RJC Amends Diamond Definition to Include Lab Grown Diamonds
March 17, 09
The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) announced on Tuesday an amendment to the RJC’s definition of diamond and the renaming of its Mining membership category to that of Diamond and/or Gold Producer.
The Council defines a “diamond” as: a mineral (natural or laboratory-grown) consisting essentially of pure carbon crystallized with a cubic structure in the isometric system. Its hardness on the Mohs scale is approximately 10; its specific gravity is approximately 3.52; it has a refractive index of approximately 2.42 and it can be found in many colors.
The RJC, an international not-for-profit organization promoting responsible ethical practices in a transparent and accountable manner throughout the industry, has taken these actions to welcome laboratory-grown diamond producers as RJC Members. This will allow them to participate in the RJC System of Certification that involves third party auditing to verify conformance with the RJC’s standards.
The diamond definition has been amended in the Council’s Membership Application Forms and on its website. The amendment will also be incorporated in the core system documents of the RJC’s Certification System when the core system documents are re‐issued later this year, following the completion of new mining-specific standards and guidance currently being developed.