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Antwerp
By Marc Goldstein
Identification of synthetic diamonds is a much-discussed issue among the diamond and jewelry trade. In front of an audience of diamantaires at the September Hong Kong Jewellery and Gem Fair, HRD Antwerp revealed the M-Screen, an automatic, high-speed melee-screening device. It anticipates that use of this device will begin on November 15 in Antwerp. De Beers also announced that its International Institute of Diamond Grading & Research (IIDGR) plans to launch a new, low-cost, high-volume synthetic melee screening in India this month. M-Screen was developed by the Antwerp Scientific Research Centre for Diamonds (WTOCD). According to HRD Antwerp’s website, the M-Screen “automatically feeds, screens and sorts round brilliant diamonds from 1 to 20 points, D to J color at a super speed of a minimum two diamonds per second or 7,200 per hour. Depending on the size of the stones and the size of the batch, the speed can be as high as a staggering 18,000 diamonds per hour.” The device screens for natural and potential laboratory-grown high-pressure–high temperature (HPHT) color-treated and simulants. Speed of analysis is a major feature of M-Screen. Yves Kerremans, director of WTOCD and project leader, M-Screen, explained,“Five major technical issues had to be tackled to develop a fast automated melee screener: automated feeding, positioning the stones table down, detecting simulants, screening for potential synthetics and potential HPHT color-enhanced diamonds and the overall conditioning in the device.”
Explaining the need for the M-Screen, Marc Thomassen, HRD Antwerp chief equipment officer, noted, “With a number of undisclosed stones being identified in the diamond supply chain and recent press coverage on synthetics that were mixed with natural diamonds, it was becoming a threat. It made almost everyone aware of the challenges the diamond industry is facing. Every supplier of small diamonds — melee goods — needs to declare on his invoice that the supplied goods are synthetic free. However it was quite impossible to check and screen every single stone — sometimes the size of a sugar grain — manually with the existing screening instruments. And still, each business in the diamond pipeline bears a responsibility to ensure the consumer/customer is never misled.” Dr. Katrien De Corte, HRD Antwerp chief education officer, stressed, “More and more lab-grown diamonds are produced by more and more companies, which will push down manufacturing costs. Further optimization of the growth process will also reduce the production costs. Let’s put a figure on it: The new world record for the largest lab-grown gem diamond crystal is 60 carats.”
Is there a real difference between laboratory-grown diamonds and natural ones? De Corte pointed out, “Both natural diamonds and lab-grown diamonds are diamonds, meaning lab-grown diamonds have the same physical and chemical properties as their natural counterparts. The difference is that natural diamonds grow at a depth of more than 328,000 feet below the surface of the earth, while lab-grown diamonds are made by man.” Elaborating further, De Corte added, “The difference lies precisely in the growth environments, which indeed allows detection. Let me give you an example: Diamonds that were stored for millions and millions of years in the earth have very complicated optical centers that can be studied by spectroscopy.” Asked about a possible co-existence of the two kinds of diamonds in the current market conditions, De Corte said, “It is essential for consumer confidence that lab-grown diamonds be disclosed. HRD Antwerp also issues a certificate for lab-grown diamonds so that no confusion with the certs for natural diamonds is possible. Lab-grown diamonds also get a laser inscription in our lab, clearly specifying that the stone is lab-grown.”Thomassen concluded, “There’s an absolute need for this service. All stones in parcels from 10 carats up will be high-speed screened at affordable rates. The sorted goods will be sealed and returned to the customer the next day.”
According to an official letter sent to Rapaport Magazine on September 2, 2015, David Gotlib and Jacky Korn, vice president and executive director of the Antwerp Diamond Bourse, respectively, issued a statement announcing the “ending of the mandate of Presidency of Mr. Marcel Pruwer. The Board thanks Mr. Pruwer for his dedicated work as President.” Citing a “divergence of opinion about strategy and priorities,” Pruwer commented, “I am sure the Board will continue to work together, in full solidarity, to develop and strengthen the Bourse and the Antwerp diamond trade.”Article from the Rapaport Magazine - October 2015. To subscribe click here.
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