Lab Grown Discussions at AGS Confluence

The American Gem Society (AGS) will present panel discussions on lab grown diamond pricing and supply, advances in lab grown identification and the art of natural diamond storytelling.

The three-hour Confluence is an online-only event, featuring three pre-recorded sessions, designed to allow the speakers to take part in a live chat Q&A.

The event is scheduled for 25 September and will be accessible to non-AGS members for a $150 fee. The sessions will remain available, on demand, until 31 December.

The Importance of Diamond Screening: Challenges, Techniques, and Resources covers the latest screening technologies and their limitations, providing guidance on using gemological instruments for verification.

Laboratory-Grown Diamonds: Pricing, Supply, and Disclosure explores the complexities of the lab grown diamond market, including pricing dynamics and the importance of transparency.

And The Incredible Story of Natural Diamonds delves into the geological history and mining processes of natural diamonds, featuring insights from experts at GIA , which is sponsoring the event.

AGS is a nonprofit trade association representing a select group of jewelers, independent appraisers, and suppliers in the jewelry industry.

Source: DCLA

It is possible to trace a diamond

 

It is possible to trace a diamond if it has been reported as lost or stolen and has been registered with a diamond grading and identification laboratory. Many diamonds are laser-inscribed with a unique identification number or code that can be used to identify the stone if it is recovered.

In addition to laser-inscriptions, diamond grading and identification laboratories such as the Gemological Institute of America (GIA, the International Gemological Institute (IGI) and (DCLA) Diamond Certification Laboratory of Australia, provide certificates for diamonds that include a detailed description of the stone's characteristics, including its carat weight, colour, clarity, and cut. These certificates are the main method used to help identify a lost or stolen diamond.

However, it is important to note that not all diamonds are registered with these laboratories or have laser-inscriptions. Additionally, some diamonds may be recut or modified in a diamond cutting factory, making them more difficult to identify, But not impossible. Therefore, while it is possible to trace a lost or stolen diamond, it is not always guaranteed.

While measurements do provide all the proportion information about a diamond, they alone cannot be used to definitively identify a diamond.

Diamond measurements typically refer to the dimensions of the stone, including its length, width, and depth, as well as the angles and proportions of the diamond's cut. Measurements determine a diamond's shape and some aspects of its quality, such as its symmetry and polish, these alone do not provide enough information to identify a diamond conclusively.

To identify a diamond, experts will rely on a combination of factors, including the diamond's unique physical characteristics, such as its colour, clarity, and fluorescence, as well as any laser-inscriptions or certificates associated with the stone.

DCLA has a diamond registry, linking your diamond ownership 

 

Source: Certin Diamond insurance 

AGS Laboratories to Integrate with GIA

The American Gem Society (AGS) will close its laboratory operations at the end of this year, with the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) taking on elements of the organization.

AGS Laboratories’ intellectual property (IP), technology, research staff and Las Vegas facility will become part of the GIA, the two organizations announced Wednesday. AGS Laboratories will continue to provide services until the end of 2022 and will contact clients with details of the transition, it said.

The nonprofits, both founded by Robert M. and Beatrice Shipley in the 1930s, will combine their gemological research efforts. The amalgamated team will “develop innovative products” to help consumers and the trade, encompassing light-performance research and a “science-based” fancy-cut grade standard, they said.

“This consequential agreement brings AGS and GIA even closer, driving our future with 90 years of shared history and elevating our founders’ vision,” commented AGS CEO Katherine Bodoh in a joint statement.

The GIA will create an endowment to support AGS and its membership. They did not provide further financial details. The collaboration will also help advance AGS’s retailer programs and support more member education, for example at the annual AGS Conclave, the statement continued.

The AGS Ideal grading report will be available from GIA as a digital-only supplement to GIA reports for eligible D to Z natural and laboratory-grown round and fancy-shape diamonds, incurring an additional cost of $25. GIA clients will be able to request these extra reports from January 2023.

In an information sheet for customers, AGS noted that GIA was responsible for inventing the 4Cs of diamond grading while AGS “created light performance and ignited a discussion on sparkle.” For instance, the AGS is one of the few major labs to offer a cut grade for fancy-shape diamonds.

“By harnessing each other’s strengths to move forward boldly, consumers will be better protected, and we will ensure the longevity of the Shipleys’ vision,” said GIA president and CEO Susan Jacques.

Correction, October 20, 2022: An earlier headline incorrectly stated that the GIA was taking over AGS’s grading division. In fact, the AGS Laboratories grading operations will close, with the GIA taking over certain other elements of the organization, including research.

