Andrea Markey
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 05/05) - As of Aug. 24, Jeannine Pilon is the NWT's first and only female certified diamond polisher. She is also the first female to be certified in Canada.

Jeannine Pilon is the first female certified diamond polisher in Canada. In addition to polishing at Arslanian Cutting Works NWT Ltd., Pilon travels around North America providing polishing demonstrations for Polar Ice Diamonds, Arslanian's sister company. - photo courtesy of Jeannine Pilon

"I am happy they didn't tell me that before the exam - I would have failed," said Pilon, who has worked at Arslanian Cutting Works NWT Ltd. for three years.

The NWT is the only jurisdiction in Canada to certify diamond polishers, said Mike Botha, certification officer for the GNWT's department of education, culture and employment that administers the test. Upon completion of the exam, Pilon is now certified as a diamond round brilliant specialist.

The 16-hour test, split into two days, was very stressful, she said.

"I felt sick, I didn't eat my lunch, and I lost one of the diamonds," she said.

Luckily, her co-workers searched the floor, allowing her to maintain her focus. They eventually found the diamond.

As she was the only one taking the test that day, each diamond was graded as she handed it in.

Introduction to diamonds

Pilon first encountered the world of diamond polishing at a trade show at the arena.

"It seemed interesting and I like to be different so I signed up for a 16-week course at Aurora College," she said.

The course is now 22 weeks.

There were three other people in her class - a man from Armenia, a man from the Philippines and a man from Yellowknife.

Pilon was immediately hired by Arslanian where she worked with her mentor, Vaghn Gabrielyan.

"If I didn't have him, I wouldn't be certified," she said. "I sat across from him and if I needed any help, he was there. Now I sit beside him."

But she isn't on par with him just yet, she said.

"I can polish four or five 30 point stones per day, he can polish 12."

She added she can do two 70 point stones a day.

Since being certified in August, Pilon has travelled to Las Vegas, New York, Ottawa and Banff to demonstrate her polishing skills to the public for Polar Ice Diamonds, Arslanian's sister company.

"People are fascinated by the process and the rough diamonds," she said. "People always want me to grade their diamonds too and find out their quality. Some are happier than others."

In addition to travelling and eight-hour polishing days, Pilon is attending accounting and management night classes.

"Now that I know how it's done, I'd like to get into the management side of things," she said.

For her first year and a half at Arslanian, Pilon was the only woman polisher at the company.

There are now seven other women working at the company out of the 49 polishers.

By the end of this year, four or five more women will be certified polishers in the NWT.