EGL's HPHT Declaration Raises Eyebrows

Over the past few days, gemological lab EGL has asked clients to declare they will not hand the lab HPHT treated stones for grading. But what EGL calls good practice, clients call illogical.

EGL clients in Israel received a two-page fax saying that following a request from the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB), and out of a desire to bring proper disclosure of HPHT treatments, it is asking clients to cooperate in preventing the concealed distribution of HPHT treated diamonds.

Clients are asked then to sign a declaration guaranteeing not to knowingly (emphasis in original document) give the lab HPHT treated diamonds, without declaring it in advance.

EGL Israel CEO Guy D. Benhamou says this is nothing more than maintaining a similar round carried out a year ago when the WFDB published its recommendations for disclosing HPHT treatment of diamonds.

“We aspire to work in full trust and ask their (diamond dealers) cooperation in the battle against [undisclosed – EG] treated diamonds,” he says. “We have a responsibility and a role in this issue.”

But some diamond traders see it differently. “It is their job to tell me if it’s treated, not the other way around,” says one trader. “Are they next going to ask me to tell them what color or clarity stones are?”

In reply, Benhamou says that the declaration does not free the lab from checking a stone “from A to Z”. “The whole issue is basic decency,” he concludes.

EGL, to its credit, is trying to play it straight. As part of its efforts on the issue, it has been emphasizing HPHT comments on its certificates in red ink to ensure that it stands out and is clearly seen.