The joint collaboration by the Diamond Producers Association and Signet Jewelers – the Assure Program – has published the results from the independent performance tests of Diamond Verification Instruments in the Assure Directory on diamondproducers.com/ASSURE.
Through the Assure Directory, trade participants can access objective and third-party-verified information on the relative performance of Diamond Verification Instruments and guidance on how to ensure that their business is protected from undisclosed laboratory-grown diamonds.
Jean-Marc Lieberherr, CEO of the Diamond Producers Association, said, “Trade participants have a shared responsibility to disclose the nature of the product they are selling to protect the end consumer. Through the ASSURE Program we will support the diamond trade, from independent jewellery retailers to large diamond manufacturers, to make informed decisions on how to ensure that undisclosed laboratory grown diamonds do not enter their natural diamond supply chain. The ASSURE test results should be considered along guidelines formulated by the Responsible Jewellery Council.”
Andrew Bone, executive director of the Responsible Jewellery Council, said, “We welcome this initiative to support the spread of effective diamond verification practices across the pipeline. We will continue to support the DPA and the ASSURE Program in their efforts to enhance consmer confidence in the jewellery industry.”
The Assure Program partnered with the 11 manufacturers representing the 18 most widely available diamond verification instruments in the market. The instruments submitted to Assure have been tested in accordance with the methods and protocols in the Diamond Verification Instruments Standard. The standard was developed in collaboration with the independent third-party test agency UL and a technical committee consisting of leading scientists and academics from major gemological organizations, including GIA, GII, IIDGR, NGTC, SSEF, TISNCM and WTOCD.
The diamond verification Instruments have been tested with a deliberately challenging sample (including natural diamonds, laboratory grown diamonds and, if applicable, diamond simulants), designed to provide an indication of the relative performance of the instruments. The first round of testing took place at UL’s laboratories in Canton, MA, and the results will continuously be made available in the Assure Directory in the coming weeks. Thereafter, the Assure directory will be regularly updated as new instruments are submitted to testing or re-testing, and the set of stones included in the sample will evolve continuously to include new synthetics diamonds as they are identified.
David Bouffard, vice president corporate affairs, Signet Jewelers Ltd., said, “The Diamond Verification Instrument Standard is a vital initiative to provide the diamonds and jewelry trade with independent guidance about the capabilities of diamond verification instruments available in the marketplace. The ASSURE Program has already proven valuable for companies in our supply chain who operate at a global scale. We look forward to all of our suppliers implementing ASSURE Certified technology to help protect the integrity of the global jewelry supply chain.”
Wayne Bilodeau, operations director, UL, said “UL is proud to partner on the ASSURE Program and provide trustworthy and stringent testing, empowering trust and delivering quality in the diamond supply chain and Diamond Verification Instrument industry.”
Visit the ASSURE Directory on diamondproducers.com/ASSURE to learn more about the test results and to download guidelines on how to ensure pipeline integrity.
Direct questions on the ASSURE Directory and Diamond Verification Instruments to assure@diamondproducers.com.