The 23-carat fancy vivid blue diamond, set to headline Christie’s May jewelry auction, was expected to sell for as much as $50 million.
GIA lowers prices for melee screening
The Gemological Institute of America announced that it has lowered prices for its Quality Assurance services, which screen parcels of both colored and colorless diamonds up to 0.20 carats to detect if they are lab-grown or treated.
Carlsbad, Calif.--The Gemological Institute of America announced that it has lowered prices for its Quality Assurance services, which screen parcels of both colored and colorless diamonds up to 0.20 carats to detect if they are lab-grown or treated.
The lab now is charging $5 per stone to screen diamonds that are 0.05 carats and smaller, and $10 (down from $12) to screen diamonds from 0.06 and 0.20 carats. The reduced cost is an extension of the organization’s effort to address industry concerns about undisclosed synthetics, the GIA said.
The GIA uses its normal laboratory procedures for the QA tests, including the recently introduced DiamondCheck synthetic diamond screening device and other instrumentation.
The GIA announced at the beginning of the year that it had developed a machine for the detection of lab-grown and treated diamonds, as reports of synthetic diamonds being mixed with mined diamonds as an attempt to pass them off as natural were making headlines. The device tests diamonds from one point to 10 carats in size, taking one diamond at a time.
Additional information on the GIA’s QA services can be found here.
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