The Israel Diamond Exchange President was speaking ahead of lectures given by senior GIA officials, Tom Moses and Dr. Wuyi Wang, on the issue of identifying treated and synthetic diamonds held last Thursday at the diamond bourse.
"There is no prohibition on manufacturing or trading in synthetic stones; the only thing needed is full disclosure that it is a synthetic and not a natural stone, especially when it comes to a mix of natural and synthetic diamonds," Shmuel Schnitzer said at the event.
"I call on everyone to make use of the new devices in the technology wing of the exchange," Schnitzer told the large audience that came to the lecture on identifying treated and synthetic diamonds.
"I thank the industry Committee Chairman Yoram Dvash who works night and day to promote the industry, and GIA Vice President Tom Moses, who arrived here as part of the close cooperation between the IDE and the GIA."
Tom Moses said: "I am happy to visit again in Israel, one of the world's main diamond centers, which is dynamic and large. The synthetic diamond issue is very serious and the impact on our industry is critical. This is a parallel market, like the gemstone industry – ruby and sapphire – but it directly influences the natural diamond market.
The GIA has been following the growth of the synthetic diamond issue since 1955. In recent years, the issue of synthetic stones has gained momentum, and it is obvious to us that in the future these stones will enter the global diamond industry. Therefore, the GIA laboratories have developed several detection devices for synthetic stones that have undergone different treatments."
Moses also referred to the output of the GIA laboratory, and said that in the coming year it will increase the size of its staff at its offices all over the world, and improve response times.
Research and Development Director, Dr. Wuyi Wang, said: "I am happy to visit Israel for the first time and to give a lecture on the issue of synthetic diamonds. It is well known that natural diamonds can be any color, but synthetic diamonds can have their color changed via HPHT treatment (high pressure and temperature). The HPHT treatment is based on special technology and has been in practice for the last 50 years."
During the lecture, Dr. Wang spoke at length about the reasons for the existence of color in diamonds, about defects in diamonds at the atomic level that affect the color of the stone, and other technical issues.
Dr Wang also spoke about the creation of synthetic diamonds and the differences between stones that are created by the CVD process (Chemical Vapor Deposition) and diamonds grown via HPHT. According to him, the color of the diamond can be improved significantly via the HPHT process, and demonstrated this with a presentation showing the view of map elements and chemical changes that occur during treatment.
"The most effective technology for detecting the type of diamond is FTIR spectroscopy which measures the flaws in the diamond flaws, as well as its color and the light return of the diamond, and is used in the GIA's DiamondCheck machine which the GIA has donated to the Israeli bourse," said Wang. "The technology is accurate, fast and efficient," he concluded.
