GIA’s Latest Lab-Grown Diamond Report Differentiates Gemstone Traits Accurately

The diamond jewellery has really risen from a dark chapter last year. People across the supply chain are rooting for transparency and here is a gem certification laboratory of repute who has finally decided to take a call by the book. The industry needs to get rid of ambiguity while defining gemstones by their nature. Adhering to the latest guidelines of the Federal Trade Commission, Gemological Institute of America has announced that the name of their diamond report would replace the term ‘synthetic’ with ‘laboratory-grown.’

Nirupa Bhatt, Managing Director of GIA India and the Middle East, says, “We had started this report on lab-grown diamonds in 2007. The GIA Laboratory-Grown Diamond Report will include this statement –“This is a man-made diamond produced by CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) or HPHT (High-Pressure High Temperature) growth processes and may include post-growth treatments to change the colour”.

GIA’s mission has been to ensure public trust in gems and jewellery, and this landmark move will bring the much-needed clarity to consumers, helping make informed purchase decisions. GIA had explained the colour and clarity grades for lab-grown diamonds but had not mentioned the range for colour. To explain the gradation as easily as possible and avoid confusion, GIA will list colour ranges (D-Z) alongside their descriptions, such as colourless, near colourless etc, from now on.

With a change in terminology, GIA is complying with the FTC guidelines and making informed purchase decision foolproof. “Consumers have and will continue to have, a choice on what they would like to buy. As an independent and impartial entity, GIA’s roles are to evaluate the quality of stones submitted and deliver unbiased information on them,” says Bhatt.

GIA continually reinvests into its research efforts and has a global team of more than 50 researchers and other GIA staff for the same. This extensive research has led to a better understanding of diamond and its distinctive features that make it possible for GIA to definitively differentiate natural and laboratory-grown diamonds. Talking about state-of-the-art equipment, the GIA iD100™ combines advanced spectroscopic technology with GIA’s diamond and gemstone identification research to distinguish natural diamonds from laboratory-grown (HPHT and CVD) diamonds and diamond simulants. For the melee-size diamonds, the GIA Melee Analysis Service separates natural, untreated diamonds from simulants, laboratory-grown and HPHT-treated natural diamonds, and sorts the screened diamonds by colour range.

The gem and jewellery industry’s survival and growth is dependent on the trust that consumer places in it. GIA believes there is a market for natural, laboratory-grown, treated and simulant gemstones. Consumer confidence is sustained only when there is complete disclosure at the time of selling. This is a landmark initiative by GIA and will have a far-reaching impact of trust all throughout the industry.