GIA suspends diamond sealing services amid fraud fears

by Samantha Ashenhurst | February 3, 2020 9:38 am

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Faced with potential packet tampering, the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has suspended diamond sealing services.

The action is being taken after it was discovered that a number of sealing packets had been “compromised by third parties” after leaving GIA, the institute says.

In these cases, GIA determined the diamonds originally enclosed in the compromised packets had been replaced with natural diamonds treated with high pressure, high temperature (HPHT). The substituted diamonds superficially matched the GIA report information for the original diamonds, including information on the sealing packet data label.

Pending an investigation of the source of this occurrence, sealing services in all GIA locations has been suspending indefinitely.

Those with concerns about a GIA-sealed diamond may submit the unopened packet to any GIA laboratory for verification services. If it is found the diamond in the sealing packet is the diamond described in the original report, GIA will issue a verification letter confirming the diamond matches the original report. If the diamond does not match the GIA report, a new report with the correct results will be issued.

The institute will provide this verification service free-of-charge for diamonds received in a sealed packet. All sealed diamonds submitted will be returned unsealed.

Source URL: https://www.jewellerybusiness.com/news/gia-suspends-diamond-sealing-services-amid-fraud-fears/

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