Stolen Diamonds - they must go Somewhere

[kenny]

Paul's misfortune got me thinking.

I don't think the stolen diamonds are going to end up on the fingers of the thieves.

A 45-carat blue diamond is hard to sell, it would be too famous.
But more common sizes, say 1 carat, have to be pretty easy to sell, then resell, then resell.
Laser inscriptions can be polished off.
Stones can be recut to polish off flaws, making the reports useless.
Honestly, aren't these diamonds are headed for erings and earrings that the general public will buy?
Paul's princess cuts may be identifiable to a trained eye, but what about more generic cuts?

I suspect if you tried to question even the most reputable vendor, say Tiffany or GOG, they could not positively trace the stone back to the mine.
Naturally even if they knew they wouldn't tell you for legitimate security reasons.


The assurance of the ethical provenance of a stone gets diluted with each hand it passes through.

My question is: how sure can a buyer be that their diamond was never stolen?
100%
90%
50%
Or, no way to know.

 

[RockDoc]

Hi Kenny


Your question about what happens to stolen diamonds is very good.

The answer is that it is very varied. I would think that what happens to them depends on the knwoledge of the thief.

An inscription on a diamond is sort of a redlight to the knowledgeable theif. It tells them that this diamond needs to have it''s inscription polished off. It also is a notification to a very experienced thief that in order to avoid detection by "cert matching"the diamond may require re-cutting.

In thefts where a lot of diamonds are stolen, such as a Fedex type robbery or a large robbery, where they are inscribed, chances are that the thieves are well versed in how to avoid detection of the stones stolen, and have connections to get the diamonds altered enough to avoid that.

For diamonds that are not inscribed, but do have GIA lab reports, there is in their computer database a way to match a diamond. This was done many years ago, so they could tell if they graded the same diamond previously. Unfortunately, the primary use of this is for their information only, and it isn''t set up to be a way to identify stolen diamonds. From what I''ve been told about the system, it bascially works using a 3 D plot of the inclusions, although there could be other methodology used. They do keep this information very confidentia, and firther I do not know how effective it is in matching stones that are recutl.

Gemprint on the other hand is very active and cooperative with law enforcement agencies both local, national and internation in helping to recover and match any diamond they feel is likely to have been stolen that is recovered from pawn shops, jewelry buyers, smugglers etc. And of course most recently terrorists, as stolen diamond trafficing provides them with funding, and of course "blood/conflict diamonds.

There is also the Jewelers Security Alliance group that is very experienced in assisting recovery and providing law enforcement with various types of information not only about the stones stolen, but they also provide personal files for those that do participate in stolen trafficing of diamonds, and Gemprint does have a very active part in assisting them. The scope of illegal activity also addresses smuggling of stones as well.

But very few diamond theives are really educated and have the connections to have diamonds recut. Many don''t even have the ability to spot small inscriptions of inscriptions under the table. But if the stolen diamonds have reports noting this on them, yes they know they have to either recut these stones or sell them to people that have that capability.

For consumer thefts, where one or just a few pieces are stolen, recovery is a lot easier, particularly if the gem was gemprinted previously and there isn''t a telltale inscription of evidence of it on a grading report.

I really don''t understand why the industry is so negligent about gemprinting their inventories. Gemprint as well as brilliance scope / Gemex has ways of identifying diamonds previously imaged.

But if theives knew all diamonds were previously imaged for identification and matching purposes, then just about every stolen diamond would be recut except the ones stolen by those would not be knowledgeable as to how to "cover up" the matching.

There is also the factor of the law enforcement agency''s level of work and attention in recovering such items. Unfortunately, not every police department has the same level of "due diligence" in recovering these items. In areas where there are Gemprint centers, we all cooperate and assist police departments and state attorney with diligent assistance by imaging at no charge,any stones brought in by re-imaging any stone they find or are suspicious of.

Gemprint will also provide expert witness testimony at trials where there is a recovery, at no charge as well. They will fly in anywhere to assist in helping to convict those who are caught with the diamonds previously imaged. This has been a tremendous assistance in not only convicting those who steal but who also committ related crimes in the action of the theft, such as murder or injury to those victimized.

Does this help explain things?

Rockdoc

 

[strmrdr]

I think your making it look too hard rockdoc.
Sell them uncerted in any jewelery store in the world.
odds are the owners will never get them to someone who could/would id them.

 

[kenny]

Isn't the unique fingerprint from Gemprint is a funtion of the unique flaws and the unique cut of a stone?

If a stone was recut, especially one with very few flaws already, wouldn't Gemprint be useless?

 

[RockDoc]

Date: 11/27/2005 1:22:03 PM
Author: strmrdr
I think your making it look too hard rockdoc.
Sell them uncerted in any jewelery store in the world.
odds are the owners will never get them to someone who could/would id them.

Storm

There is a lot more to this than I can divulge, without informing those who would do these things how to short cut the system.


Re: Selling "hot" goods to jewelry stores.

There are some jewelers who of course would buy them. But there are also ethical and honest jewelers that if they do sense the goods are stolen, will report it to the proper authorities.

Rockdoc

 

[RockDoc]

Date: 11/27/2005 1:33:44 PM
Author: kenny
Isn''t the unique fingerprint from Gemprint is a funtion of the unique flaws and the unique cut of a stone?

If a stone was recut, especially one with very few flaws already, wouldn''t Gemprint be useless?

Kenny


It depends.... on a lot of factors.

Gemprint images the light refraction pattern which is unique for each diamond.

To answer you more directly.. inclusions in the Gemprint system aren''t imaged. But a lot more information is generally recorded and sent to Gemprint.

If the cutting was minor ( i.e.) polishing off the inscription, the stone is still most likely identifiable. If it is a complete recut, you''re correct.. it does thwart/spoof the system. But sometimes there are some other characteristics that do provide identification but with some limitation.

For security purposes, I am not going to divulge those "secrets".

Rockdoc

 

[kenny]

I understand I'm treading on thin ice here.
I imagine criminals can read too, and I respect the withholding of sensitive info.

I'm just an engineer with a relentless mind.
Sorry.

So I guess we can assume that the diamond on my hand and your wife's may possibly be stolen goods.
Seems to be just the nature of diamonds.
Oh well.

I once heard that gold is never thrown away.
Over thousands of years it just keeps getting sold as scrap melted down and recycled.
"New" jewelry may contain traces of gold from the age of the Egyptian Pharrohs to gold that the Nazis pulled from the mouths of Jews.

Such is the cold reality man's desire for precious and rare materials.

 

[valeria101]

Date: 11/27/2005 3:40:50 PM
Author: kenny


I once heard that gold is never thrown away.
Over thousands of years it just keeps getting sold as scrap melted down and recycled.

That''s an intriguing thought