Recent press reports that IGI have discovered a large quantity of undisclosed synthetic diamonds are no surprise to the AnchorCert team who have been preparing for this eventuality for the past ten years. Advances in technology, the rising price of high quality natural diamonds and the profits to be made from the supply of synthetics have made such developments inevitable for some time. The gems discovered by IGI were created by Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) but there are other ways of creating synthetic diamonds which are equally advanced. No expert could detect these with the naked eye, nor even the basic equipment found in every gem lab, as the stones have the same chemical composition as natural diamonds. It is only by using sophisticated equipment to check the growth structure and spectrum created by the stones that they can be properly identified. Synthetic gemstones are a perfectly legitimate and acceptable alternative to natural ones, as long as they are properly disclosed and priced accordingly. AnchorCert set out to provide protection to both the legitimate trade and to consumers and it has invested heavily in equipment, expertise and training to ensure it is fully equipped to identify treatments and synthetics.  Senior Gemmologist Anu Manchanda says “The warning from IGI is certainly the first of many and we are well prepared to protect the consumer and the trade from the damage this could cause toothier business.” For more information please call 0871 423 7922 or email gem@theassayoffice.co.uk

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