FEATURE ARTICLE DIAMOND SCREENERS/TESTERS Richard B. Drucker, GIA GG, Honorary FGA Jon C. Phillips, GIA GG, AGS CG The jewelry industry has a real concern for the impact of lab grown and treated diamonds. Selling just one, even if unknowing, can be damaging to that seller s reputation and potentially a legal issue. The concern is among manufacturers, retailers, and appraisers. We examined several of the instruments on the market looking at their practicality from the various aspects of the industry. The machinery and equipment suppliers have developed and now market a variety of instruments that purportedly screen and identify both treated and lab grown diamonds. The capabilities of these instruments vary. The range of pricing is from a few hundred dollars up to about $10,000, while more advanced levels for testing utilized in the laboratory setting can go well over $100,000. Besides the use of these screeners/testers, some major laboratories are now also offering low cost batch testing as a service. One of the concerns that we have is that the jewelry industry is being led to believe that these instruments do more than they actually do. They are definitely useful tools but they are not the end-all black box solution that everyone would like. They are most often marketed as diamond testers when in fact, most of these are actually screeners that offer results that include natural or refer for further testing. The refer category may be natural, treated, or lab-grown. These instruments are screening for TYPE IIa diamonds which can be any of the latter three choices. Whether a screener or a tester, these instruments come with limitations. They do not do it all and they do not have total accuracy. That is important to understand because while we believe that there is good reason for many industry businesses to own a screener/tester, you must know the limitations and accuracy level. There are some areas to discuss here. What are the actual uses of these screeners/testers and what do they test for? What considerations should be made in deciding on a purchase? What is the practical use for the jewelry manufacturer, the retail jeweler and the appraiser? It is important to note that this article cannot possibly cover all of the instruments available. It is also possible that some have undergone some product changes since last researched. Pricing, when given, is as we know it but may also have changed. You should research as many instruments as possible before making your decision to buy. We are not recommending one over another. PRACTICAL USE FOR THE MANUFACTURER Working for Canada s largest jewelry manufacturing company (JP), our very real problem both past and present is with small synthetic melee that are salted into natural parcels. Specifically, the undisclosed lab grown diamonds, now commonly referred to as LGDs, cause the most concern to us and all diamond manufacturers. While our jewelry line uses Canadian sourced diamonds for the larger stones, melee is still outsourced for practical (economic) reasons. Most jewelry manufacturers therefore, buy parcels of melee on the open market, in our case, mainly from India. India is one of the main centers where LGDs proliferate in natural diamond parcels. They are usually purchased from China producers for dollars per carat When jewelry such as this is being sold, do you know for sure that all of these are natural untreated diamonds? Will an instrument insure that they are? Image courtesy of Corona Jewellery Company. so even a small percentage salted into a natural diamond parcel of 10,000 stones can be profitable. What can also happen is that the dealers will supplement parcels from a second supplier without screening to fill an order and without telling the original buyer. For absolute certainty, jewelry manufacturers may still choose to do further screening beyond the guarantees of the supplier. With the potential fines and damaged reputations and loss of customers, full secondary testing may be prudent. One method is to send the diamond parcels to other independent laboratories for melee screening services. This has been touted as a low-cost option that some jewelry manufacturers have opted to do. Others like the company that I GEMGUIDE - 1 - SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2018
FIGURE 1. The AMS2 with the sorter on top where melee is dropped into the machine and the sorting bins below. Photo by Jon Phillips. work for may opt to buy their own equipment for testing. The company now requests the suppliers to screen and then we screen, hence a double screen process. The point of this is that even with the so-called guarantees by suppliers, one must approach this issue in a way that it s a given that there is likely LGDs in the parcels of natural melee purchased. It only takes one LGD and a visit from a news agency to ruin your whole business. And those penalties to a manufacturer can be up to $5,000 for just one single stone. FIGURE 2. DiaTrue diamond screener. Photo by Jon Phillips. The five considered were DFI-MID UV Laser from GGTL; M-Screen Plus from HRD; AMS2 from IIDGR/DeBeers; J-Secure from DRC Techno; and DiaTrue