Assay Office

AnchorCert Gem Lab spots CVD Diamonds

AnchorCert Gem Lab is a fully-equipped gemmological laboratory, offering diamond and tanzanite grading, and coloured gemstone and pearl identification.

To our credit, we are also one of only a very small number of UK labs to have access to a comprehensive range of specialist spectroscopic advanced testing equipment, including the DiamondSure, FTIR, UV-VIS, Raman and Diamond View. Along with the gemmologists’ knowledge and experience, this specialist equipment is vital in identifying conclusively HPHT treated stones, Type IIA diamonds or synthetics.

In December, we were able to give a definite result, that 2 stones submitted as natural diamonds, were in fact CVD-grown.

This was reported following a combination of results from the specialist tests, which were carried out during the process. This included screening the stones with the DiamondSure (the initial spectroscopic screening process applied to all diamonds), the Raman Spectrometer, which confirmed the stones as synthetic and the growing process as Chemical Vapor Deposition) and the DiamondView, which showed that the growth structure and fluorescence in the stones were consistent with synthetically grown diamonds.