At the age of sixteen Mr. Peters was studying painting and sculptor at the University of Perugia in Italy. By the age of twenty one he had obtained diamond training through residency at numerous factories and from individual master diamond cutters in South America, Europe and North America. He staked his first claims in the alluvial diamond fields of Venezuela and Guyana including supervising diamond mining operations in South America.
Mr. Peters is an accomplished diamond cutter who is versed in all aspects of diamond manufacturing. His diamond cutting ability has earned him a reputation for cutting and polishing unusual shapes and difficult crystals. He is known as a specialist in fancy cuts and had the honor in 1985 to cut the worlds largest Barion cut diamond. He has been the superintendent of two separate diamond cutting factories and president of a successful retail jewelry store for eleven years.
Mr. Peters is also an inventor in which he has acquired patents on the Universal Cone Generator, a major labor saving machine for large production factories. In recent years Mr. Peters has photographed and authored the first books written on rough diamonds. Both books detail dramatic and unique photographs on rough crystals. He is the first to classify rough diamonds in a system that can be easily understood by the layman. He has introduced to the industry new and descriptive terminology for both rough and finished diamonds.
Mr. Peters arrived in the United States twenty two years ago and established the American Institute of Diamond Cutting in 1980. Today it is an internationally recognized school dedicated to teaching the art of diamond cutting and rough diamond grading. He is in demand as a lecturer and is a consultant for major companies and government projects in several African countries, Mr. Peters still considers himself a student in the field of diamonds.
Kimberly H. Stanley Instructor
Mrs. Stanley is a graduate of The American Institute of Diamond Cutting, and is an accomplished diamond cutter and versed in all aspects of rough and finished diamonds. Her computer skills combined with her diamond knowledge has given her a leading edge in the diamond industry.
Mrs. Stanley played a major role in completing the book "Rough Diamonds, A Practical Guide". She was a Police Officer for six years prior to coming into the diamond field. Her skills developed in Law Enforcement gave her the unique status to also become security of operations at A.I.D.C. Inc.
Stephen Hofer Instructor/Fancy Colored Diamond Program
Stephen Hofer began his career in the earth sciences in 1976 as a geophysicist at the University of Connecticut. He went on to study for the GG, the graduate gemologist in residence diploma at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), graduating at the head of his class in August of 1979. After graduation he accepted a position as a Research Gemologist with the GIA Research Department, specializing in the study of colored diamonds and the interaction of light and gem materials. In 1982 Stephen completed the requirements for the FGA, Fellow of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain, graduating with distinction. Mr. Hofer is an accomplished colored diamond cutter, and a graduate of the American Institute of Diamond Cutting (AIDC). He is also an accomplished gemstone photographer specializing in colored diamond macro-photography. In 1985 he became President of Colored Diamond Laboratory Services (CDLS), a laboratory service available only to members of the diamond trade located in the heart of New York's diamond district. There were several highlights during his tenure in New York. For example, in 1986 Stephen was asked to measure the color of the 0.95-carat purplish red diamond by Mr. Francois Curiel, Director of Jewelry at Christie's to confirm if this was in fact a "true" red diamond. This rare gem eventually sold at public auction in April 1987 for $926,315 per carat, the current world record price (per carat) for a colored diamond. In 1987 Stephen flew to Geneva, Switzerland in July to document the authenticity of a historically significant colored diamond for a private client. In September he returned there to accompany a colored diamond collector who was participating in the Argyle Tender, an invitation only event where participants enter sealed bids in an effort to purchase a limited selection of polished pink diamonds from the Argyle mine in Northwestern Australia. In 1988 Stephen was invited by Dr. John White, the former Curator of Gems and Minerals at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. to perform a detailed examination of the color of the famous 45.52-carat Hope blue diamond. In 1989 he was asked to document the famous 260-stone Aurora Collection of colored diamonds currently on display at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. This labor of love involved seven years of research and writing, culminating in a massive 10 pound, 742-page book, that features over 700 color illustrations. In 1989 Stephen opened a more personalized consulting service for colored diamonds, referred to as Fancy Color Consultants. This service has enabled Stephen to work one-on-one with private clients who have expressed an interest in purchasing a colored diamond as a fashion statement, and with clients who are interested in building specialized collections of colored diamonds for pleasure as well as their investment potential. Mr. Hofer has lectured extensively on the subject of color in diamonds. He was one of sixty featured speakers at the 1981 International Gemological Symposium in Los Angeles in 1982, speaking on Natural Fancy Color Diamonds. He presented a paper at the 1991 International Gemological Symposium regarding the measurement of color in diamonds using scientific methods. He has published numerous technical papers in scientific journals and industry magazines, along with writing a quarterly column on colored diamonds for New York Diamonds magazine and Les Joyaux magazine in Japan. Stephen is often quoted in diamond industry articles about colored diamonds, and he has appeared in several general interest articles in the popular news media featuring colored diamonds, such as Town & Country 7/98, Departures 9/98, New York Times 1/5/99, and Forbes 4/99.