For consumers, it brings greater transparency and ensures that purchasing decisions are based on a clear understanding of a diamond’s origin and characteristics, said Bhansali.
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The Gemological Institute of America, the world leader in diamond grading, will not use its internationally recognised 4Cs (cut, colour, clarity, and carat weight) grading system for laboratory-grown diamonds.
Instead, beginning later this year, lab-grown diamonds submitted to GIA will receive simplified descriptors—categorised broadly as either “premium” or “standard”—or no grade at all if the quality is subpar.
The move marks a significant development in the ongoing separation of natural diamonds from lab-grown diamonds.
Lab-grown diamonds are man-made and mass-produced using high-pressure high-temperature or chemical vapor deposition processes. According to Tom Moses, GIA Executive Vice President and Chief Laboratory and Research Officer more than 95 per cent of laboratory-grown diamonds entering the market fall into a very narrow range of colour and clarity and hence it is no longer relevant for GIA to describe man-made diamonds using the nomenclature created for the continuum of colour and clarity of natural diamonds.
Kirit Bhansali, Chairman, GJEPC said that the change in LGD grading will help eliminate confusion by clearly distinguishing how LGDs are assessed, separate from the standards developed for natural diamonds.
For consumers, it brings greater transparency and ensures that purchasing decisions are based on a clear understanding of a diamond’s origin and characteristics, he said.
For India, as a leading hub for both natural and lab-grown diamonds, this change brings much-needed clarity and balance to the marketplace — allowing both categories to grow with greater transparency, integrity, and consumer confidence, he added.
Henry Smith, Head of sales, Institute of Diamonds, a part of DeBeers Group said that the institute recognises that natural diamonds and lab-grown synthetics differ not only in origin but in their formation process, trace elements and growth characteristics.
Natural diamonds are rare geological treasures formed under immense heat and pressure over billions of years and applying the same 4Cs grading system to lab-grown synthetics, which are produced in a matter of weeks in controlled environments, can lead to misinterpretation of value and rarity, said Smith.
Published on June 3, 2025
