Trade Groups Sign Deal on Lab-Grown Diamonds

The World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) and the International Grown Diamond Association (IGDA) have agreed to collaborate to protect consumer confidence around synthetic diamonds.

The organizations have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) calling for the pair to develop standards, operating principles and terminology for lab-grown diamonds, they said Monday. IGDA president Joanna Park-Tonks will sit on CIBJO’s laboratory-grown diamond committee, which has created a “Laboratory-Grown Diamond Guideline” governing standards for trading and handling synthetic stones.

The honest and accurate presentation of sustainability issues is a current focus for CIBJO’s laboratory-grown committee and was an element during the discussions between CIBJO and IGDA, the organizations said.

“We have had open lines of communication for some time already, and IGDA did participate in the public review before we released the ‘Laboratory-Grown Diamond Guidance’ document in 2021,” said CIBJO president Gaetano Cavalieri. “Over the past several years, the laboratory-grown diamonds sector has grown into a large and a prominent part of our industry, and we all have a vested interest in each other’s success.”

The signing took place on Sunday during the National Association of Jewellers (NAJ) Summit in Birmingham, UK.

Source: Diamonds.net

‘Grading’ Is Just for Natural Diamonds, Says CIBJO

Polished diamonds

Laboratories should reserve the term “grading report” for natural diamonds rather than lab-grown stones, the World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) has urged.

Lab-grown diamonds lack the rarity that underpins the concept of grading, CIBJO argued Tuesday. Instead, documents providing details of synthetics should be called “Laboratory-Grown Diamond Product Specifications,” the organization says in a new set of guidelines it released to the trade this week.

The standard grading report implies “a degree of rarity of the product,” a CIBJO spokesperson told Rapaport News. “But on the other hand, the consumer has a right to know what the components of the product are. The important element is that the term ‘grading’ is taken out.”

CIBJO’s board has made its new Laboratory-Grown Diamond Guidance available for review by affiliated companies and national associations, the organization said. The consultation phase is the final stage in a two-year process to create harmonized standards for man-made stones.

The rule book, which is not binding, also calls for laboratories to include extra information such as the name of the manufacturer, the country and method of manufacture (chemical vapor deposition or High Pressure-High Temperature), and information about post-growth treatments. It also recommends that the letters “LG” precede the color and clarity grades on the report to indicate the stones are lab-grown.

The guidelines deal with how to describe lab-grown diamonds and display them at events such as trade shows. They also provide recommendations on how companies should disclose the origin of the stones on invoices and consignment documents, and discuss synthetics detection technology.

“A key principle of the Laboratory-Grown Diamond Guidance is that, to ensure confidence, consumers must receive complete and unambiguous information about what they are buying, so that they can make consciously informed purchasing decisions,” CIBJO explained.

CIBJO’s Blue Book, a separate document on grading standards and terminology, notably kept “natural” in its definition of diamonds even after the US Federal Trade Commission dropped the word in 2018.

Source: diamonds.net

CIBJO And The IDC Agree On Diamond Terminology

IDC International Diamond Council

The World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) and the International Diamond Council (IDC) have decided to use the same terminology for describing diamonds, making it easier for consumers to understand grading.

CIBJO agreed to make amendments to its Diamond Book — a guide to grading standards and terminology — following requests by the IDC, an organization that works to ensure consistency in grading across the industry. The IDC’s language will now be “harmonized” with that of the Diamond Book, CIBJO said Tuesday.

“The true beneficiaries of this agreement are the diamond consumers, who will now be able to refer to a single set of rules for describing diamonds,” said CIBJO president Gaetano Cavalieri.

The two organizations finalized the agreement at the CIBJO Congress in Bangkok this week. The International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA), one of the IDC’s founding bodies, has also endorsed the new Diamond Book.

IDC http://www.internationaldiamondcouncil.org

Source: diamonds.net