from OGI. Prices ranged from about $150,000 on the high end to $5,000 on the low end. The DFI-MID offers definitive results on loose or mounted diamonds as natural, synthetic, or imitation. It is also used for other gem varieties. As results are definitive, this actually falls under the advanced instrument category beyond the full scope of this article as there are other advanced instruments used by laboratories. The cost is also a factor at this level at about $150,000. M-Screen Plus is designed to screen round brilliant melee at high speed. Depending on the size it can screen up to 15,000 stones per hour. It is good on D-J color range. The cost is about $90,000. The DeBeers melee screener is the AMS2, designed for speed and 10x faster than an earlier model. Up to 500 carats can be tested at once and can do up to 3,600 loose stones per hour colorless to near colorless. Results are Pass, Synthetic, Refer, and Non-Diamond. The cost of the AMS2 is $45,000. Figure 1. CHOOSING THE RIGHT SCREENER OR TESTER FOR THE MANUFACTURER The first step is to determine what size will need screening. For our company it was as small as a quarter point up to.03 ct. Will you be needing screening or identification? There is a difference. The screener kicks out potential LGDs; the identifier identifies the product for what it is. Next is to decide if you need a machine that does fast screening of many small diamonds or a slower single stone method. And while manufacturers are likely to screen loose diamonds prior to setting, they may also want to consider analyzing inventory of already mounted diamonds that never were screened previously. There are many types of machines and each machine has it strong points and weak points. In my research, I discovered that no current model available can be both fast for small melee and work individually for mounted diamonds. While many exist, for manufacturing companies, the best choices (for our needs which may differ for others) are described here. Each was studied thoroughly or when possible, actually tested. J-Secure is a series of instruments at different price points, also high-end. They identify CVD and HPHT lab grown diamonds in loose and mounted. The J-series sells for $21,000 to $25,000 and they have lower series models as well. The DiaTrue works on both mounted and loose single stones. It detects CVD and HPHT grown diamonds and moissanite. However, they do note on their website that while this is quick and convenient testing, a certified lab is needed to confirm results so this does act as a very sophisticated screener. The cost for this instrument is $10,000. Figure 2. One thing to keep in mind is that technology for testing equipment is rapidly improving. Machines continue to become faster, with more defined results and possibly at a lower cost. The AMS2 for example was $85,000 just four years ago, now $45,000. Co-author Richard Drucker had purchased the DiamondSure from DeBeers DTC back in 2005 for a specific Gemworld diamond project at a cost of $10,000. Today, half that price will buy a similar device. And his DiamondSure GEMGUIDE - 2 - SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2018
stopped working several years later and the DTC said it was unrepairable as it was older generation equipment. One of the main issues that arose early in our search and should be a consideration in yours as well is that we had to establish what we needed to determine. Did we want to identify LGDs by gemological standards or did we just want to detect and screen out the potential LGDs? The gemologist side wants to know for example if it was HPHT, CVD, HPHT on CVD and if it was natural then what type. But considering the amount of time needed to be spent on each 1mm stone, manufacturers will likely opt to go for speed and detect only, not identify. In our case, it was ultimately decided that we needed one machine that would catch and reject loose CVD, HPHT and conceivably CVD with an HPHT treatment, although I have not heard of CVD with an HPHT treatment on very small colorless LGDs. This narrowed the selection of available equipment. In our decision, we decided on two machines, double screening, and to just reject any that still came up as refer regardless of reason. PRACTICAL USE FOR THE RETAILER AND APPRAISER With the prevalence of lab grown and treated diamonds in the market, jewelers and appraisers have been on edge about detection, liability, and value of these diamonds. Currently, the gemological laboratory community is confident that all man-made diamonds are identifiable with testing. GIA routinely screens diamonds submitted to the lab as part of the report process. The categories are distinctly different. There are large diamonds either loose or mounted and there is melee. Starting with larger diamonds, most of these today are sold with a laboratory report. When this is the case, generally there is no concern or problem. Note however, that there have been instances where someone has substituted the actual diamond from the report with a lab grown or treated diamond. (www.gia.edu/gemsgemology/gems-gemology/fall-2017-labnotes-synthetic-diamond-fraudulent) So, the