According to a report by The Times of India, 110 synthetic diamonds, each weighing 1.28 carats, were discovered in a parcel belonging to two traders operating out of the Mini Bazaar diamond market in the Indian city of Surat.
India is the largest supplier of diamonds to the Australia and New Zealand market, and Surat is known for being a major global diamond cutting and polishing centre.
While it was believed this was the first time lab-created (synthetic) stones had been found in Surat, it was not the first time they had been detected in India.
As reported by Jeweller in November 2013, the undisclosed mixing of synthetic and natural diamonds had been discovered several times in the country. This led to the introduction of various anti-diamond mixing initiatives, one of which was the establishment of the Natural Diamond Monitoring Committee (NDMC) by the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council.
The Surat Diamond Association (SDA) reportedly made the most recent discovery after a magnetism test was performed on the diamonds.
SDA president Dinesh Navadia said the stones had originated in Bhavnagar, India and that the NDMC was now conducting an investigation into the matter.
In other synthetic diamond news, a Russian company has claimed to have produced the largest lab-created polished diamond in the world.
The synthetic diamond manufacturer, New Diamond Technology, reportedly used the HPHT (high pressure, high temperature) technique to create a 5.11-carat radiant cut diamond with K colour and SI2 clarity.
The stone, which has been named ‘Big Tamazi’, is two carats larger than the synthetic diamond developed in November 2014 by US-based Pure Grown Diamonds.
At the time, Pure Grown Diamonds billed its lab-created diamond as being the world’s largest. The round diamond with I colour and SI1 clarity was produced using the CVD (chemical vapour deposition) method.
More reading
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India continues fight against diamond mixing
Synthetic diamonds detected in Australia
World’s largest synthetic diamond created