‘Synthetic diamonds a threat to industry’

JAIPUR: All diamonds dazzle including the artificial ones and there is no way a customer can discover which is the natural one. With sales of cheaper synthetic diamonds rising, testing and certification of diamond-studded jewellery is emerging as a growing concern not only for the customers but also for the industry.
While agencies like Gemological Institute of America, or GIA and International Gemological Institute (IGI) provide certification of diamond pieces, there is hardly any authentic institute or lab that can certify the small pieces used in jewellery.
Nawal Kishore Agarwal, owner of one of the oldest jewellery stores in Jaipur, said that there is an urgent need to have testing labs to curb the growing lab-grown diamond market.
Synthetic diamond, also known as artificial or cultivated diamond, is produced in an artificial process, as opposed to natural diamonds, which are created by geological processes. Agarwal said synthetic diamonds are cheaper by 30-40% compared to natural ones.
There are some laboratories for testing small diamond jewellery but retailers said that they cannot be trusted because they don’t follow any standard procedure like GIA or IGI. Agarwal said the need for establishing institutes and setting standards for testing and certification has never been as strong as it is today and both the government and Jewellery Exports Promotion Council (GJEPC) have to find a solution to gain trust of the customers.
Praveen Shankar Pandya, chairman of GJEPC said the council has chosen Jaipur to provide it with a lab that would facilitate the process of certification. Jaipur already has a Gem Testing Lab but its expertise is limited as it cannot test different kinds of stones and diamonds.
The situation is similar with coloured stones, said Arun Jain, a Jaipur-based retailer and exporter.
“It’s not always possible for the common man to identify the quality of the coloured stones. Also, testing costs are very high. While a lab is necessary for coloured stones, but the cost aspect needs to be factored in,” added Jain.