The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) has amended its definition of a diamond, making way for makers of lab-grown diamonds to become members.
RJC now defines a diamond as “a mineral (natural or laboratory-grown), consisting essentially of pure carbon crystallized with a cubic structure in the isometric system. Its hardness on the Mohs scale is approximately 10; its specific gravity is approximately 3.52; it has a refractive index of approximately 2.42 and it can be found in many colours.”
RJC also renamed its mining membership category to that of diamond and/or gold producer.
Lab-grown diamond producers seeking membership will be subject to the same certification requirements, which involves third-party auditing to verify conformance with the council’s business ethics, human rights, social, and environmental performance standards.
