Previously, the iD100 – which retails for $US4,995 ($AU7,349.38) – was only able to determine whether colourless diamonds were natural or man-made.
However, a new software update means that jewellers will be able to distinguish between natural pink diamonds and those manufactured using the high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) or chemical vapour deposition (CVD) methods as well as diamond simulants and natural diamonds that have been treated using irradiation or annealing.
The add-on software costs $US249 ($AU362.52.) and utilises spectroscropic technology as well as GIA research to tell whether or not a pink diamond is natural and untreated.
In order to use the pink diamond update, iD100 owners must first download a second free update that allows the detector to screen blue/green and brown diamonds.
Tom Moses, executive vice president and chief laboratory and research officer, GIA, said, “These two significant improvements make proper identification of laboratory-grown diamonds more easily accessible to retailers and manufacturers around the world by expanding capabilities of the GIA iD100.”
In a statement, the GIA confirmed that its representatives would contact iD100 owners to assist in the upgrade process. Both software updates take less than two minutes to install.
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