GIA Donates DiamondCheck Machine to DDC NY

The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has presented the Diamond Dealers Club (DDC) of New York with its DiamondCheck machine to be used free of charge by Club members in the trading floor to check whether stones are natural or synthetic.

DDC President Reuven Kaufman said the GIA device would enable DDC members "to assure both themselves and their clients that their goods are correctly classified as natural or synthetic."

Kaufman noted that although it is "neither illegal nor unethical to deal in synthetic diamonds, passing them off as natural diamonds could potentially have a harmful impact on our industry by undermining consumer confidence. This follows reports that some synthetic diamonds submitted to certifying labs for grading have, perhaps inadvertently, been mixed with parcels of natural diamonds."

Kaufman also said that the Club was committed to an ongoing education program for its members with respect to synthetic diamonds, which includes seminars on how they may be effectively identified as well as potential action by bourses worldwide for knowingly passing off synthetic stones as natural diamonds. 

On behalf of the DDC, Kaufman thanked the GIA leadership, President Susan Jacques, Senior Vice President Tom Moses, and Director of Research Wuyi Wang, for the donating the DiamondCheck on the Club. 

He added that “DDC was a major diamond trading center, one committed to an industry built on integrity, trust and reputation. The installation of DiamondCheck technology by GIA, the first bourse to which GIA provided this equipment, will help us to both prevent synthetic diamonds from entering the market as natural diamonds as well as to ensure the maintenance of the high degree of consumer confidence that is critical to the industry worldwide.”