Synthetic Diamond Discovered with 'Fake' Inscription

A synthetic diamond submitted to the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has been described as “blatant fraud” after it was found to contain an inscription that matched a natural diamond report.

According to an article published in the Autumn edition of the GIA Gems and Gemology journal, the excellent cut round, brilliant 1.76-carat F VS1 stone was submitted to the organisation’s laboratory in Carlsbad, California for an updated diamond grading report.

GIA senior staff gemmologist Troy Ardon and senior research scientist Christopher Breeding, who co-authored the article, noted the report provided with the synthetic stone was for a natural untreated, 1.74-carat D VVS1 diamond that was issued in 2015.

“Upon grading, our screening processes determined that the newly submitted sample needed additional testing to determine its origin,” the article read.

“This examination revealed it to be an HPHT-grown synthetic diamond.”

It was also discovered following “careful examination” that the inscription on the synthetic diamond’s girdle was a different font used by the GIA and was therefore not authentic.

The article added the organisation rarely encountered this type of “blatant fraud”.

“While most synthetic diamonds that come to the laboratory are properly disclosed, some are submitted out of concern that a stone presented as natural might be synthetic.

“We believe the submitting client noticed inconsistencies with the GIA report information and sent it to the lab for an updated report.”

As previously reported by Jeweller, a number of synthetic diamond detection systems have been developed in the past few years in order to combat undisclosed synthetic diamonds.

Earlier this year, the GIA introduced a ‘mounted gem testing device’ that was capable of separating natural diamonds from synthetics, regardless of whether the stones were loose or set in jewellery.