GIA To Grade Synthetic Diamonds

Rapaport Diamond Report 

The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has announced that it will soon start grading synthetic diamonds for the first time.  The decision was made to take this step in response to the growing number of gem-quality, laboratory-grown diamonds entering the marketplace and what the institute deemed as the ensuing need to distinguish them from natural diamonds.  “GIA is a public benefit institution and, as such, has an official obligation to protect the public by providing the critical information needed to make informed decisions,” said Ralph Destino, GIA’s chairman.

Consequently, GIA intends to issue new grading reports specific to synthetic diamonds.  These reports will provide a clear description of the synthetic, containing color, clarity, carat weight, and cut information.  Design of the report will be markedly different from the current GIA diamond grading reports for natural diamonds. A distinctive yellow color will immediately identify it as a synthetic diamond grading report.  To further help the public and members of the industry readily distinguish synthetics from natural diamonds, the GIA Laboratory will laser-inscribe the work “synthetic,” along with the GIA report number, on the girdle of every synthetic diamond it grades.

Tom Moses, senior vice president, GIA Laboratory and Research, pointed out that GIA’s research scientists have been studying synthetic diamonds for more than 30 years and have monitored the new technologies that create these stones.  “As a non-profit education and research institution, GIA has the ability to conduct comprehensive research into synthetic diamonds and other gemstones.  It is imperative that GIA continues to expand its understanding of synthetic diamonds and to share that information with the industry and the public,” he noted.  “Once we start grading them, we will be able to study a far greater number and variety of synthetic diamonds and we will report our findings as we proceed.”