De Beers to expand synthetic diamond testing facility in Surat

Surat:  Sensing huge demand for its newly-launched synthetic diamond detection device PhosView, the International Institute of Diamond Grading & Research (IIDGR), part of The De Beers Group of Companies, is now planning to make at least 200 to 300 such machines next year.

IIDGR had launched PhosView, a compact screening device designed to allow parcels of polished stones to be quickly and accurately analysed to determine if they contain High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) synthetics, in September this year. 

Speaking at the sidelines of the expansion of its Surat diamond grading and testing center, Jonathan Kendall, IIDGR President said that they see huge demand for the instrument from jewellery makers, retailers etc. “We plan to make around 200-300 such instruments next year. They would be manufactured in the UK,” he said.

The device, priced at around Rs 3 lakh, is much cheaper than the company’s DiamondView instrument (which is priced around $35,000). De Beers had made around 50 machines for jewellers, and they sold out quickly. 

The device basically illuminates a batch of stones in a pan. Synthetic or laboratory grown stones are revealed when they show a strong phosphorescent glow, something not seen in natural diamonds. 

Julian Regan-Mears, head of external communications, De Beers Group of Companies informed that the Group has actually invested close to $50 million over the past few years to develop technology to detect lab-grown diamonds. Kendall, in fact, went on to add that the Group actually is engaged in making lab-grown diamonds at its own synthetic diamond facility Element Six (that makes synthetic diamonds for industrial purposes like drilling etc) as this helps them to have insight into the process of manufacturing lab-grown diamonds that, in turn, offers technological know-how to detect such diamonds as such. 

Lab-grown diamonds, as such are a very small share of the overall diamond market. While 140 million carats of diamonds are produced annually, only around 200,000-250,000 carats of lab-grown diamonds are made each year. 

Meanwhile, one of the leading diamond companies in the world, is very much committed to its India plans. It invested $5 million to expand its diamond grading and testing centre in Surat. The Group had already invested $10 million in 2015 to establish the facility which has a capacity to process over $500 million of diamonds every year.

Moreover, IIDGR is also all set to launch its first ever education service to cover the entire diamond pipeline. The service, scheduled to launch in the second quarter of 2017, will be run out of Surat and comprise courses that cover essential subjects for India’s diamond sector, including polished diamond grading, diamond foundation and synthetics. 

Surat is not only the heart of India’s diamond polishing industry, but is also a key centre globally.  Around 90 per cent of the world’s rough diamonds are cut and polished in the country, with the sector employing around 800,000 people in highly-skilled jobs.

 India has also experienced almost uninterrupted growth (in Rupee terms) in consumer demand for diamond jewellery in the last 20 years and now makes up eight per cent of global demand.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.