Many diamonds on the market have undergone treatments to enhance their color or clarity. The US Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Code of Federal Regulations, Section 23.22, states: “It is unfair or deceptive to fail to disclose the treatment of a gemstone if:
A) The treatment is not permanent
B) The treatment creates special care requirements for the gemstone
C) The treatment has a significant effect on the stone’s value. “
In compliance with the FTC Code, and with the intent to ensure customer confidence in diamonds submitted for certification, EGL Laboratories implement the following measures:
- Disclosure of all diamonds that have undergone clarity treatment processes such as laser intervention and fracture filling.
- Disclosure of all diamonds that have undergone color enhancements includingHPHT (high pressure/high temperature), irradiation or coating.
EGL gemologists can detect clarity enhancements unaided or with a microscope, and use state-of-the-art equipment to spot gemstones that have undergone color enhancements, as follows:
- FTIR (Fourier Transform Infra-Red Spectroscopy) –Used to classify the diamond crystal type. Generally diamonds identified as Type llA are submitted for further testing to detect HPHT treatment.
- Raman Spectroscope – Identifies HPHT-treated diamonds.
- UV-Vis – Indicates whether a fancy colored diamond has its natural color or underwent treatment.
- Diamond View – Detects if the diamond is natural or synthetic (lab-grown).
All treated diamonds submitted for certification at EGL Laboratories are classified as clarity or color enhanced, HPHT-treated or lab-grown on the respective EGL Diamond Report.
