Surat: Diamantaires in Surat and Mumbai are once again under scanner of the global diamond industry, especially the diamond jewellery consumers and buyers from the sensitive market in US.
The Gemological Institute of America's (GIA) Mumbai laboratory recently uncovered an unusually large number of undisclosed synthetic diamonds mixed in with natural melee diamonds, according to US-based Rapaport group.
The report suggested that GIA detected 101 synthetic stones from a parcel of 323 melee diamonds — small sized diamonds—with an average size of 0.014 to 0.015 carats, submitted by the trader based in Mumbai and having sourcing links with Surat.
The goods had been submitted to the GIA's Melee Analysis Service, launched in December of last year and has regularly identified small quantities of undisclosed synthetic melee diamonds in some parcels submitted for analysis.
Fewer cases of undisclosed mixing have been reported recently as more testing facilities and detection machines have come to market, Praveenshankar Pandya, chairman of India's Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), said at the World Federation of Diamond Bourses' Presidents' meeting last month.
