Andrew Lucas, a former GIA gemologist and education expert, joined GUID, opening a new era of GUID Gemmology Education.

Darwin Daniel Fortaleché, former chief gemologist of Colombia National Laboratory, joined GUILD Laboratory and served as a lecturer at GUILD Gemological Education.

In August 2018, Andrew Lucas, a globally renowned field gemmologist, gemmology educator, and the founder of the "From Mine to Market" field gemmology concept, joined the GUILD Gem Laboratory, assuming the positions of Chief Gemmologist and Senior Vice President. With Andy's addition, a new chapter has been opened in GUILD's exploration of field gemmology and the construction of gemstone identification standards.

GUILD released the world's first single-item colored gems course:

In September 2017, GUILD introduced the groundbreaking trade name "Verdant Green" for emeralds, establishing an aesthetic trend that prioritizes quality over origin. This has led to widespread recognition and praise globally, as high-quality emeralds are no longer solely evaluated based on their place of origin. With the thriving global colored gemstone industry, GUILD has continuously developed comprehensive identification standards for various gemstone categories, including emeralds, rubies, sapphires, opals, spinels, aquamarines, morganites, and tsavorites, through extensive field research and standard sample analysis.

In March 2017, the GUILD Gem Laboratory (Shenzhen) obtained the China Metrology Accreditation (CMA) qualification, becoming the first international laboratory to enter the Chinese mainland. CMA has strict requirements and regulations for gemstone testing laboratories. The laboratory must strictly abide by relevant laws, regulations and rules, and can only obtain the CMA qualification after meeting the requirements in many aspects such as personnel, environment, reference materials, experimental methods, etc. and passing the strict review by professional personnel.