NDC expands ASSURE program; includes diamond-set jewellery testing

The Natural Diamond Council (NDC) has expanded its ASSURE Program designed to protect consumers and safeguard the integrity of the natural diamond supply chain by supporting Diamond Verification Instrument manufacturers. First launched in 2019, the program received a positive welcome by the industry, and in just over a year it has tested around 80% of the commercially available and viable Diamond Verification Instruments.

Now, the ASSURE Program 2.0 builds upon the best practice of the original ASSURE Program. A second independent testing laboratory has been onboarded, located at the University of Antwerp in Belgium, in one of the world’s key diamond hubs. This facility will operate alongside the founding ASSURE testing specialist, UL, located in Canton, Massachusetts, United States, with identical samples and testing procedures. Both laboratories will work simultaneously to enhance the long-term sustainability of the ASSURE Program, double the testing capacity and create a more geographically diverse landscape for submissions.

The ASSURE Program 2.0 has also evolved to include diamond-set jewellery testing, which adds further scope to the ASSURE Standard. Both open and closed-back mounted stones will be included in the testing regimen. This latest iteration of the ASSURE Program also includes an updated ASSURE Sample of natural diamonds, synthetic diamonds and diamond simulants in a range of sizes. This ASSURE Sample has been carefully curated to reflect goods currently circulating in the market, as well as individual stones that anticipate future trends and pose some of the greatest challenges to Diamond Verification Instruments.

Diamond Verification Instrument manufacturers will also benefit from enhanced characterisation data to help them identify and address potential areas for improvement in the functioning of their instruments.