Surat: A select group of journalists were invited to visit the world’s only diamond inscribing, grading and certifying lab International Institute of Diamond Grading and Research (IIDGR) situated in Surat (India).

The facility was created by global diamond mining and trading major, De Beers Group in March, 2015 at an initial investment of $10 million. The facility was further expanded with $5 million in December, 2016, taking the total investment of $15 million so far.

The lab, equipped with the latest global technology provides services of inscribing, grading and certifying diamonds. The facility represents a major investment in Surat, a world-class diamond cutting and polishing centre characterised by skill, innovation and the effective use of technology.

Its primary purpose is to select and inscribe Forevermark diamonds with the unique serial number that symbolises the Forevermark promise and to deliver an accurate and reliable grading service for Forevermark diamonds. Expert gemmologists at the Forevermark Diamond Institute, utilise over 125 years of expertise alongside advanced technology, to select and grade diamonds that are rare, responsibly sourced and among the most beautiful in the world.

The visiting media persons were addressed jointly by two of the lab’s ‘backbones’ Mr. Amitabha Das (Director, Operations) and Mr. Narayan Jariwala (Business Development Head) who briefed about the services offered by IIDGR.

“IIDGR based in Surat (India), Maidenhead (UK) and Antwerp (Belgium) use proprietary grading equipment developed by De Beers Research and Development Group to asses each diamond according to strict criteria and the highest standards of integrity, accuracy and consistency. Diamonds go through a rigorous 17-step process with graders making optimal use of exclusive state of the art equipment, specially developed over many years by De Beers including colour machines, synthetic and treatment detection instruments including DiamondSure™, DiamondView™, and DiamondPlus™,” they said.

In Surat, IIDGR carries out grading of 2.5 lakh diamonds and inscription on 3.5 lakh annually.

“We are expecting to handle 50 million diamonds and accordingly have a manpower of 247 by 2020. It all depends on the market demand,” added Mr. Amitabha.

“With synthetics getting mixed, consumers as well as retailers today have become very conscious of quality. Consumers also want assurance of each diamond studded in a jewellery piece. This makes IIDGR, with latest technology, very important for the industry,” he claimed.

“Forevermark’s procedures ensure that every diamond is evaluated no less than five times to meet the Forevermark standard – evaluation criteria go beyond the traditional 4Cs of Cut, Colour, Clarity and Carat weight because Forevermark knows that for two diamonds with the same 4Cs one will be more beautiful. Forevermark’s graders test to make sure that the diamond is natural and has not been subjected to any artificial treatments.”

“They also test each diamond’s cut is precise enough to result in both outstanding symmetry and durability, whilst its polish has a high degree of transparency to reflect and refract light. The selection process, is so exacting and rigorous, that less than 1% of the world’s diamonds will pass the Forevermark test and standards. Only once they have will a grader personally approve each exclusive Forevermark Grading Report before a diamond is inscribed with the Forevermark icon and individual number.”

“A Forevermark Diamond Grading Report complements the unique promise, of a beautiful Forevermark Diamond, revealing each diamond’s exquisite and rare characteristics. Authorised Forevermark Jewellers are able to provide a Forevermark Grading Report to their customers. The report features the unique identification number inscribed on the diamond and a specifically designed Forevermark Diamond Institute hologram, providing reassurance that the Grading Report is valid and genuine.”

“It is little wonder that the Forevermark Diamond Institute in Surat, a world-class diamond grading centre characterised by skill, innovation and the effective use of state of the art technology is trusted to grade beautiful, rare and responsibly sourced diamonds, which must be graded to the highest and most exacting standards,” they added.

Table and Girdle Inscriptions:

Table inscription is a proprietary technology, unique to De Beers. The discreet, proven approach, applies a minuscule inscription to the table of the diamond, visible only at greater than 10x magnification. Table inscription is a major step forward in grading security, offering far greater certainty that a graded diamond is as identified in the associated report and is exclusive to IIDGR.

For ease of identification the lab also offers to laser inscribe a unique identification number on the girdle of the diamond.

• A Forevermark Diamantaire sends polished diamonds for grading to one of our world-class Forevermark Diamond Institutes in Surat (India), Maidenhead (UK) or Antwerp (Belgium).
• Expert gemmologists at the Forevermark Diamond Institute, use their skills to assess each diamond alongside advanced technology developed by the De Beers Group – the world’s leading diamond company for over 125 years.
• Diamonds go through a rigorous 17-step process using state-of-the-art technology, including colour machines and treatment detection instruments to objectively assess each diamond to the highest standards of integrity, accuracy and consistency.
• A Forevermark Grading Report provides the most accurate assessment of the superior qualities of each Forevermark diamond. A hologram provides assurance that the Grading Report is genuine. Forevermark graders personally approve each Forevermark Grading Report.
• Forevermark graders look beyond the 4Cs of Cut, Colour, Clarity and Carat and each diamond is evaluated no less than five times to ensure that the strict beauty and symmetry requirements have been consistently achieved.
• Once deemed eligible to become a Forevermark diamond, the table is inscribed with the Forevermark icon and a unique identification number. This inscription promises that the diamond has been carefully selected and meets Forevermark’s standards of beauty and integrity. Less than 1% of the world’s diamonds will be eligible to be inscribed as Forevermark.
• Authorised Forevermark Jewellers are able to provide a Forevermark Grading Report to their customers. This certification is Forevermark’s assurance of a beautiful, rare and responsibly sourced diamond that customers can be proud to give, own and wear, now and forever.

The facility, employing about 100, has the capacity to process diamonds worth over $500 million every year. It also provides polished diamond grading services, diamond verification services, as well as melee (small diamond) testing and screening.

Educational Services:

For decades, De Beers has conducted internal education on a variety of topics using its unrivalled experience across all aspects of the Diamond Pipeline.

IIDGR has brought together some of the Company’s best educational course offerings, and added Education to the current list of services like diamond Foundation Course, Synthetic Detection Course etc.

Teaching methods range from course to course. Some are laboratory based, whilst others are administered via distance learning – or a blend of both approaches, designed to give the best learning experience to our students.