CHENNAI: It is almost impossible to find out if a diamond is natural or fake. Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers' one-of-a-kind initiative provides a solution to the hidden issue. VBJ sets up a screening device, which is said to be the country's first that tests the authenticity of set diamond jewellery. The machine is called SYNTHdetect. This device is supported by the technology from the International Institute of Diamond Grading & Research (IIDGR, a subsidiary of De Beers Group). "We want to educate the public and our customers.
Anybody visiting the showroom may test and validate their diamond jewellery for a stipulated time for free after which a minimal amount might be charged. But the machine will be available for our customers even after the given time. It is instilled in our showroom near the Gemini flyover. Depending on the demand we would like to introduce it in our other showrooms. By now most of the retailers should have brought this machine, I am surprised why everybody is apprehensive about the whole technology," says Amarendran Vummidi, managing director of VBJ.
Using the principle of time-resolved photoluminescence, an image is viewed on a high-resolution touch screen to validate whether the diamond is natural or synthetic. SYNTHdetect significantly reduces the need for additional off-site testing, making it the ideal way to verify the legitimacy of the diamond jewellery. Among the highlights is the ability to test the diamond on the jewellery directly which was not the case with the previous machines.
Earlier the machine detected diamonds only in loose but with this update in technology, we want the final jewellery pieces to be detected before handing it over to the customer. This device is a 2018 model and imported from UK. "The device can hold many jewellery pieces at a stretch. Within two months, we will have an A4 sized tray to hold more jewels. We have invested around two crores for detection. This involves lens, microscope and other meticulous equipments. Since most of the diamonds are heirloom and passed on to generations, the aspirational value continues to remain the same over the years,"
says Amarendran.
We're told that lab grown diamonds can be produced using artificially induced high pressure high temperature methods. The other method involves passing carbon vapours. Either ways artificial diamonds or synthetic diamonds mostly retain the same lustre, hardness and refractive index. Once they are cut and polished, it is indeed a challenging task to identify it’s fakeness. The artificial diamond also costs five percent the original natural diamond (one twentieth of the value). "The gems and jewellery industry is a vast sector with thousand of retailers and merchants. This makes it difficult to track the cases of undisclosed synthetic lab-grown diamonds that get mixed in parcels of natural diamonds. Such instances give room for disreputable dealings," wraps up Amarendran.
SYNTHdetect
If a diamond displays blue colour then it is considered natural and a florescent green would be an indication of a lab grown diamond. The process gets completed in four steps to attain highest levels of accuracy. If one level does not produce a result, it is passed on to next level.