IGI Lab-Grown Reports to Indicate Treatments

RAPAPORT... The International Gemological Institute (IGI) has updated its grading report for synthetic diamonds to include information about post-growth treatments.The reports will now outline the growth process for untreated chemical vapor deposition (CVD) or High Pressure-High Temperature (HPHT) stones, the lab said Wednesday. They will also specifically indicate those diamonds are "as grown with no indication of post-growth treatment." Previously, IGI, which has issued lab-grown reports since 2005, only indicated that synthetic diamonds "may include post-growth treatments to alter color." Any CVD stones that are not definitively found to be untreated will still carry this description, IGI noted."The popularity of lab-grown diamonds has heightened since IGI debuted the industry's first [reports] 16 years ago," said IGI CEO Roland Lorie. "As the technology advances and demand evolves, the institute will continue to do right by the consumer."IGI will also include specific diamond types, such as type IIa for CVD or type II for HPHT, upon request. The institute is currently working on incorporating commentary for post-growth treatment of fancy-color lab-grown diamonds into its reports, it added. It expects to introduce this in the "near future."Image: The IGI lab-grown report. (International Gemological Institute)