Howard Rubin, Inventor of GemDialogue, Passes Away

(IDEX Online News) – Howard Rubin, past president of AGS and inventor of GemDialogue, passed away on January 17 at the age of 86. According to the National Association of Jewelry Appraisers, "His sixty four years of gem trade experience touched every facet of the jewelry industry."

After serving in World War II as an infantry soldier, he took advantage of the G.I. Bill and became a diamond and colored stone setter.

He studied gemology for the second time in 1982 enhancing his knowledge of the science of color, leading him to develop GemDialogue, a system for describing color of gemstones and fancy color diamonds. The system revolutionized the way traders described the color of their stones and made a permanent impact on the jewelry industry.

Rubin served as the president of the AGS New York Guild from 1976-1977. From 1979 to 1988 he was vice president of Leer Gem Ltd., the color stone division of M. Fabrikant & Sons. This was followed by a career as a consultant to companies like QVC, Wal-Mart, I.B. Goodman and Charles & Colvard.

In 1990 and onward, Mr. Rubin acted as an independent consultant, appraiser and educator. In 1993 he joined his wife Gail Brett Levine’s appraisal practice company, Timeless, Inc., as senior evaluator and appraiser.

He was a Senior Member and the National Secretary of the National Association of Jewelry Appraisers (NAJA) and was NAJA’s representative at The Appraisal Foundation serving on the Industry Advisory Council since 2004. Mr. Rubin recently received the 2011 Manhattan Chapter GIA Alumni Chapter Achievement Award.

His wife Gail, four children and one grandchild survive him.