Image: GIA
The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) is developing a new classification report, the Diamond Origin Report, that will highlight the country where a diamond was won.
The company issues the Diamond Origin Report for stones that have been submitted to the lab for analysis in raw form and again as polished stone, so that it can match the two and confirm the country of origin.
“There has been a growing demand for transparency and traceability in the diamond industry in recent years,” said Susan Jacques, president and CEO of the GIA. “Consumers want to know the origin of products and their socio-economic and environmental impact.”
The GIA will support digital and print marketing to retailers who use the Diamond Origin Report service so that they can convey the unique story of each diamond to the consumer, the organization explained.
The product comes almost two years after the GIA first unveiled its ability to connect a polished diamond with its original rough form, by evaluating the stone at various stages of production. Since then, it has processed thousands of rough diamonds ranging from 0.15 carats to more than 100 carats, with a “growing number” of miners, manufacturers and retailers – including Alrosa – participating in the program, the GIA noted. The service is an evolution of the Mine to Market (M2M) program that the GIA launched in June 2017, said Stephen Morisseau, director of corporate communications.
After Tiffany’s Diamond Source Initiative (announce in January 2019), through which Tiffany is tracing each of its individually registered diamonds (0.18 carats and larger) by a unique “T&Co” serial number etched by laser and invisible to the naked eye, and providing consumers geographic sourcing information specific to their diamond, this is a new important step for the diamond industry towards creating more trust with the consumer. Beyond general assurances of “conflict free,” Tiffany believes that knowing provenance is critical to ensuring its diamonds are among the most responsibly sourced in the world.
This new Diamond Origin Report, which will be available from 30 April, contains the country of origin, a full 4CS quality analysis and an inscription on the registration number, according to the GIA.
