Eduard Josef Gübelin was a curious and highly intelligent child. He showed great interest in poetry, literature and languages as well as in art and the natural sciences. With a keen interest in stones and minerals, he returned from family outings with pockets full of specimens. Even as a boy, he desired to know as much as possible about them.
In his days, gemmology was more tradecraft than standardised science, and there were only a few places where it could be learned. He studied mineralogy in Zurich and Vienna, and later studied in the United States, where he became the second European to be certified by the renowned Gemological Institute of America. In his heart, he knew there was much more to discover, so he began his research.
Before his ground-breaking work, these were considered blemishes. He showed that the inclusions, if properly understood, could reveal a stone’s origin and, crucially, if it had been treated by human hand. It was a revolution in the field and established him as one of the world’s leading gemmologists. To truly understand the stones, he felt the need to visit the places where they were mined, and he thus travelled the world. Collecting specimens, he built one of the most complete and important gemstone reference collections ever seen. Eduard Joseph Gübelin was a man intensely passionate about his field and about sharing its marvels with others.
By the time of his death, Eduard Josef Gübelin was recognised as perhaps the most important and influential gemmologist of the 20th century. He helped establish gemmology as a science and gave the industry one of its most important weapons against imitations and counterfeits. He also united science and art in ways that few have done before or since, inspiring many others to follow his lead. His mesmerising gemstone inclusion pictures and eloquent descriptions are the basis of Gübelin’s deep inspiration and creativity. He is Gübelin’s guiding spirit, embodying the unique combination of beauty and knowledge that defines Gübelin to this day.
