1. In the past year there have been several cases reported of lab-grown diamonds being fraudulently labelled as natural diamonds, in some cases bearing fake inscriptions. What has been GIA’s experience with this?
We have encountered several laboratory-grown diamonds that have been cut to fraudulently and closely match natural diamonds graded by GIA. In addition to matching closely the measurements and weight of the natural diamond being copied, the GIA report number associated with the natural diamond report is inscribed on the girdle. In appropriate instances, we have notified law enforcement about the fraud. We have also designed an effective instrument, the GIA Match iD, that captures an image of the inscription and compares it with the GIA inscription associated with the natural diamond in GIA’s secure database. This process only takes a few seconds to determine if the inscription is the original GIA inscription or not. This is an effective method to protect the industry and consumers from purchasing one of the counterfeits.
2. What is causing this, and do you believe that this is this a growing trend?
I don’t know what is causing this, but there could be a few reasons, such as the rapidly declining price of man-made diamonds. This type of fraud would allow those doing it to recover losses. The volume of laboratory-grown diamonds has grown significantly, making more stones available for this fraudulent activity. Unfortunately, this type of “copying” is not new to our industry or many others.
3. Is GIA taking any special steps to deal with this issue?
GIA tests every diamond submitted to our laboratories to determine whether it is natural, treated or laboratory-grown. Those in the trade can protect themselves by working with trusted suppliers, ensuring that the diamonds they purchase have GIA reports, and using the online GIA Report Check service and instruments such as the GIA iD100 or Match ID to verify that a diamond matches its GIA report. Diamonds may also be submitted to GIA for our same-day verification service.
4. What technologies are being employed to detect fraudulently labelled diamonds?
We use a few methods of spectroscopy to make these determinations in the laboratory and also provided instruments such as the GIA iD 100 that refers all man-made diamonds. The Match iD is also very effective in confirming that the diamond matches the original GIA report.
5. Do you believe that the industry should be taking any specific measures to prevent fraudulently labelled stones? If so, what measures and who should be doing so?
I believe that the industry needs to self-police dealing with these situations. Bourses and other trade bodies need to take strong action against industry members who are involved in fraudulent activity like this. GIA continues to offer a convenient same-day verification service at all of our laboratories.
6. GIA is always innovating and developing technologically. Can you tell us what innovations GIA is planning for 2025?
On the subject of man-made diamonds, GIA has been growing synthetic diamonds for the last several years. This allows us to understand what changes to the product may occur. We can then design our instruments to identify all laboratory-grown diamonds. In addition, we continue to use machine learning and AI to support grading and identification services.
