For
diamantaires, the threat of synthetic diamonds being sold as natural stones
looms large, and the fear is warranted. A February article in
The Economic
Times reported Indian diamond houses in India had “alerted” the government
regarding the urgent need to track the trade of cheaper synthetic diamonds. The
diamond companies suspected jewelers might be freely substituting lab-grown
diamonds for natural ones.
The Gem & Jewellery
Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) has been playing a crucial role in the
detection of synthetic diamonds, partnering with the Gemological Institute of
India (GII) to station a verification machine at the Bharat Diamond Bourse to
test stones’ authenticity. The council has also advocated taking action against
any company found selling lab-grown diamonds marked as natural. The sale of
synthetic diamonds is banned at the bourse.
In addition, the GJEPC
organizes the Diamond Detection & Expo Symposium — the third edition of
which took place last month in Mumbai — which aims to introduce the industry to
new technology and tools for distinguishing natural diamonds from synthetics.
Rough
times
Nirupa
Bhatt, managing director of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) for
India and the Middle East, said the GIA’s iD100 testing device was being used
at its Mumbai lab. The instrument distinguishes natural diamonds from chemical
vapor deposition (CVD) and High Pressure-High Temperature (HPHT) synthetics.
“The possibility of undisclosed synthetic diamonds in the gem and jewelry
supply chain is of great concern to the industry,” he noted. The GIA will soon
be opening an additional lab in Surat.
Ravi Chhabria, managing
director of the Mumbai branch of HRD Antwerp’s diamond-certification and
training facility, stressed that industry players had mostly been ethical,
though there had been a few unfortunate cases that had damaged the industry’s
reputation.
“It is definitely a must today to certify all diamonds and jewelry,
as the fault is sometimes not attributable to diamond sellers or jewelers, who
may also have been misled or do not have the requisite knowledge to check the
authenticity of the products they are selling,” he said.
Chhabria cited some of
the common challenges the industry faced in detecting synthetics. “Science and
technology are evolving constantly, and at a fast pace. Hence,
it is important for grading labs to enhance and upgrade [the equipment they
sell], as well as increase the level of internal verifications operated in the
labs itself.”
The process of grading stones
has remained consistent over the years, Chhabria said, though the threat of
consumers being cheated or misled has increased.
Full
disclosure
Bhatt
highlighted the importance of trust, saying it was fundamental in the gem and
jewelry industry. “One of the most important aspects of building and
maintaining that trust is disclosure of the characteristics of any gemstone
offered for sale. Trust and disclosure are supported by independent and trusted
grading reports prepared by trained staff using rigorous processes and appropriate
instruments to evaluate a diamond’s 4Cs…and identify synthetic and treated
diamonds.”
The
Economic Times article
revealed that Indian diamond houses had been calling on the Commerce Ministry
to issue a code for rough synthetic diamonds in addition to the Harmonized
System (HS) code the government assigned in 2016 for polished synthetic
diamonds. Rough synthetic diamonds are currently being imported using the same
code as natural
rough, making it nearly impossible to track the
stones, according to an industry insider. A distinct HS code for synthetic
rough will help keep natural and synthetic pipelines separate, said GJEPC
chairman Pramod Agarwal.
Article from the Rapaport Magazine - May 2018. To subscribe click here.