Gemology Headquarters International (GHI), a US-based gemmological grading and research laboratory, has opened its first Indian branch at Opera House, Mumbai. “Our focus is to respond quickly to the needs of the Indian diamond industry,” GHI <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />India general manager, Dusan Simic, said in a press release.

GHI’s Indian lab will offer gem identification and evaluation reports, research on natural, treated and synthetic diamonds and testing of diamonds and coloured stones. It will also conduct seminars and training workshops for consumers and the industry.

The lab said some of its research acknowledgments include identification projects on high pressure high temperature (HPHT) treatments of natural diamonds, HPHT lab-grown diamonds, Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) lab-grown diamonds, coated, irradiated and annealed diamonds.