jeweler or appraiser must still confirm that the diamond matches the report. In most cases, loose or mounted does not create any problems, though some mountings may make it difficult to get exact measurements or see a laser inscription if it exists, or easily identify via inclusions, especially for high clarity grades. The issue with larger diamonds is when a laboratory report does not exist and this might often be the case on estate jewelry, not so much with new. Here is the need for comfort level of confidence. Based on the diamond characteristics that you see, are you confident that the diamond is natural? Are you using one of the screeners or testers and does that confirm your conclusion? If the answer is yes, then the retailer can sell the diamond as natural or the appraiser can value it as such. If there is any doubt, the recommendation is to send it to a reputable laboratory first before buying, selling, or appraising. Today, many smaller diamonds are even sent for reports. Some as small as a quarter carat will have reports but still most this size will not, so before we sell or value these diamonds, the same questions above for larger diamonds should be asked. This gets even trickier with items like tennis bracelets with many diamonds in this size range. If the retail jeweler is buying diamonds and diamond jewelry from suppliers, then the supplier should be guaranteeing that their diamonds are natural. However, even this comes with a caution. While we are not attorneys and cannot offer any legal advice, just consider this. At least in the US, commercial code that covers retail selling puts the liability on the seller to know the product they are selling. It may not be a defense to say that the supplier told you the diamonds were all natural. Again, this is only a suggestion and not legal advice and different laws can vary in different jurisdictions. The responsibility of an appraiser differs from that of the retail jeweler that sold the item in that they are only offering an expert opinion. Now, the question becomes how much they are expected to know as an expert. Many appraisers use statements known as limiting conditions that are included as part FIGURE 3. The GIA id100. Image by GIA. of their appraisals. One of those limiting conditions is grading and inspection of mounted diamonds. The appraiser is not expected to remove diamonds to weigh them for example, nor are they expected to be exact on color or clarity due to limitations when the diamond is set and the subjective nature of color and clarity grading. It is unclear just how much expertise will be expected regarding the ability to identify treated and lab grown diamonds by the appraiser. They are not the seller. They are offering a post-sale opinion. Per above, even a screener will not always give a definitive answer and most cannot afford or financially justify spending the thousands of dollars that might be necessary for advanced equipment. They still must provide reasonable care in how they perform and are still responsible for what they ultimately write in the appraisal. As an appraiser, you should still be ready to explain GEMGUIDE - 3 - SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2018
mounted in a viewing box and an app built in. It tests loose or mounted for CVD or HPHT grown diamonds and is very accurate but it will identify a natural but treated diamond as natural, less of a concern with melee. The cost of this is also $5,000. Figure 4. The D-Screen by HRD is a portable screener that is screening for HPHT lab grown or treated diamonds. The cost of this device is $3,600. There are some lower cost screeners also on the market today that start at about $500. They include the Gemlogis LEO UV+IR Diamond Segregator, the Synthetic Diamond Screener II by Presidium, and others. OTHER CONSIDERATIONS Before buying a screener or tester, whether manufacturer, retailer, or appraiser, here are a few considerations: FIGURE 4. The Sherlock Holmes CVD and HPHT detector. Image by Yehuda. the difficulties of some exact identifications and recommend sending the diamond(s) to a reputable laboratory for testing. The melee issue has already been covered in detail and the retailer and appraiser will have difficulty with these for identifying for the reasons already covered. Again, as a retailer, you are expected to be selling natural diamonds if that is what you have stated. There basically is no room for tolerance if that is your representation. Some retailers have now started to use language on sales receipts that explain the slight possibility of lab grown or treated occurring undisclosed or undetected in an item of jewelry. CHOOSING THE RIGHT SCREENER OR TESTER FOR THE RETAILER AND APPRAISER With the background information given regarding the role of retailers and appraisers, the decision-making process for buying a diamond screener or tester is likely to be different than the manufacturer. Here, the decision usually will focus on the lower priced instruments up to probably $5,000, though some may opt to spend more. Again, knowing the need will help determine the choice of what to buy. On the higher side of