with a large glass ceiling for students and events.
The Campus is ideally located in one of London's most vibrant central areas: Bloomsbury. It is an area blessed with grand Edwardian and Victorian buildings, Georgian houses and Art Deco blocks. Standing between the historic jewellery district of Hatton Garden and the beauty of New Bond Street's Luxury Jewellery Houses, its central location is ideal for immersing in London's cosmopolitan flair and is within walking distance of Soho, Covent Garden, Piccadilly and an array of central London attractions.
Now home to a myriad of colleges and institutions like the British Museum and the British Library, Bloomsbury is the educational core of London. Bloomsbury offers everything you would expect in an area dominated by students of academic and artistic mind: bookstores, cheap eats, social places and retail therapy. But rather than offering a campus lifestyle Bloomsbury is sophisticated, cultured and prestigious.
Bloomsbury is the area east of Tottenham Court Road, north of New Oxford Street, west of Southampton Row, and south of Euston Road.
Where Jewellery Past Meets Jewellery Present
Students enrolled in GIA London's prestigious classes and programmes are given firsthand exposure to the passion and commerce of the jewellery industry. You may visit key trade venues as well as the British Museum, Goldsmith's Hall, and the Tower of London's Jewel House. The Crown Jewels have been housed in the Tower since 1303 following a theft from Westminster Abbey. Today the Royal regalia is guarded by a typically British mix of high-tech security and ancient Beefeater tradition.
Learning at GIA London, you receive a rare insider's look at the diamond and jewellery industry. In the past, gemmology students have been invited to tour the world headquarters of the influential Diamond Trading Company (DTC). This is where approximately two-thirds of the world's annual supplies of diamonds are sorted and valued.
Making Contacts with Industry Leaders
While studying at GIA in London, students gain extraordinary access to industry events. Graduate Gemologist Students are annually invited to attend International Jewellery London, the UK's premier jewellery trade show. Here, industry leaders meet to preview next season's "lines" and conduct business worth millions of pounds. And GIA students are there to witness all of it.
GIA London has also become an important stepping stone for exciting new careers in the city's jewellery trade. Students are given the opportunity to network with a wide range of potential employers. From many of the fine jewellery houses on New Bond Street, through London's revered auction houses, and to businesses located in Hatton Garden (the centre of London's jewellery trade), recent GIA graduates have found positions with internationally renowned employers. These include the Diamond Trading Company (DTC), De Beers LV, Graff, Cartier, and Bulgari, among many others.