Source: DCLA

India Draws Up Rules to Prevent Certificate Fraud

                            

Industry leaders in India have published draft rules aimed at stopping members from selling diamonds with false grading reports.

The new Diamond Charter calls for tight measures to prevent the misuse of certificates. It also requires companies to take action to stem the circulation of grading reports that are not attached to a stone.

The document, which the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) posted on its website last week, mandates ethical conduct and grants powers to punish those who misbehave. It is currently at the consultation stage, and could go into effect next month, GJEPC executive director Sabyasachi Ray told Rapaport News Monday.

The draft calls for participation by the Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB), the Surat Diamond Bourse (SDB) and the Mumbai Diamond Merchants’ Association (MDMA), as well as the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the International Gemological Institute (IGI), HRD Antwerp, Gemological Science International (GSI) and the Gemmological Institute of India (GII). Those organizations will also set up a committee to enforce the rules among members, it says.

The move follows increased demand for grading and a string of fraud cases involving natural stones carrying reports pertaining to lower-quality or synthetic goods.

“[Since] lab-grown diamonds came into the market, above [0.30 carats], no natural diamond is sold without a certification,” Ray explained. “This [underpins] the value of the diamond.”

The rules require grading institutions to give each diamond a unique identification number and a corresponding laser inscription when they receive it for certification, and to keep an accessible online archive of reports. They also compel labs to offer free verification services at major trading centers and maintain records of know-your-customer (KYC) documents.

Meanwhile, bourses must remind their members that trading of a certificate without the sale of a diamond is illegal, according to the charter.

The guidelines also govern what happens if a seller has multiple grading reports from different labs for the same stone and only wishes to give the buyer one of them. In this case, the seller should return the remaining certificates to the lab or destroy them within 30 days so misuse of the document is impossible, the charter continues.

It also calls on diamond buyers to verify the certificate’s authenticity using the relevant lab’s online database.

The boards of the BDB and the GJEPC have approved the charter, with members of exchanges and the general public now able to comment on the draft before November 16, Ray said. Depending on feedback, implementation could happen by December 1, he added.

“Our understanding is that the charter is in draft; we look forward to learning more about it,” a GIA spokesperson said. “For many years, GIA has supported the efforts of trade bodies, including the GJEPC, in addressing issues of importance to the trade and to advance consumer protections.”

While grading fraud has been an issue for years, the phenomenon has become especially common since the rise of lab-grown diamonds.

In August, police in India discovered a scam in which people had sold low-quality diamonds bearing counterfeit certificates, a number of them involving forged GIA report numbers. Some of the stones were lab-grown but carried natural-diamond reports.

In May, the GIA reported a rise in submissions of lab-grown diamonds with counterfeit inscriptions.

Clarification, November 9, 2021: This article has been updated to clarify that not all the named organizations have signed up to the charter, which is still in a draft stage. A quote from the GIA has also been added.

Source: DCLA

India Draws Up Rules to Prevent Certificate Fraud

                            

Industry leaders in India have published draft rules aimed at stopping members from selling diamonds with false grading reports.

The new Diamond Charter calls for tight measures to prevent the misuse of certificates. It also requires companies to take action to stem the circulation of grading reports that are not attached to a stone.

The document, which the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) posted on its website last week, mandates ethical conduct and grants powers to punish those who misbehave. It is currently at the consultation stage, and could go into effect next month, GJEPC executive director Sabyasachi Ray told Rapaport News Monday.

The draft calls for participation by the Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB), the Surat Diamond Bourse (SDB) and the Mumbai Diamond Merchants’ Association (MDMA), as well as the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the International Gemological Institute (IGI), HRD Antwerp, Gemological Science International (GSI) and the Gemmological Institute of India (GII). Those organizations will also set up a committee to enforce the rules among members, it says.

The move follows increased demand for grading and a string of fraud cases involving natural stones carrying reports pertaining to lower-quality or synthetic goods.

“[Since] lab-grown diamonds came into the market, above [0.30 carats], no natural diamond is sold without a certification,” Ray explained. “This [underpins] the value of the diamond.”

The rules require grading institutions to give each diamond a unique identification number and a corresponding laser inscription when they receive it for certification, and to keep an accessible online archive of reports. They also compel labs to offer free verification services at major trading centers and maintain records of know-your-customer (KYC) documents.

Meanwhile, bourses must remind their members that trading of a certificate without the sale of a diamond is illegal, according to the charter.

The guidelines also govern what happens if a seller has multiple grading reports from different labs for the same stone and only wishes to give the buyer one of them. In this case, the seller should return the remaining certificates to the lab or destroy them within 30 days so misuse of the document is impossible, the charter continues.

