EGL Int’l Says Falsely Accused by Australia’s JAA
September 03, 08The Israeli branch of EGL International on Wednesday said it had been falsely accused by the Jewellers Association of Australia (JAA) of circulating certificated diamonds that overstated their color and clarity.
JAA sent an industry alert to all its members in late August citing EGL International as the main laboratory issuing certificates that overstated color and clarity by more than one grading difference and naming EGL International’s Israeli laboratory as the primary source of the overstated certificates.
“There are a number of EGL laboratories located around the world and it would appear that the EGL facility in Israel is the primary source of the over stated certificates,” the JAA said in a statement, noting that all EGL certificates should be treated with the greatest care as they do not appear to list the address of the EGL facility that produced the certificate.
EGL Israel said JAA’s industry alert was “unfair and irresponsible.”
“I would think that, before writing such a provocative letter to your members, you would have had the common decency and courtesy to contact EGL Israel for our response to your allegations,” Guy D. Benhamou, chief executive of EGL International, wrote in a letter addressed to JAA.
He noted that contrary to the JAA’s industry alert, certificates issued by the EGL laboratory in Israel clearly indicated all contact information to enable online verifications.
“There is no such thing as a genuine EGL Israel certificate without an address,” Benhamou said, noting the Web site for clarification.
Despite several attempts by IDEX Online, JAA was not available for comment.
The JAA also said that there were other diamonds accompanied by certificates of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) offered on the Internet that were over graded. It noted that Australia and other countries were used by some dealers to dump GIA graded stones that were over graded in error.
“We would stress that the vast majority of GIA certificated diamonds have the correct gradings and should not give rise for concern,” the JAA said.