Source Veritas Diamond Certification for DTC Sightholders

GCAL (the Gem Certification and Assurance Lab) is issuing a diamond certificate that ensures diamonds have been responsibly mined and ethically traded – as well as thoroughly tested for natural origin and freedom from treatment.

Designed for De Beers’ Sightholders, "Source Veritas serves two equally vital purposes," says GCAL’s President Donald Palmieri. "It is both a clean bill of health for a diamond as well as a safe-conduct pass from mine to market."

Shmuel Pluczenik, CEO of Pluczenik, stated, "… [I]t it is imperative that our diamonds are free from any social tarnish. The Source Veritas Passports ensures this and builds consumer confidence in our diamonds."

The new document combines GCAL’s 5-Star Certification program, which includes Gemprint security registration, guaranteed grading accuracy, and direct assessment cut grades for brilliance and optical symmetry, with written assurances that diamonds have been produced and marketed in full compliance with DTC guidelines for safe sourcing and conscientious commerce. Among the assurances and protections "Source Veritas" offers:

• Compliance with De Beers’ “Diamond Best Practice Principles”. As part of its Supplier of Choice Sightholder eligibility program, De Beers’ customers commit to a rigorously enforced code of conduct known as "Diamond Best Practice Principles." These principles include: 1) refraining from trade in illicit, or "conflict," diamonds; 2) full respect for laws governing environmental protection and worker welfare; 3) exclusive use of natural diamonds for any marketing programs connected with De Beers, and 4) full disclosure regarding the sale of treated, man-made or faux diamonds in non-De Beers’ programs.

• Compliance with the Kimberley Process. In May 2000, the government of South Africa initiated a worldwide agreement on strict import/export controls for rough diamonds. Signed by 50 other nations (including the United States), the pact was ratified by the UN General assembly on December 1, 2000 and put into effect on New Year’s 2003.

• Assurance beyond the Kimberley Process. The Kimberley Process stops with rough diamonds and once a diamond is cut and polished then each seller of polished diamonds provides a system of warranties. The Source Veritas Passports is the first certification that is Independent of the distribution chain and provides assurance to any holder of the polished diamond that the certified diamond originated from a Kimberly compliant source. GCAL's Gemprint security registration system for polished diamonds is an important component of the process that certifies Diamonds from Mine to Market.