At the 2010 Congress in Germany, CIBJO approved a resolution to permit the use of alternative terms of lab-created diamonds, including ‘synthetic’, ‘laboratory-grown’ and ‘laboratory-created’. The use of words that could be easily misinterpreted, such as ‘real’ or ‘genuine’, is discouraged.
At the upcoming Congress in Paris (27-29 October), the organisation has confirmed it will review this policy, a decision that comes amid significant industry tension regarding the marketing of natural and lab-created diamonds. CIBJO will also hold discussions regarding the ‘4Cs’ grading and its application to lab-created diamonds, following recent changes to certification practices by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA).
President of CIBJO’s Diamond Commission, Udi Sheintal, addressed the current state of the diamond industry and the importance of precise terminology.
“Many in the synthetic diamond sector — along with some grading laboratories and major retail chains — took advantage of our inclusive approach to advance their commercial interests, often at the expense of the natural diamond industry’s reputation and market share.
“Most laboratories quickly began applying the 4Cs grading system, originally developed for natural diamonds, to synthetic stones. Grading in this manner is a practice that I believe is fundamentally flawed and misleading. A natural diamond’s grade is ultimately the result of random geological processes, with the rough stone having formed without any human intervention.
“Synthetic diamonds, on the other hand, are produced under tightly managed conditions. The features of a man-made stone can be predetermined, and ensured through strict quality control in the factory.”
Sheintal continued: “Indeed, on occasion, the presence in synthetic diamonds of inclusions or other characteristics that typically are examined for when grading natural stones can be the result of intentional engineering — often to imitate natural imperfections.”
The proposal builds on a 2018 initiative by CIBJO and eight leading global diamond organisations to establish a universal Diamond Terminology Guideline.
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