No Misconception -- Lab Created Diamonds are Distinguishable

[diagem]

A NewsBrief published by Rapaport which Jerry Ehrenwald wrote:

"....The reason I chose to publicly address this issue, is it is vital for industry members to keep each other informed of such misconceptions, so that we can together, educate and assure consumers there is an absolute and accurate way to differentiate natural mined diamonds from those grown in a laboratory.

For more information, please contact IGI at 212.753.7100, ext. 3357 or www.igiworldwide.com.

Sincerely,
Jerry R. Ehrenwald, G.G., A.S.A., A.A.A., N.A.J.A.
President and Chief Executive Officer
International Gemological Institute"


http://www.diamonds.net/news/NewsItem.aspx?ArticleID=22392

 

[Clark McEwen]

Date: 7/17/2008 4:52:55 PM
Author:DiaGem




A NewsBrief published by Rapaport which Jerry Ehrenwald wrote:


''....The reason I chose to publicly address this issue, is it is vital for industry members to keep each other informed of such misconceptions, so that we can together, educate and assure consumers there is an absolute and accurate way to differentiate natural mined diamonds from those grown in a laboratory.

For more information, please contact IGI at 212.753.7100, ext. 3357 or www.igiworldwide.com.

Sincerely,

Jerry R. Ehrenwald, G.G., A.S.A., A.A.A., N.A.J.A.

President and Chief Executive Officer

International Gemological Institute''



http://www.diamonds.net/news/NewsItem.aspx?ArticleID=22392

Jerry is absolutely right ....todays technology can in fact detect todays technology.

Labs with the proper equipment can differentiate the lab-grown diamonds that are currently commercially available from their mined counterpart. Where the real issue comes in is that there are new methods of diamond crystal growth being developed which labs have not had the opportunity to see and therefore don''t know what to look for in order to identify the origin. These new methods of growth are not being developed to try a fool anybody they are simply a quest to improve the size, color, shape and quality of the production.

We at Gemesis realize this and work closely with the major labs to insure that they know what to look for prior to any "new" diamonds reaching the market.

Cheers,
Clark

 

[Alexei Zarakhani]

Hi DiaGem! Hi Clark!

I absolutely agree with Jerry''s and your, Clark, position - currently produced laboratory created diamonds are distinguishable from their mined counterparts. There should be no misconception about it. It should also be noted/highlighted that in vast majority of cases not every gemological lab, not every GG can effectively do such a differentiation, only the most sophisticated laboratories can, IGI is among them.

As for future developments in diamond growth technologies, I''m sure that gem labs will come up with an adequate technique to distinguish lab grown diamonds from mined ones.
At AOTC, we grade every stone above 30 pts with one of the major grading labs (EGL USA, GIA and IGI). Those labs have constant access to our diamonds and can fine tune their methods to accommodate any new development.

However, we shouldn''t let public to fall into another misconception that laboratory grown diamonds are absolutely different from natural ones. They are not. They are real diamonds. All of chemical, physical/optical properties on a macro scale are the same, especially those that are consumer sensitive - hardness, refractive index, dispersion, scintillation, brilliance, etc. They differ so far only on a microscopic level (microstructure and trace impurities). And, off course, by origin.