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Signet, DPA Setting Synthetics Detection Criteria
Apr 6, 2017 3:09 AM
By Joshua Freedman
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RAPAPORT... Signet Jewelers is working with the Diamond Producers
Association (DPA) and product-testing firm UL on an initiative to establish quality
criteria for equipment that detects synthetics, the jeweler said.
The project with UL, formerly Underwriters Laboratories –
and not United Laboratories as Rapaport News previously reported in its
March 26 article – aims to establish criteria for identifying screening
equipment for lab-grown diamonds. That's in addition to the machines currently available
from HRD Antwerp, the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and De Beers
grading subsidiary the International Institute of Diamond Grading &
Research (IIDGR). Signet is not opening a testing laboratory, contrary to the original Rapaport News report.
The DPA, which oversees generic marketing for the diamond
industry, said earlier this year it was working toward creating an independent
testing facility to assess the broad range of synthetic-diamond detectors on
the market. There are about 16 products available, with more industry players
planning market entries. Makers of the technology include companies in the
US, Europe, India and China, while Russia-based miner Alrosa also plans to put out a
product this year.
“Technology is coming from lots of companies and countries,”
said David Bouffard, Signet’s vice president of corporate affairs,
pointing out that some regions’ machines were not as reliable as those of the
IIDGR, the GIA and HRD.
“The concern is ensuring suppliers are working with
technology that actually works and detects natural diamonds,” Bouffard
told Rapaport News on the sidelines of the Gem & Jewellery
Export Promotion Council’s “Mines to Market” conference in Mumbai last month.
UL, headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois, tests a range of
consumer products based on criteria such as safety, compliance and sustainability.
Its jewelry and watch division offers diamond and jewelry verification
programs, as well as other quality-assurance and traceability programs.
Signet unveiled its responsible diamond-sourcing protocol in February 2016 to
improve transparency in its supply chain. The retailer, which already had a
similar sourcing practice for gold, plans to extend the procedures to cover
silver jewelry this year and colored gemstones by the end of 2020, Bouffard
said.
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Tags:
david bouffard, De Beers, Diamond Producers Association, Dpa, Gemological Institute of America, GIA, HRD Antwerp, IIDGR, International Institute of Diamond Grading & Research, Joshua Freedman, Signet, Signet Jewelers, Synthetics, synthetics detectors, UL, Underwriters Laboratories
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