A team from the Gemmological Institute of India (GII) recently conducted a series of seminars to create awareness on synthetic diamonds and coloured gemstones in two important jewellery markets of North India – Chandigarh and Ludhiana. The seminars were addressed by Bakul R. Mehta, Chairman GII, as well as experts from the lab, and were attended by key members of the jewellery trade in the two cities.

The presentations, which were done by GII gemmologists, covered various treatments, simulants & synthetic gemstones encountered in day to day business and the CVD & HPHT methods of manufacturing synthetic diamonds. Various methods of identification and detection of synthetics were also discussed.

Responding to questions, Mehta cautioned the local jewellers and advised them to send at least a few randomly selected stones from each parcel purchased for testing by a lab. He said that jewellers should be extra careful if prices offered were significantly below the market rates.

After the seminars, the GII staff gave a live demonstration of detection of synthetics using  a Diamond Sure machine and Raman Spectroscopes.