The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) reports that it would soon be issuing synthetic diamond grading reports in response to the growing number of gem-quality, laboratory-grown diamonds entering the marketplace. GIA contends that there is a need to distinguish them from natural diamonds.

Ralph Destino, GIA’s chairman, said, “GIA is a public benefit institution and, as such, has an official obligation to protect the public by providing the critical information needed to make informed decisions.”

“As a nonprofit entity serving the public trust, it is simply the right thing to do,” he said.

Accordingly, GIA has created a new grading report specific to synthetic diamonds. The new reports will provide a clear description of the synthetic, containing color, clarity, carat weight, and cut information when applicable. The design of the report will be markedly different from the current GIA Diamond Grading Reports for natural diamonds. Its distinctive yellow color will immediately identify it as a synthetic diamond grading report.

To further help the public and members of the industry readily distinguish synthetics from natural diamonds, the GIA Laboratory will laser-inscribe the word “synthetic,” along with the GIA report number, on the girdle of every synthetic diamond it grades.

Tom Moses, senior vice president, GIA Laboratory and Research, noted that GIA’s research scientists have been studying synthetic diamonds for more than 30 years and have carefully monitored the new technologies that create these stones.
“Once we start grading them,” Moses said, “we will be able to study a far greater number and variety of synthetic diamonds and we will report our findings as we proceed.”

Now on display in London, England.

The Montpelier Times reports on this exhibition showing an array of dazzling pendants, earrings, and bracelets comes the piece de resistance: the 128-carat Tiffany Diamond, one of the largest yellow diamonds in the world.

The gigantic gem is the show-stopper of “Bejewelled by Tiffany” at the Gilbert Collection, one of three galleries located at London’s Somerset House on the Thames River.

The Tiffany & Co.-sponsored exhibit, which opens this weekend, uses jewels to trace the history of the celebrated American brand that has become synonymous with glamour.

The collection includes about 180 pieces that cover the first 150 years of Tiffany’s history up to 1987, almost all of which have been loaned from the corporation’s archives.

“In Britain people know about the film ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s,’ but don’t have a lot of knowledge about Tiffany’s history,” said Clare Phillips, curator of the exhibit. “The magic of the name is understood, but people don’t know a lot about how this glamorous company got started.”

Indeed, what’s best about the exhibit is that it’s more than just a display of jewels, but offers glimpses of fashion history by showing how the jewels were actually worn by Americans.

One model, for example, shows a woman wearing a brooch, a choker, a hair decoration, and a bodice ornament — all made from diamonds. It seems that wealthy American women in the 19th century so loved to pile on diamonds that Europeans ridiculed them for having no taste.

Another mannequin showed a 1970s woman wearing a bra made from sterling silver mesh.

“It’s fascinating to see how the items were worn and how the items have changed,” Phillips said.

Like many of his contemporaries, Charles Lewis Tiffany was unabashedly patriotic. The rubies, diamonds, and sapphires winking from an American flag brooch at the start of the exhibit are proof of this.

The exhibit works like a timeline. It introduces visitors to the entrepreneurial genius that transformed a modest New York store into an American institution before taking them on a journey through world wars and international exhibitions.

The first part of the exhibit, “The Rise of an American Institution,” illustrates some of the qualities behind Tiffany’s early prominence and long-lasting appeal.

When Tiffany opened the doors of his first fancy-goods store on Broadway in New York in 1837, jewelry was only a minor part of the inventory. But that soon changed.

After political turmoil in Europe in 1848 caused the price of gems to fall, Tiffany snapped up cheap diamonds, including some from French aristocrats who were eager to unload them. The gems went into new Tiffany-designed settings, prompting reporters to nickname Tiffany “The King of Diamonds.”

Tiffany, whose cameo portrait is included in the exhibit, understood the value of publicity and marketing. He introduced mail-order sales, producing the first catalogue in 1845. He also participated in the great international exhibitions, eventually opening a shop in Paris in 1868.

“The Paris Exposition of 1900 was crucial, because that’s when Tiffany became a name that was known internationally,” Phillips said.

Dubai a world diamond power? You kidding me, right?

WRONG!

Al Nisr, a Dubai publication reports that Dubai is an emerging world diamond center and power that has for example, Antwerp very worried. For more than 400 years the Belgian city of Antwerp has been the global center of the world diamond market with its highly-skilled craftsmen transforming rough stones into finely-worked gems.

But according to a founding member of the world’s leading diamond manufacturer, it is in danger of losing its crown to Dubai.

Belgium’s tough federal legislation regarding money laundering and checks on the use of diamond money to finance ugly conflicts are leading manufacturers to turn their eyes to the tax-free haven of Dubai’s freezones.

The emirate boasts an excellent geographical location, central to the booming diamond markets of China, Russia, and the Middle East, while its wealthy population, huge influx of tourists and relatively crime-free streets make for high domestic sales. The GCC is now the third largest market in the world for diamond jewelry.

Harshad Mehta is one of the founder members of Antwerp-based diamond manufacturer Rosy Blue, which has presence in more than 15 countries. The company’s global sales of loose diamonds reached $1.7 billion (Dh6.25 billion) in 2005, with $200 million (Dh736 million) sold in the GCC region and UAE sales worth $40 million (Dh147.2 million.)

Mehta, also vice-chairman of Dubai Diamond Exchange, said the diamond giant is considering a future shift of its main administrative headquarters to Dubai. He claimed others will follow.

“The diamond industry moved to Antwerp in the first place because less questions were asked there and it was easier for the diamond workers to do business,” he said. “Now more and more questions are being asked in Antwerp about sales and margins and where money is coming from, so people are getting fed up and saying let’s move to Dubai.”

But he added, “Dubai is still small compared to centers like Antwerp and it will take time for any major or significant change.”

Others were slightly more bullish.

Jonathan Chippindale, marketing director of Gulf Markets for the Diamond Trading Company, the sales and marketing arm of the De Beers Group, said, “All the major companies are looking at Dubai.”

Why Dubai?

“Saying that Antwerp is finished would be extremely premature, but the challenge is coming from Dubai. It is a major regional player now and it can be the major global player in the future,” Chippindale said.

Chippindale added that any view of Dubai as being unregulated is “way off,” but he claimed it has “a tremendous fiscal advantage” in terms of its tax-free status.

Federal legislation faced by the Antwerp diamond industry is considered to go beyond action taken by other countries. The HRD, an organization representing Antwerp’s diamond sector, recently met with Belgium Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt to discuss a report outlining issues weakening the competitive position of the country’s diamond traders.

But according to Chantal Abboud, the HRD’s representative in the Middle East, their fears were exaggerated and Antwerp’s position is likely to remain intact.

“I’m not convinced that there will be any shift away from Antwerp,” she said. “I have not seen even the smallest trader consider completely closing down their Antwerp offices and move to Dubai.”

Abboud admitted Dubai’s diamond sector is growing, but said the two sectors will work in cooperation rather than against each other. She also recognised Dubai’s advantages, including its tax free status, but claimed if the industry was simply concerned with tax, the shift would already have happened.

Dubai is also considered to have an edge over Antwerp in terms of safety of moving goods. The Belgian city has been rocked by a series of huge diamond heists in past years. “The logistics are here and the infrastructure is in place to handle the all requirements of the diamond industry,” said Pearl Chandrawansa, general manager of branded jewelry at Rosy Blue FZE.

Stay tuned!