Rebecca Ison-McIntosh, GIA GG

Rebecca has been enthralled with jewelry from a very young age, always pressing her face against jewelry store cases to the sales people’s chagrin. Her mother encouraged her love for jewelry and was not surprised when the teenage Rebecca took a part-time position at a high-end chain jewelry store that focused on quality gemstones set in durable yet stylish settings. This position set the quality precedence on which The Rutile Ltd is founded. 

Through the years, Rebecca sold and custom designed jewelry in luxury jewelry boutiques across the United States but wanted to dive deeper into the industry. She began the Graduate Gemologist program at the Gemological Institute of America and backpacked around the world to study the gemstone trade first hand. She studied jadeite in Hong Kong, corundum (sapphires and rubies) in Thailand, and diamonds in Antwerp. On a whim, she applied to become a Diamond Grader at the GIA World Headquarters in Carlsbad, California. When she received a call for an interview, she packed her home in a Uhaul trailer, and drove straight to Carlsbad with all of her belongings and her beloved dog, Jerry the Grateful Dog. She started a few days later and became one of GIA’s Staff Gemologists. She also spearheaded their Green Team Steering committee which was instrumental in making ecologically minded policy changes in all of their worldwide locations.

Rebecca moved back to Cincinnati after three years to be with her mother and launched The Rutile Ltd as a mobile appraisal and gemology laboratory in 2010. She was honored as a Bad Girl Ventures (now Aviatra Accelerators) finalist, which is a non-profit that helps women-owned businesses develop their brands, their networks, and their business structure to succeed. Rebecca has built up an international team of gemstone mines, lapidary artists (gemstone cutters), specialty jewelers, and gemstone dealers to create jewelry she is proud to represent.