The trade
and retailers put in extreme detection measures to keep synthetics out
Dubai: Are you sure you are picking up the
right diamond? One that has its origins from being years under the ground?
Everyone in the industry — from those
selling the rough stones to the eventual jewellery retailer — certainly has an
interest in making sure you do.
More so, as lab-created diamonds — or
“synthetics” — are starting to show up in increasing quantities for a variety
of industrial uses. That’s fine as long as they don’t end up in any jewellery.
The problem is if they do, and they are passed off as the real thing.
Even “one undisclosed synthetic being sold
to a consumer would be one too many,” said Stephen Lussier, CEO of De Beers
Forevermark, part of the De Beers group and a name synonymous with the business
of diamonds for centuries now. “If synthetics are sold in an open and fully
disclosed manner, then consumers have the ability to make informed choices
about their purchases.
“In these situations, we have seen that
consumers see synthetics as different products from diamonds, as they simply
don’t have the rarity, uniqueness, timelessness and inherent preciousness. It’s
crucial that consumers fully understand what they are purchasing.
“Undisclosed synthetics are those that are
attempted to be passed off as diamonds, with the intention to deceive the
consumer. The diamond industry has been aware of this risk and has a wide range
of measures in place to address the risk and prevent synthetics from
infiltrating the diamond pipeline.
“We haven’t seen any spike in undisclosed
synthetics showing up in the downstream part. The industry has a range of
measures in place that focus on addressing the risks relating to undisclosed
synthetics.”
Local jewellery sources say that every
measure is in place to ensure that none of the synthetics end up in a situation
where they become part of a piece and sold on to a consumer. There are
specialist labs fitted out with state-of-the-art equipment that do the vetting
as diamonds change hands from the trader to the jewellery maker and on to the
retailer.
But the industry needs to be on constant
guard nevertheless. China has emerged as a big supplier of industrial grade
diamond powder. And then these producers “started experimenting with single
crystal lab-grown diamonds”, otherwise known as the “1 cent diamond”. And they
have become so intricate that even a trained eye will need to give it a closer
look to make sure it’s synthetic.
“Traditionally, diamonds are exchanged
through too many hands — that’s the nature of the
business,” said a local
jeweller. “No effort can be spared to prevent synthetics from mixing with the
real ones. Even if a single incident happens, it can kill consumer confidence.”
So, does the industry have the checks and
balances to prevent such a mix? The easiest solution is for consumers to get
all of the necessary certificates stating the diamonds’ antecedents.
“Diamond grading reports will confirm the
natural origin of a diamond, providing consumers with the assurance about the
integrity of their purchase,” said Lussier. “All synthetics are lab-created,
grown in a factory environment in a short space of time.
“The industry is acutely aware of the
importance of providing consumers with the confidence that diamonds sold as
natural diamonds are exactly that. And the industry, including De Beers Group,
has adopted a wide-ranging suite of measures to address risks relating to
undisclosed synthetics.
“These include the development — and
application — of technology and devices to check the diamonds are natural, the
use of diamond testing services, industry protocols and procedural elements
such as guarantees on invoices for parcels of diamonds.
“There is a zero tolerance approach to
undisclosed synthetics within the industry’s mid-stream segment. Any business
found to be trading in such products risks being prevented from operating in
the industry any more as a result of being expelled from their diamond bourse.
“There are also several procedural
measures in place to prevent the risk of undisclosed synthetics, such as
guarantees on invoices when parcels of diamonds are sold.”
The science behind a synthetic diamond
* In a lab environment, synthetic diamonds
can be created using chemical vapour depositions of different shapes and sizes.
As of now, these processes have not turned out the very large cartage stones
yet. And these are about half the price of a natural stone. Once polished,
there is no visual difference between a natural stone and synthetic.
* The typical synthetic versions are called
“1-cent diamonds” and they are 1/100th of a 1 carat.
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