IGI Detects 6-Carat Lab-Grown Diamond With Fake Inscription

The International Gemological Institute’s laboratory in Tel Aviv recently detected a 6-carat lab-grown diamond that someone apparently was hoping to pass off as a natural stone.

The 6.01-carat, pear-shaped synthetic diamond was fraudulently inscribed with the Gemological Institute of America report number for a G-color natural diamond of the same size and shape, but with a few key differences, IGI said in a news release issued Tuesday.

First, the lab said, photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, which is now widely used by grading labs to separate natural diamonds from lab-grown stones and to identify diamond treatments, shows a wavelength peak of 737 nanometers in the diamond (see chart below).

This is an indicator that the diamond was grown in a factory using the chemical vapor deposition process.

IGI photoluminescence spectra
The photoluminescence spectra for the 6.01-carat lab-grown diamond recently examined by the International Gemological Institute

Second, when examined under a microscope, IGI graders saw a carbon inclusion where the feather was indicated on the clarity plotting diagram in the GIA report.

They also noticed a cloud inclusion, resulting in IGI giving the lab-grown diamond a lower clarity grade than VVS1, the clarity grade of the natural diamond.

Lastly, there was a discrepancy between the depth of the diamond IGI examined and the depth noted on the GIA report.

“Everyone in our industry must be vigilant,” said IGI CEO Tehmasp Printer, who took over as head of the lab in October after Roland Lorie retired.

“As attempted fraud increases, the need for ongoing verification is a necessary step to protect consumers from purchasing misrepresented gems and jewelry.”

Source: DCLA

Sarine, GCAL Launch Surat Grading Lab Following Merger

Sarine Technologies and Gem Certification & Assurance Lab (GCAL) will open a new grading lab in Surat, India, following their business combination last year.

The new location will operate under the GCAL by Sarine banner, benefiting from Sarine’s technological and local expertise as well as GCAL’s grading brand, Sarine said Monday. The merged entity — formed when Sarine acquired 70% of GCAL for $5.65 million in May — already has a grading lab in New York.

“We are delighted to expand our activities into India, and we believe the timing is opportune,” said GCAL president Angelo Palmieri.

Certification and other grading services in both the New York and Surat locations will follow the merged group’s quality standards, Sarine said. The certificates will carry GCAL’s guarantee — a distinctive feature of its grading reports.

“We are dedicated to leading the way into a new era of diamond certification — one that relies increasingly on technology,” said Sarine CEO David Block. “This approach ensures the highest level of grading while introducing unprecedented efficiency. I have full confidence in our partnership and our ability together to take the certification market to new levels of quality and service.”

Source: DCLA

Bruce Cleaver Steps Down from De Beers Boards

Bruce Cleaver will leave his role as cochair of De Beers’ board of directors and will also relinquish his position on the board of the miner’s lab-grown diamond-manufacturing company, Element Six.

The move follows Cleaver’s exit as CEO in early 2023 after six years in the position. Cleaver’s appointment to the boards was to enable a smooth transition of leadership to his replacement, Al Cook, a De Beers spokesperson told Rapaport News.

Additionally, while on the board, “Bruce also supported the finalization of the commercial negotiations with the government of the Republic of Botswana,” the spokesperson said. “With the leadership transition complete, and with De Beers and Botswana having signed heads of terms for the new agreements, Bruce has delivered on those objectives, and so has stepped down from the board of directors.”

Cleaver will remain with De Beers in an advisory capacity, the spokesperson added. Duncan Wanblad, CEO of De Beers parent company Anglo American, will now be sole chair of the miner’s board of directors.

Source: DCLA

EU Sanctions Russia's Largest Diamond Producer Alrosa

The European Union on Wednesday imposed sanctions on Russia’s state-run diamond giant Alrosa and its CEO as part of a ban on imports of the precious stones over the Ukraine war.

The EU in December agreed to prohibit diamonds exported from Russia as it tightens sanctions to further sap the Kremlin’s coffers.

The 27-nation bloc added Alrosa, the world’s largest diamond mining company, and its chief executive Pavel Marinychev to a blacklist subject to a visa ban and asset freeze in the EU.

The EU said the company — which accounts for 90% of Russia’s diamond production — “constitutes an important part of an economic sector that is providing substantial revenue to the government.”

Russia’s diamond exports totaled around $4 billion in 2022.

The EU’s ban went into force on Jan. 1, targeting natural and synthetic diamonds exported from Russia.

A prohibition on Russian diamonds processed in third countries will be phased in by September.

The EU ban came after months of painstaking negotiations with G7 countries to set up a system to trace Russian diamonds.

Belgium, which is home to the world’s largest diamond trading hub, insisted the system needed to be put in place to make any embargo effective.

The EU has so far imposed 12 rounds of sanctions on Moscow since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Source: DCLA

Hong Kong Busts $64M Diamond Scam

Hong Kong authorities have arrested four people suspected of running a money-laundering syndicate that falsely declared synthetic diamonds as natural.