It also calls on diamond buyers to verify the certificate’s authenticity using the relevant lab’s online database.

The boards of the BDB and the GJEPC have approved the charter, with members of exchanges and the general public now able to comment on the draft before November 16, Ray said. Depending on feedback, implementation could happen by December 1, he added.

“Our understanding is that the charter is in draft; we look forward to learning more about it,” a GIA spokesperson said. “For many years, GIA has supported the efforts of trade bodies, including the GJEPC, in addressing issues of importance to the trade and to advance consumer protections.”

While grading fraud has been an issue for years, the phenomenon has become especially common since the rise of lab-grown diamonds.

In August, police in India discovered a scam in which people had sold low-quality diamonds bearing counterfeit certificates, a number of them involving forged GIA report numbers. Some of the stones were lab-grown but carried natural-diamond reports.

In May, the GIA reported a rise in submissions of lab-grown diamonds with counterfeit inscriptions.

Clarification, November 9, 2021: This article has been updated to clarify that not all the named organizations have signed up to the charter, which is still in a draft stage. A quote from the GIA has also been added.

Source: DCLA

AGS Lab to Resume Grading Lab-Grown Diamonds

American Gem Society’s (AGS) grading lab will again evaluate laboratory-grown diamonds, a service it began in 2012 and then stopped in 2013 due to a lack of business.

The new AGS Laboratories lab-grown reports are the product of more than a year of research, development, and consultation with its board. For the moment, they will be available only in digital form on the lab’s Only My Diamond platform.

“We just saw there was a need for a different type of report, where we clearly articulate what a laboratory-grown diamond is,” says Jason Quick, executive director of AGS Laboratories. “We wanted to provide full transparency.”

The reports will include a note on the method used to grow the diamond, whether it’s HPHT (high pressure, high temperature) or CVD (chemical vapor deposition), along with consumer-friendly explanations of those methods.

Unlike GIA, AGS is using the standard scale to grade the diamonds but is adding the designation “LG.” So a VS2 will be called “LG-VS2.”

The report includes a note: “It is important to note that the color and clarity grades do not reflect the rarity of the laboratory-grown diamond, but rather the quality and consistency of the manufacturing process.”

Explains Quick: “Even most graders can’t tell the different between a D, E, and F with their naked eye, but there’s a difference in rarity, so we have those grades. We wanted to draw attention to the fact that here these grades means something different.”

It will also offer its standard AGS cut grade scale, with the top rating of AGS Ideal.

All graded diamonds will receive two non-optional two girdle inscriptions. One will say “laboratory-grown”; and the other will say “laboratory-grown” and be accompanied by the AGS report number.

The reports will also look different than its standard reports, so they can’t be confused with the natural diamond reports, and the words laboratory-grown appear at least 10 times on the report, Quick says.

Source: DCLA

AGS Lab to Resume Grading Lab-Grown Diamonds

American Gem Society’s (AGS) grading lab will again evaluate laboratory-grown diamonds, a service it began in 2012 and then stopped in 2013 due to a lack of business.

The new AGS Laboratories lab-grown reports are the product of more than a year of research, development, and consultation with its board. For the moment, they will be available only in digital form on the lab’s Only My Diamond platform.

“We just saw there was a need for a different type of report, where we clearly articulate what a laboratory-grown diamond is,” says Jason Quick, executive director of AGS Laboratories. “We wanted to provide full transparency.”

The reports will include a note on the method used to grow the diamond, whether it’s HPHT (high pressure, high temperature) or CVD (chemical vapor deposition), along with consumer-friendly explanations of those methods.

Unlike GIA, AGS is using the standard scale to grade the diamonds but is adding the designation “LG.” So a VS2 will be called “LG-VS2.”

The report includes a note: “It is important to note that the color and clarity grades do not reflect the rarity of the laboratory-grown diamond, but rather the quality and consistency of the manufacturing process.”

Explains Quick: “Even most graders can’t tell the different between a D, E, and F with their naked eye, but there’s a difference in rarity, so we have those grades. We wanted to draw attention to the fact that here these grades means something different.”

It will also offer its standard AGS cut grade scale, with the top rating of AGS Ideal.

All graded diamonds will receive two non-optional two girdle inscriptions. One will say “laboratory-grown”; and the other will say “laboratory-grown” and be accompanied by the AGS report number.

The reports will also look different than its standard reports, so they can’t be confused with the natural diamond reports, and the words laboratory-grown appear at least 10 times on the report, Quick says.

Source: DCLA