About Joel Arem

Photo by Debby Arem

Joel E. Arem has a unique background, combining 50+ years of experience as a buyer and seller of gems, minerals and art objects with perhaps the strongest academic background of anyone actively working in the gemstone field.

After majoring in Geology in college, Arem spent 6 years at Harvard University, obtaining both M.A. (geology) and PhD (mineralogy) degrees. His final PhD thesis was in crystallography, but the route to this specialization involved intensive work in both mineralogy and economic geology, under the tutelage of some of the world's leading experts in these fields. He is one of only about 50 people in the world ever to have won the prestigious Tully Medal (in Gemology) from the Gemmological Association of Great Britain. He is an award-winning jewelry designer (AGTA Spectrum Award, 1985) and has given more than 350 lectures to both professional and popular audiences around the world, in subjects ranging from the chemistry of apatite minerals to the history of birthstone jewelry. His Mineral Symphonies (slides of Smithsonian specimens, set to music) have received acclaim for decades.

Dr. Arem has an enormous collection of images (more than 10,000 slides) of minerals, gems, landforms, geology, rocks, fossils, localities and jewelry, available for use in a wide variety of publications and promotional efforts. His broad expertise and experience, combined with acknowledged writing skills, have led to consulting and writing assignments by such clients as Encyclopedia Britannica Educational Corp., Kennecott Copper Co. and the Government of Nigeria. 

Please contact Dr. Arem if you require his writing or photographic services, and he will be happy to discuss the feasibility and costs involved in fulfilling your needs.