DPA, Signet, De Beers Working on ‘Project Assure’

Apr 9, 2017 4:23 AM By Joshua Freedman

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RAPAPORT... Signet Jewelers unveiled further details of an initiative to test synthetic-diamond detectors, a project spearheaded by the Diamond Producers Association (DPA).

The DPA, which carries out generic marketing on behalf of the industry, has launched “Project Assure” to design and implement an independent “Diamond Screening Device Performance Test Protocol,” Signet said in an email to Rapaport News. The protocol is scheduled to be in place in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Both Signet and De Beers support the program and are on the project’s steering committee alongside the DPA. The committee will set up an advisory board comprising diamond and jewelry trade associations from across the world, with the aim of ensuring broad participation and endorsement from the industry. Additionally, the steering committee will establish a technical team consisting of gemological laboratories and screening-device providers.

An independent testing laboratory will implement the protocol, Signet said. Once the test capabilities are in place, companies that produce diamond-screening machines will be able to send their devices for testing as a commercial service. The examiners will then publish the results, enabling diamond companies to determine which of the available devices meet their needs.

“Undisclosed laboratory-grown diamonds represent a serious risk to the global jewelry industry,” said David Bouffard, Signet’s vice president of corporate affairs. “A number of devices are available in the market to test natural and laboratory-grown diamonds, but there are currently no independent means to verify the accuracy and reliability of [such] screening devices.”

Tags: david bouffard, De Beers, Diamond Producers Association, Diamond Screening Device Performance Test Protocol, Dpa, Joshua Freedman, Project Assure, Protocol, Rapaport News, Signet, Signet Jewelers, synthetic detection, Synthetics