DCA Revamps The Diamond Course
Nashville, TN - The Diamond Council of America (DCA) has recently revamped its The Diamond Course with is signature combination of "need-to-know" and "nice-to-know" information.
The course is broken down into 22 booklet lessons housed in a telephone-book-sized binder. Correspondence exams are included at the end of most lessons. The four tests in the binder are graded by the DCA, and students are given a final review of the whole course before taking the final exam, which can be taken with or without a proctor.
The course is the brainchild of two retail education experts: Janice Mack Talcott, who wrote the course and Kate Peterson, who edited and fine tuned it.
In addition to the Four Cs, some lessons delve into the mines of Africa and topics like professionalism and the mystique of diamonds, while other chapters focus on diamond-simulant detection and all levels of the diamond industry.
DCA President Terry Chandler said the course was designed to give jewelry professional a strong foundation in gemology before advancing to higher level courses offered by the Gemological Institute of America. "Once you're certified by the DCA, we believe you can sell intelligently-not just go in there and not know what you're doing," said Chandler.
"We're like the community college of gemology: We get you in the door regardless of your background. If you're a good student, we can certify you in The Diamond Course in four to seven months so that you know what you're talking about."
Last year, the DCA enrolled 2,800 students, each of whom paid $115 for the course, which Chandler said is equal to the cost of producing it.
"We've had people tell us the course should be sold for thousands of dollars, but we will always sell it at the cost it takes to produce it. We're not in the business of creating a profit for the DCA. We want the finest product at the best price," said Chandler.
-By John Gallagher, Associate Editor