Lab-Grown Sector Gears Up for Sustainability Audit

RAPAPORT... Six synthetic-diamond companies have signed up for apilot program aimed at creating a sustainability standard for the sector. SCS Global Services, a third-party auditing specialist,will analyze companies' environmental, social and governance records, with thegoal of devising an independent sustainability certification for lab-growndiamonds. Crystal brand Swarovski and jeweler Helzberg Diamonds -both sellers of lab-grown - are among the participants, SCS said last week. Theyare joined by four synthetics growers: Florida-headquartered Green Rocks,Maryland-based WD Lab Grown Diamonds, Indian chemical vapor deposition (CVD)producer Goldiam, and Israel-based Lusix. A newly launched Standard ReviewCommittee comprising lab-grown-diamond producers, retailers, academics and nonprofitorganizations will oversee the process. The Lab Grown Diamond Council (LGDC), which came intobeing earlier this year, brought in SCS to work on the standard followingcriticism of the sector's portrayal of synthetics as green alternatives tonatural diamonds. The US Federal Trade Commission wrote to eight syntheticscompanies in March, warning them against making unproven environmental claimssuch as "eco-friendly," "eco-conscious" and "sustainable." The pilot program will help confirm facts about theproduction operations behind lab-grown diamonds, noted Stanley Mathuram, vicepresident of SCS. "The pilot audits mark an important step in the process ofcertifying sustainability," he said. Image: A 9.04-carat round brilliant produced by WD Lab Grown Diamonds in 2018 using chemical vapor deposition. (WD Lab Grown Diamonds)