the price scale is the GIA id100 which sells for $5,000. Figure 3. This instrument is for loose or mounted and is one of the easier to use. The probe is simply touched to the diamond and a reading is returned as pass or refer. It is screening for synthetic or HPHT treated diamonds but will require further testing to confirm natural, treated, or lab grown for those that are not confirmed as diamond from the probe. The Sherlock Holmes is actually an ingenious design that involves believe it or not, a cell phone permanently Do you understand how the instrument works (screens TYPE IIa or uses spectroscopy) What is the accuracy rate (research this) What is its best use and its limitations (speed, size, mounted, loose, etc.) Warranty and service contracts (some companies have hefty service contracts) Ease of use gemologist or non and is training available (if relevant on advanced) CONCLUSION The key to screeners and testers is knowing fully what each is capable of doing. Know how to operate and interpret the results. Know how to care for and calibrate the device. How easy are they to use? Are they good with loose only or mounted? What is the accuracy level of the tests? To know what a machine does, ask the right questions and if necessary, ask to read the manual first to see what the test results show, how easy it appears to be in its use, and what the limitations are. Ideally, it would be great if you could get a trial period to test stones. At a trade show, you will be shown the sure things, that validate the device. The tests are set up to impress you. Bring your own difficult mounts for testing. Note that most of the machines marketed at some point will be stated to be a diamond tester. We believe that they should be called screeners for all the reasons given. However, some like the Sherlock Holmes do test but even these may have limitations and exceptions. And finally, the one issue that we have stated since these machines became available and that is the difficulty of what to do when the machine says refer. Remember that most machines are screeners and when the result is refer, then what? For a larger diamond the answer may simply be to GEMGUIDE - 4 - SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2018
send it to a laboratory for further testing. But what about melee already set in jewelry the ring that has 20 diamonds and one or two small diamonds are screened with refer results. It is either natural, treated, lab grown, or even a simulant. You cannot take the diamond out nor would it be practical or worthwhile to remove a melee sized diamond. So, what do you say to the customer? If you are an appraiser and you now inform the client that they might have a lab grown diamond in the ring, what is the next step? They run back to the jeweler accusing them of putting a lab grown diamond in the ring. The jeweler then goes back to the appraiser who has caused this problem. We already know of a story of a jeweler that confronted a manufacturer because his screener said a few diamonds may not be natural and this manufacturer does full screening before setting and guarantees natural. What the jeweler had no understanding of was that he had a screener, not a tester as he thought he was getting. All he really knew for sure was he had a TYPE IIa diamond and since about 2% of all diamonds are TYPE IIa, he will get refer as a result about two times per hundred tests. This is truly a paradox that will remain without a perfect answer for now. We await the next generation of testers. Will we one day get that black box? When buying a machine, do not expect 100% reliability and/or consistent results, from even the labs, because each manufacturer has slightly different specs and methods. Even prominent labs can disagree on small LGDs. At the AGS conference this past February, diamond testers and screeners were discussed. Harold Dupuy, Stuller VP of Strategic Analysis said it very plainly No one piece of equipment available to the average jeweler will work to identify 100% of the synthetic melee. Even one of the developers of a testing device, Dror Yehuda (Yehuda company is the manufacturer of the Sherlock Holmes) stated to me (RD) in Las Vegas, Anyone that tells you their machine has 100% accuracy is lying. u Gemworld International, Inc., 2640 Patriot Blvd, Suite 240, Glenview, IL 60026-8075, www.gemguide.com 2018 Gemworld International, Inc. All rights reserved. All articles and photographs that appear are copyrighted by the author, the contributing person or company, or Gemworld International, Inc. and my not be reproduced in any printed or electronic format, posted on the internet, or distributed in any way without written permission. Address requests to the editor-in-chief. The opinions expressed in this publication are the opinions of the individual authors only and should not necessarily be considered to be the opinions of the staff of Gemworld International, Inc. as a whole. Any website listings that appear in articles are for informational purposes only and should not be considered an endorsement of that company. GEMGUIDE - 5 - SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2018