Consultant Biography

Mr. Courage possesses an extensive business background, having worked for some of America's largest corporations as a gemologist and consultant. His most recent assignment concluded with the establishment of a state of the art Gemological Testing Laboratory for a major national retailer.

His working knowledge of the jewelry business includes retail sales, gem lab operations, jewelry manufacture, quality control and gemological skills training. As a lapidary, he specializes in rare collector gems which are marketed through the Gallery of Gemstones website.

His broadly based product knowledge ranges from simple works in gold and silver, to those employing complex configurations of little known colored gemstones. Having worked closely with the industry's top independent gem labs, appraisers and assayists he has developed exceptional gem identification and quality control process implementation skills in both retail and manufacturing environments.

His education includes a BA in geology and an MBA in management. He received the Graduate Gemologist Diploma from the Gemological Institute of America in 1992 and was recently elected a Fellow of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain. He has been designated a Certified Store Manager by the Jewelers of America. Having recently completed the academic and practical requirements for the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation, he is a candidate for the national exam.