Kenneth Scarratt is one of the most widely cited gemmologists of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, with a career that has linked the major centres of gem laboratory work in Europe, Asia, and the United States. His name appears on a long list of treatment-detection and origin-determination publications, principally on ruby, sapphire, and pearl.

Career

Scarratt began his career in the United Kingdom, working with the Gemmological Association of Great Britain laboratory and contributing to its publications from the 1970s onwards. He moved to Bangkok to lead the laboratory of the Asian Institute of Gemological Sciences, AIGS, during a period when Southeast Asian gemmology was advancing rapidly in response to changes in the ruby and sapphire trade. He later joined the Gemological Institute of America, GIA, where he served as managing director of GIA Thailand and led the Bangkok laboratory through significant growth, before subsequent work at Gübelin Gem Lab.

Research contributions

Scarratt's published work covers several recurrent themes. He contributed to the early literature on beryllium-diffused corundum, helping to establish the diagnostic criteria that laboratories now use to identify the treatment routinely. He has written extensively on natural and cultured pearl identification, including X-ray imaging methods. His work on origin determination for ruby and sapphire, often with co-authors, has helped formalise the criteria that the major laboratories use to assign country of origin in trade reports. Gems & Gemology and the Journal of Gemmology have carried much of this output.

Trade reputation

Within the trade Scarratt is recognised both for technical depth and for institutional leadership. The transition of Asian gem laboratory work from a small group of pioneers to a network of well-resourced institutions over the last three decades is in part attributable to people of his generation. He has also been a frequent presenter at the International Gemological Symposium and other professional gatherings.

Significance for buyers

For working jewellers and serious collectors, recognising names such as Scarratt is a way of orienting in the ecosystem of laboratory trust. Reports issued by laboratories he has led or contributed to carry weight precisely because the methods underlying them have been published and peer-reviewed. The credibility of a coloured-stone origin opinion depends on the laboratory's research record, and Scarratt's career is a substantial part of that record for ruby, sapphire, and pearl.