CJBJO Diamond Commission Calls to Reconsider Lab-Made Diamond Nomenclature

Days before its annual congress, jewelry industry organization CIBJO publishes the Diamond Commission Special Report. One of the highlights of the report is a change of heart regarding the nomenclature for lab-made diamonds.

After deciding last year to allow only for the use of the term "synthetic," rejecting other terms such as man-made and laboratory-grown, the Diamond Commission is brining up the issue for a vote to the CIBJO membership. The commission gave a number of reasons for this, one of them that other organizations have "moved on."

The public pressure has played its role, and key organizations such as the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) and the International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA) have adopted a resolution that allows for the descriptors "man-made," "laboratory-grown," "laboratory created" or "[company name]- created" to be used.

"These new rules are an integral part of the new IDC Rules, as published shortly afterwards by the International Diamond Council (IDC)," the commission wrote in its report. IDC is the body appointed by the WFDB and IDMA with a mandate to establish industry-wide unity in the grading of polished diamonds.

"IDC has recently put forward to its members a suggestion to remove "man made" from acceptable terms so they can align with the wording that was suggested by the CEN Workshop (CW) 47," the commission added.

However the conclusions reached by CW 47 came under fire for not brining into the discussions parties that represent makers of lab-diamonds. "Could you imagine a situation where the sugar growers set the standards for artificial sweetener?" asked industry analyst Chaim Even-Zohar.

The CEN report is featured on the Diamond Commission agenda and is expected to be discussed in depth at the congress. The Commission will propose to discuss the possibility of adopting the additional descriptors of "laboratory grown/created" or "[company name]-grown/created" and bring to a vote a resolution that these terms be equally acceptable.

The Commission expressed concern that CIBJO may find itself "in the uncomfortable position" of trailing behind all other major industry organizations which may potentially lead to CIBJO's isolation in this matter.

The commissions report can be found here.