A range of speakers provided delegates with a deep understanding of the issue of lab-grown or synthetic diamonds. The event was coordinated by the CIBJO Diamond Commission, and moderated by Ronnie Vanderlinden, President of the Diamond Manufacturers and Importers of America (DMIA). He opened the event by saying that there was nothing against trading in synthetics as long as they were openly disclosed.
Although the issue has received great media attention in the past couple of years due to the mixing of synthetic stones into parcels of melee, Mr. Vanderlinden reminded the audience that it was not a new topic and had been around for about 50 years.
“There is no need to fear lab-grown diamonds,” he said. “They will be part of our lives in the future as diamond mines become depleted. He said that litigation would not be successful in the area of synthetics and called for greater communication between the synthetic diamond sector and its naturally mined stones counterpart.
Vanderlinden introduced Russian scientist Dr. Andrey Katrusha, an expert in the field of lab-grown diamonds who spoke about the different production methods – HPHT and CVD. He said the costs of both methods were similar as were the profit levels from both. He commented that the process was already very efficient and within several years was likely to become at least 10 times as efficient.
Dr. Katrusha pointed out that most of the lab-created production was aimed at industrial usage. Furthermore, he said that annual production could reach 2 million carats per year with factories being set up in China.
The next speaker was Dr. Simon Lawson, of De Beers Technologies UK, who told delegates that the diamond miner has been involved detection technology research for 30 years and that the aim of creating detection machines was to maintain consumer confidence.
Dr. Lawson said that, technically speaking, it was still difficult to create a perfect colourless diamond since there are often metallic inclusions.
He said the key features of lab-grown diamonds were fluorescence and striations, with a “terrace” effect on the surface of the stones.
He said the machines that De Beers had produced for synthetic detection were DiamondSure, DiamondView and DiamondPlus, and that his division works closely with Element 6 in order to produce the most effective detection devices.
De Beers has also produced the Automated Melee Screening (AMS) machine for small diamonds of 0.10 to 0.20 carats. The firm is making them available to Diamond Trading Company Sightholders this year and to the Forevermark lab in Antwerp.
Dr. Lawson said the pass rates for detection using the AMS machine were 98 percent for 10 point stones, 97 percent for five-pointers, and 96 percent for one-pointers.
The next speaker was CIBJO Pearl Commission President Ken Scarratt who is GIA Managing Director for South East Asia. He said the GIA developed and produced its DiamondCheck machine because it found that previously too many diamonds were being referred for further checking. Among the advantages of the machine were that there are fewer “false referrals” and the device can also detect non-diamonds.
Speaking on the development of lab-created diamonds, Scarratt said the past decade had seen a big improvement in the ability of manufacturers to create higher colours and clarities as well as in producing a large range of coloured stones.
Presenting the legal aspect regarding lab-grown diamonds was Suzan Flamm, Senior Counsel at the U.S. Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC). She pointed out that the words diamond and synthetic are clearly defined terms under the U.S. Federal Trade Commission jewellery guides. She explained that synthetic stones must be qualified with words such as “lab-grown” or “lab-created” or “(manufacturer’s name) created diamond”.
Failure to disclose the lab-created nature of a stone can be regarded as a breach of contract and warranty. It is also a deceptive trade practice.
Not knowing that a stone is synthetic is no defence under U.S. law and under the country’s Lanham Act, compensation can be awarded. Because a criminal violation requires proof of intent to defraud a client, prosecutors are more likely to seek a civil remedy such as breach of contract. Ms. Flamm advised diamantaires to be responsible for goods they sell and to be completely aware of its nature.
Jean-Pierre Chalain, director of the diamond department at the Swiss Gemmological Institute (SSEF) presented the Automated Diamond Spectral Inspection (ASDI), which is a device which can analyse very large quantities of melee diamonds at low cost. It is able to identify colourless synthetic diamonds, as well as diamonds that have been colour treated, and can bulk test 4,000 stones per hour.
Photo Caption: The main podium of the Synthetic Diamond Conference, which highlighted the first day of the CIBJO Congress.