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SSEF Introduces Automated Diamond Screener for Very Small Melee
Created with Swiss robotics company Unimec, the ASDI-500 can screen stones as small as 0.5 mm at a speed of 700 stones per hour.
The ASDI-500, developed by SSEF and Unimec, can screen stones as small as 0.5 mm at a speed of 700 stones per hour. It will be unveiled at GemGenève International Gem & Jewellery Show in November.
Basel, Switzerland—The Swiss Gemmological Institute SSEF and Swiss robotics company Unimec have released a new version of the Automated Diamond Spectral Inspection (ASDI) device that can screen diamonds as small as 0.5 mm in diameter.
First launched eight years ago, SSEF developed the ASDI to protect the Swiss watch and jewelry industry, a major consumer of melee diamonds, from undisclosed lab-grown diamonds and simulants.
It was the first device to automatically screen large batches of colorless diamonds, SSEF said.
Still, there was no automated solution for the authentication of very small melee, and SSEF and UNIMEC responded by developing the ASDI-500, which can screen large quantities of round colorless polished diamond melee to detect synthetics and simulants.
The new ASDI-500 can analyze diamonds ranging from 0.50 to 3.80 mm in diameter at an average sorting speed of 700 stones per hour.
Unimec made this possible by integrating within the instrument its fast pick-and-place robot, which has a positioning precision of 5 microns, or 0.005 mm.
The ASDI-500 can detect both HPHT and CVD grown diamonds as well as diamond simulants.
“The ASDI-500 is the first-ever automatic machine to fill the gap between approximately 0.50 mm and 1.00 mm,” said Jean-Pierre Chalain, director of SSEF’s diamond department. “To an uninformed person, this gap may seem insignificant, but traders and consumers of melee know that it represents millions of diamonds per month.”
The ASDI-500 will be unveiled at the GemGenève International Gem & Jewellery Show, slated for Nov. 3-6 at Palexpo in Geneva.
Interested parties can reach out to SSEF for a viewing of the instrument.
The cost of the machine will be announced at the trade show.
The ASDI-500 is being manufactured and commercialized by UNIMEC SA. For more information, contact marketing@unimecsa.ch.
First launched eight years ago, SSEF developed the ASDI to protect the Swiss watch and jewelry industry, a major consumer of melee diamonds, from undisclosed lab-grown diamonds and simulants.
It was the first device to automatically screen large batches of colorless diamonds, SSEF said.
Still, there was no automated solution for the authentication of very small melee, and SSEF and UNIMEC responded by developing the ASDI-500, which can screen large quantities of round colorless polished diamond melee to detect synthetics and simulants.
The new ASDI-500 can analyze diamonds ranging from 0.50 to 3.80 mm in diameter at an average sorting speed of 700 stones per hour.
Unimec made this possible by integrating within the instrument its fast pick-and-place robot, which has a positioning precision of 5 microns, or 0.005 mm.
The ASDI-500 can detect both HPHT and CVD grown diamonds as well as diamond simulants.
“The ASDI-500 is the first-ever automatic machine to fill the gap between approximately 0.50 mm and 1.00 mm,” said Jean-Pierre Chalain, director of SSEF’s diamond department. “To an uninformed person, this gap may seem insignificant, but traders and consumers of melee know that it represents millions of diamonds per month.”
The ASDI-500 will be unveiled at the GemGenève International Gem & Jewellery Show, slated for Nov. 3-6 at Palexpo in Geneva.
Interested parties can reach out to SSEF for a viewing of the instrument.
The cost of the machine will be announced at the trade show.
The ASDI-500 is being manufactured and commercialized by UNIMEC SA. For more information, contact marketing@unimecsa.ch.
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