John Watling, a former Australian academician, has set up a laser technology lab to identify “stray” Argyle pink diamonds, IDEX Online reports.
Watling, a former Argle physicist and Professor of Forensic and Analytical Chemistry at University of Western Australia, has set up a lab in Perth that allows him to trace super-rare pink diamonds back to their original source. He can trace back diamonds not just to the mine, but to their individual kimberlite pipe, using what he calls “inorganic DNA”.
As Wilton told ABC News, “We are looking for particular emissions from the stones that uniquely identify them as being Argyle.” His “bread and butter”, he said, “was people who suspected their diamond might be an Argyle pink.” Pink diamonds have been in greater demand since the iconic Argyle mine in Western Australia – which supplied 90% of the world’s supply – closed in November 2020.
