Assure Program for the Testing of Diamond Verification Instruments Is Expanded

30 Sep 2021

 

The Natural Diamond Council (NDC) has announced the expansion of the market leading ASSURE Program designed to protect consumers and safeguard the integrity of the natural diamond supply chain by supporting Diamond Verification Instrument manufacturers.

The ultimate goal of this initiative is to maintain consumer confidence in the diamond jewellery industry.

The ASSURE Program was first launched in 2019 to offer reliable, third-party approved insights into the relative performance of Diamond Verification Instruments available on the market.

Instruments are evaluated with stringent performance metrics to allow prospective buyers to compare devices from a variety of manufacturers and across a range of price points.

The program received a positive welcome by the industry, and in just over a year it has tested around 80% of the commercially available and viable Diamond Verification Instruments.

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Now, the ASSURE Program 2.0 builds upon the best practice of the original ASSUR Program. A second independent testing laboratory has been onboarded, located at the University of Antwerp in Belgium, in one of the world’s key diamond hubs.

This facility will operate alongside the founding ASSURE testing specialist, UL, located in Canton, Massachusetts, United States, with identical samples and testing procedures.

Both laboratories will work simultaneously to enhance the long-term sustainability of the ASSURE Program, double the testing capacity and create a more geographically diverse landscape for submissions.

The ASSURE Program 2.0 has also evolved to include diamond-set jewellery testing, which adds further scope to the ASSURE Standard. Both open and closed-back mounted stones will be included in the testing regimen.

This latest iteration of the ASSURE Program also includes an updated ASSURE Sample of natural diamonds, synthetic diamonds and diamond simulants in a range of sizes.

This ASSURE Sample has been carefully curated to reflect goods currently circulating in the market, as well as individual stones that anticipate future trends and pose some of the greatest challenges to Diamond Verification Instruments.

Diamond Verification Instrument manufacturers will also benefit from enhanced characterisation data to help them identify and address potential areas for improvement in the functioning of their instruments.

David Kellie, CEO Natural Diamond Council says,

“Integrity and consumer trust is critical to the success of the jewellery industry and I’d like to thank all our partners and the wider industry for their commitment to the ASSURE program and the verification of their 2 products. I’d also like to thank the many manufacturers of the diamond screening devices being presented for the role that their participation plays in ensuring trust throughout the industry”.

Raluca Anghel, Head of External Affairs and Industry Relations at the Natural Diamond Council, says,

“By enhancing and improving the ASSURE Program we are taking even greater strides in protecting consumer confidence. Everyone is responsible for correctly disclosing the nature of the product they are selling, but to facilitate this we need robust Diamond Verification Instruments that are rigorously tested. With this latest iteration of the ASSURE Program, manufacturers will be presented with vital information to continue improving their devices and consumers can be assured of the vigorous steps taken to ensure their confidence.”

The ASSURE Program represents the ultimate regime for the testing of Diamond Verification Instruments, providing all the players of the diamond industry with objective data as they consider purchasing or using a specific DVI.

Starting with October 2021, manufacturers of Diamond Verification Instruments are invited to submit both new instruments and existing instruments that have already been tested but whose ASSURE Tested Certification is expiring post their 2-year validity mark.

A complete guide to ASSURE Tested devices, including the regime under which an instrument was tested, is accessible via the ASSURE Directory of Diamond Verification Instruments.

Manufacturers interested in exploring bespoke projects with the ASSURE Diamond Verification team, whether to support their internal research, calibrate instruments or test new devices, are encouraged to contact. 

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Source: ASSURE