recent reports in the media about synthetic diamonds falling into a batch of natural stones that cause concern in consumer markets, Indian diamond industry members have set up the Natural Diamond Monitoring Committee (NDMC), which will provide players of the international market with confidence and will fight undeclared synthetic diamonds.
Over the past few months, NDMC has been conducting research to determine the most effective methods for combating the mixing of synthetic stones in a batch of natural stones.
NDMC consists of representatives of the Gem & Jewelery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), the Indian Diamond Exchange (Bharat Diamond Bourse, BDB), the Federation of Precious Stones and Jewelry of India (Gem & Jewelery Federation, GJF) and other trade organizations.
The work of NDMC has become one of the most detailed and comprehensive studies ever undertaken in this sector: it covered eight countries on three continents. For almost 4 months, information was collected from a wide range of manufacturers, retailers, equipment suppliers, laboratories, international trade organizations, law firms, consultants and experts in the diamond industry. Based on this research, NDMC has developed a number of solutions that will ensure the implementation of fair trade practices and the eradication of the problem associated with the illegal sale of synthetic diamonds under the guise of natural, as well as full disclosure of information to the buyer.
According to NDMC, the current production of synthetic diamond jewelry is about 350,000 carats per year compared to 125 million carats of natural diamonds mined. Thus, the scale of fraud in the sale of undeclared synthetic stones is relatively small now.
Several large players, including De Beers, GIA, HRD, produce various equipment for the recognition of synthetic diamonds. It is highly effective and has been used in diamond trading for the past few years, but not on an ongoing basis.