The recently concluded Asian Summit & Executive Committee meeting held in Vladivostok saw a new resolution passed by the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB). According to Gem Konnect, the resolution reiterates that despite the amended Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Jewelry Guides, the WFDB would only support the definition of a diamond agreed upon last year by the WFDB; namely – that “diamond” always implies “natural diamond”.
The amended FTC Jewelry Guides, published in July, specify that non-mined diamonds need not be called “synthetic” any more. Now, manufacturers of such stones can use other terms so long as they “clearly and conspicuously convey that the product is not a mined stone”.
At the Asian Summit & Executive Committee, WFDB President Ernie Blom stated: “We repeated our stance that the only definition of a diamond that we support is the one agreed upon last year by the WFDB, IDMA, CIBJO, the International Diamond Council and the International Standards Organisation”.
CIBJO meanwhile, released a special report prepared by its Diamond Commission headed by Udi Sheintal. In the report, Sheintal writes: “While the new FTC guides clearly recognise the synthetic diamond producers as fully-fledged participants in our industry, the bottom line when it comes to the unqualified use of the word ‘diamond’ has not changed. It can only refer to a mined stone”.
