The centre, established in collaboration with the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) and the Gemmological Institute of India (GII), will provide detection services to all Indian-based diamond suppliers/dealers.
The centre will also offer educational resources about lab-grown diamonds and technical training on testing methods. On-site staff training services will be provided as well.
GII chairman Shri Kirtilal Doshi said that the centre had an initial target detecting capacity of about 15,000 stones per day over the next nine to 12 months.
Concern about the non-disclosure of lab-created diamonds has increased over the past 12 months and the establishment of the Diamond Detection and Resource Centre should come as some relief to the local industry, given that India is the largest supplier of diamonds to the Australia and New Zealand market.
“The rapid action demanded of the GII [the centre was set up in less than four weeks] was in part driven by the anxiety felt by the trade regarding reports and certain incidences of un-disclosed mixing of lab-grown diamonds into diamond parcels,” GJEPC chairman Vipul Shah explained.
In addition to the detection centre, the GJEPC and a number of other Indian-based trade groups have developed other initiatives such as a Natural Diamond Monitoring Committee in an attempt to manage the mixing of lab-created diamond with natural stones.
The GJEPC is based in India and was established in 1966. It has 5,500 members and is primarily involved in introducing gemstones and jewellery to the international market.
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