[Jewelry making - Article 00351] - Re: [Orchid] Diamond developments

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    First of all, as others have said - don't confuse the vast variety
    of diamond simulants (from glass to Moissanite) with synthetic
    diamonds. A synthetic diamond is diamond in terms of composition,
    structure etc. It just that it is made in a factory by people in
    white coats, not in the earth. 

    But various other points need some commnent. 

    First of all Daniel, you say that 'Historically, no synthetic
    material has impacted the pricing of natural material ...' The media
    frenzy over 'treated' emeralds a few years back had a significant
    affect on the market for emeralds. If you stretch 'synthetic
    material' to cover cultured pearls, then that is another major
    exception. And we are talking about market stability and
    sustainability as much as just 'pricing'. 

    Good retailers buying from good suppliers are not the problem - if
    there is a legitimate choice between  real and synthetic then the
    customer can make a reasoned decision as to what to buy.  Even crooks
    selling the 'fake' as real are not the major problem - there have
    always been crooks and always will be, the law can or should deal
    with that. I believe that the big problem over the next generation
    will be the jewelry re-circulating via shops, auctions, Ebay etc. 

    25 years ago most dealers in estate jewelry could spot pretty well
    any synthetic gemstone with a x 10 loupe. Now you need very
    sophisticated equipment that is out of reach for most shops, and even
    some labs. So either nobody will care if a gemstone is right or
    wrong, or customers will insist on a lab report for every serious
    purchase. 

    Which will it be?  I can't see that it can be both, but who will
    steer this - the 'industry' or the public? 

    The industry (which includes individual jewelers as well as the
    mega-companies) doesn't have a good track record here. For example
    it is reasonably well known that a significant percentage (50% +?) of
    the amethysts you see in jewelry shops are now synthetics. But
    testing often costs more (time and trouble, as much as $$$) than the
    stones are worth. Who cares? 

    Now, for example, extent that to .25 carat diamonds set in rings -
    who will care enough to think that buyers have some right to know if
    they are genuine or synthetic? 

    Either the jewelry industry sits back and waits to see what happens
    (which by definition means that it will be too late to do anything
    ...) or it starts discussions now to sort out codes of practice right
    across the industry from ma and pa jewelry stores to Ebay to plan the
    best way to approach things.   (CIBJO - the International Jewellery
    Confederation  - should be in the driving seat here). 

    And, by the way, the diamond simulant is not called 'moissanite',
    moissonite is a known natural mineral. The diamond simulant should be
    clearly described as 'synthetic moissanite'. 

Jack


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