The operation, which authorities codenamed “Gem Crusher,” was the first money-laundering case using transnational diamond trading the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department has detected, the government organization said Thursday.

On December 19 and 20, customs raided eight premises across multiple areas in Hong Kong, including residential and business locations. So far, authorities have frozen HKD 8.2 million ($1.1 million) in assets belonging to those in custody.

Hong Kong customs officials were alerted to the scheme earlier this year and launched a financial investigation, exchanging information with authorities in India, the department explained.

Members of the crime syndicate had established diamond-trading companies in both Hong Kong and India. Throughout 2021, the syndicate exported low-value lab-grown diamonds from Hong Kong to India with fictitious declarations presenting them as high-value naturals.

The purpose was to “transfer significant amounts of suspicious funds from India to Hong Kong,” authorities alleged. The suspects laundered around HKD 500 million ($64 million), the department claimed.

During the raid, customs seized a “large quantity of suspected synthetic diamonds, a small quantity of natural diamonds, about HKD 1 million [$128,055] in cash, a number of mobile phones, computers, company [seals], checkbooks, bank cards, bank documents and trading documents” from the four suspects, authorities said.

The four men — believed to be the “masterminds, ring leaders and members” of the syndicate — were arrested on suspicion of “dealing with property known or reasonably believed to represent proceeds of an indictable offense.”

The investigation is ongoing, and further arrests cannot be ruled out, customs noted.

Source: DCLA

Italian Grading Lab Warns of Synthetic-Diamond Scam

Italian gemological lab Gem-Tech has warned the trade that a number of lab-grown diamonds circulating in the country are being sold as natural.

Three stones were submitted to the lab accompanied by certificates from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) stating they were natural, Gem-Tech said last week. Gem-Tech weighed the stones and found them to be nearly identical to those recorded on the GIA certificates. The stones also had laser inscriptions with a visible GIA logo that matched those the lab had seen before from other GIA-graded stones, Gem-Tech explained.

However, further investigations indicated the stones had been fraudulently paired with the grading reports, while the inscriptions appeared to be forgeries.

When the Italian lab exposed the diamonds to ultraviolet light to detect fluorescence, it discovered that the stones were inert, whereas the reports described the level of fluorescence as “faint.” The diamonds were then checked using spectrophotometric analysis and displayed a distinct greenish coloration and other characteristics commonly found in synthetics created using chemical vapor deposition (CVD).

Once the lab checked the report numbers against the GIA website, it realized they were issued for other, natural, stones that were just slightly different than those submitted to Gem-Tech.

“Gem-Tech has seen this happen before,” the lab said. “It would not be the first time that malicious individuals obtained reprints of authentic reports and paired them with stones other than those described.”

Although there were only three stones submitted, Gem-Tech believes there might be more, it told Rapaport News.

“The client who submitted them for identification reported that these stones were not the only ones being offered,” the lab added. “Other dealers have mentioned that these three synthetic diamonds, identifiable by their report data, have been presented in other parts of the country.”

Source: Rapaport

India urges G7 to delay ban on Russian diamonds as rules lack clarity -sources

India has urged the Group of Seven (G7) countries to delay an incoming ban on Russian diamonds because the rules to trace the origins of gems remain unclear, two sources aware of the matter said.

India, home to 90% of the world’s diamond cutting and polishing industry, is critical to the implementation of the ban.

New Delhi has also sought more clarity in its talks with G7 leaders, said the sources, who did not wish to be identified because they are not authorised to talk to the media.

Earlier this month, G7 nations announced a direct ban on Russian diamonds starting Jan. 1, followed by phased-in restrictions on indirect imports of Russian gems from around March 1. A new system to trace the origin of the gems will be introduced in September.

Russia is the world’s biggest producer of rough diamonds by volume. New restrictions on the trade of Russian gems are part of the bloc’s broader measures designed to limit Moscow’s revenues that aid and fund its invasion of Ukraine.

“The timeline to start restrictions on indirect imports from Russia in three-four months is impractical, as the rules on how the origin for a gem will be traced are not clear,” one of the sources said.

India has also expressed its reservations over G7’s new “traceability-based verification and certification” system, which may require sharing of data about Indian businesses, the first source said.

Some data might be sensitive and businesses might not be comfortable with sharing such information, he said.

The federal trade ministry, which is involved in talks with G7 on proposed restrictions, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

India mostly processes smaller Russian diamonds, and that’s why the country expects minimal trade disruption, a government official said earlier this month.

Still, the proposed ban would impact the diamond supply chain, industry officials say.

India’s diamond sector already faces weaker demand. The country’s polished diamond exports fell 29% to $10 billion during the first seven months of the current fiscal year that began in April.

It exported polished diamonds worth more than $22 billion last fiscal year that ended on March 31. The industry, based mainly in the western state of Gujarat, employs millions of people across small and medium firms.

Source: DCLA