RJC Retracts and Amends Definition of Diamond

The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) said on Wednesday it is retracting the definition of “Diamond” it published on March 17, following “industry misapprehension as to its meaning and intent.” The organization received many emails and phone calls after the publication asking that the definition be changed.

RJC, in an attempt to include lab-diamond producers, sought to create an inclusive definition of diamonds that will allow them to participate in the RJC System of Certification that involves third party auditing to verify conformance with the RJC’s standards.

Saying that it “clearly differentiates between natural diamonds and laboratory-grown diamonds,” the new definition as it appears in the glossary terms is:

·        A Diamond is a natural mineral consisting essentially of pure carbon crystallized with a cubic structure in the isometric system. Its hardness on the Mohs scale is 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.

·        A Laboratory-grown/synthetic diamond is any object or product that has been either partially or wholly crystallized or re-crystallized due to human intervention such that it meets the requirements specified in the definition of the word ‘diamond’, with the exception of being non-natural.

Previously, a diamond was defined 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.

According to RJC Vice Chairman John Hall, many of the people that contacted the organization were concerned about the possible implications of the previous definition, mostly that natural and lab grown diamonds were the same. “We wanted to adhere to accepted industry definitions,” Hall told IDEX Online.

“Under the RJC System, only a natural diamond can be described as a ‘diamond’ without a qualifying description such as laboratory-grown, or another term permitted under the RJC Code of Practices, i.e. laboratory-created, man-made, [Manufacturer’s name] created, and/or synthetic,” RJC sad in a release.

RJC defined the terms internally, Hall said, adding that a number of lab-diamond makers have voiced an interest in joining the organization.