About me
Dr. Christopher “Mike” Breeding is a senior manager of diamond analytical testing at the Gemological Institute of America in Carlsbad, California. He obtained a B.S. in geology from the College of William and Mary in Virginia, a Ph.D. in geology from Yale in 2004, and is a GIA Graduate Gemologist. Over the last 22 years at GIA, Mike has worked on every type of gemstone ranging from quartz to diamond. He has also managed GIA postdoctoral associates, interns, and research scientists in the Carlsbad research group. His current research is concerned primarily with origin of color, fluorescence, and configuration of lattice defects in colored and colorless diamonds and identification of treatments and synthetics. His favorite area of interest is the cause of color in fancy-colored diamonds, particularly greens. He regularly works to develop new instruments for the diamond trade and gives seminars worldwide to educate the industry about diamond defects and non-destructive spectroscopic analysis of gemstones.
