While the overall number of crimes was down, there were more incidences in which robbers pulled out guns, mace, or rammed cars into stores.
World’s largest diamond factory opens in Singapore
IIa Technologies said it has a commercially viable process for creating high-quality, Type IIa diamonds at the new 200,000-square-foot facility.

Singapore--Lab-grown diamond company IIa Technologies has opened a 200,000-square-foot facility it is calling the “world’s largest” diamond factory.
The Singapore-based company said the building is a “state-of-(the)-art facility that has successfully conceptualized and developed a revolutionary, commercially viable diamond growing process for colorless, high-quality, Type IIa diamonds.”
Pure Grown Diamonds, the New York-based company formerly known as Gemesis Inc. before it rebranded last July, is the largest distributor of IIa Technologies’ lab-grown diamonds, and both companies are owned by IIA Holdings Group. Pure Grown Diamonds CEO Lisa Bissell said IIa Technologies’ diamonds “come at a time when consumers are looking for more options.”
“In addition to being conflict-free, these diamonds come at a cost that is 30 percent to 40 percent less,” she said. “The diamonds are identical to their mined counterparts with the only difference being their point of origin.”
In addition to the growing facility, IIa Technologies also has unveiled a “Centre of Excellence” in Singapore, a diamond research center that will aim to further develop diamond growing technologies for various industries and uses beyond the luxury sector.
“IIa Technologies’ investments in Singapore opens new opportunities for research into the use of diamonds for high-tech applications, such as high-precision cutting tools, quantum computing data storage, optical imaging and radiation detection,” said Lim Kok Kiang, assistant managing director of the Singapore Economic Development Board.
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