EGL Launches SpectroGEM Rough Analysis System (Updated)
December 11, 07
European Gemological Laboratory (EGL) International recently launched the EGL SpectroGem system, which will allow it to differentiate between natural and synthetic or treated diamonds, and in which the lab invested half a million dollars. The SpectroGEM is based on an advanced spectroscopic system that integrates technological simulation and maps the movement of light through the diamond. It also tests if the stone has passed through a HPHT (High Pressure High Temperature) process making it a “treated stone.” Results allow the lab to tell whether a diamond is natural, synthetic, or, in the case of a natural diamond, treated. EGL CEO and owner Guy Benhamou said, “The diamond industry has always worked on a basis of trust and credibility. The instruction of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses, whose agreement EGL recently received, stated that treated stones need to be suitably identified and disclosed as such. “In practice there is a fear of treated stones leaking into the trade of natural stones. For the diamantaire and for the whole industry, whose turnover reaches $7 billion a year, we are talking about a danger of image damage,” he concluded. Also at the press conference, Israel Diamond Exchange President Avi Paz announced that the exchange has agreed to collaborate with EGL in case of difference of opinion pertaining to the origin of a diamond – specifically whether a diamond is treated or not. In response to this, WFDB Secretary-General and Executive Director Michael H. Vaughan told IDEX Online that “whilst the WFDB fully endorses all efforts to create transparency in our industry thereby enhancing and promoting consumer confidence, the WFDB does not possess, or has ever created a standards association stamp. In addition, the WFDB would never single out and give preferential treatment to one laboratory over another.“ He further added that the WFDB welcomes and is involved in discussions with industry players “in our continuing efforts to enhance the respected reputation of the legitimate diamond business and promote consumer confidence.”