IGI joins top-industry retailers and vendors in the premier jewelers’ cooperative

The International Gemological Institute (IGI), the world’s largest independent gemological laboratory, has joined the Retail Jewelers Organization (RJO). The Institute will now be part of an exclusive network of retail and vendor members where ideas are presented and collaboration is welcomed. Since 1966, RJO’s community has used buying power to negotiate better pricing for goods from vendors.

“IGI is eager to further establish relationships with additional independent retailers and vendors and introduce its diverse services to the RJO community,” said IGI North American President Avi Levy. “As a pioneer in gemological grading, the Institute is honored to have the opportunity to collaborate with professional peers and share its best practices.”

The Institute looks forward to integrating into the network by engaging in RJO’s extensive opportunities including educational and buying show seminars and overseas branding trips. All of these offerings provide retailers with new ideas to take back and implement in their stores.

“We are looking forward to this new partnership with IGI and what they will offer to the RJO membership,” said RJO’s CEO Sarah Streb. “IGI’s expertise and shared educational passion pairs well with the goals of our organization. We are excited to welcome them to the RJO family.”

“IGI pursued a membership with the RJO to further its active leadership role within the gemological sector,” continued Levy. “IGI went through an extensive evaluation as a part of the approval process and is proud to have been accepted.”

For over 50 years, the RJO has served as a knowledgeable network that seeks to share information and refine the industry’s most creative ideas. The Organization has made education a priority and attributes its success from the commitment of its members.

About IGI
The International Gemological Institute (IGI) has 20 laboratories and 14 education facilities in major diamond and jewelry centers around the world. For 45 years, IGI has provided the fine jewelry community and consumers with a broad range of services including natural and laboratory grown diamond reports, colored stone grading and origin reports, as well as jewelry identification and appraisal reports. With the increase of lab grown diamonds in the marketplace, IGI screens millions of natural and lab grown diamonds in order for the industry and consumers to receive the product they expect. Regardless of location or marketplace, an authentic IGI Laboratory Report is the common language of trust and confidence in the gemological world. For more information, please visit: www.igi.org.

About RJO
In 1966, RJO was founded by a small group of independent jewelers who joined together to command better vendor prices by buying collectively. Since that time, RJO has added hundreds of members, essential support programs and marketing services while remaining owned by its jeweler members. For more information, please visit: www.rjomembers.com.

The UK-based diamond innovator has collaborated with the Natural Diamond Council on the latest phase of its ASSURE Program for Diamond Verification Instruments.
Leading diamond security specialist, Opsydia, has honed its sub-surface laser technology to such an extent that it can now place permanent identifiers in melee diamonds without affecting their surface polish.

Diamonds that are just 0.5 millimetres in diameter can have an alphanumeric sequence, coded shape or logo placed beneath their surface to create a physical link to a supply chain record or branded jewellery origin.

This is viewed as an important advancement for volume manufacturers, who may be searching for a unique and forward-thinking methodology to secure their supply chain and protect against undisclosed synthetics.

Opsydia Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Rimmer, says: “With this technology, the natural diamond trade has more opportunities to secure the identity of its products and use sub-surface features to create ‘fail safes’ within its supply chain. Similarly, luxury jewellery brands wishing to fight back against counterfeiting may wish to include an identifier in a specific pavé diamond and assure their customers that only pieces with this nano-scale identity feature are legitimate.”

The precise capabilities of the Opsydia System allow for high-resolution lines, approximately ~1um (0.001mm) in width, meaning legible characters can be achieved at much smaller sizes in comparison to industry-standard surface marking systems.

Opsydia has directed this technological advancement towards supporting the trade by collaborating with the Natural Diamond Council (NDC) on the latest phase of its ASSURE Diamond Verification initiative.

The ASSURE Program 2.0, which assesses the relative performance of Diamond Verification Instruments available on the market, utilises an ‘ASSURE Sample’ of melee stones (including individual stones of less than 1mm in size) to test each device on its effectiveness at identifying and/or recognising natural diamonds, laboratory-grown diamonds and diamond simulants.

To aid manufacturers, Opsydia has placed unique serial numbers beneath the surface of all stones in the ASSURE Sample, therefore allowing the creators of ASSURE Tested Diamond Verification Instruments to discover which stones their devices mis-identified.

This valuable information, which will be accessible to manufacturers, will allow engineers to improve the effectiveness of their diamond detection devices and will, as a result, benefit the trade as it fights for accurate disclosure.

Raluca Anghel, Head of External Affairs and Industry Relations at the Natural Diamond Council, says: “We are pleased to collaborate with Opsydia on this latest phase of the ASSURE Program as we value their ongoing commitment to innovation. Being able to accurately identify melee diamonds, laboratory-grown diamonds and diamond simulants will allow the ASSURE program to provide greater feedback to manufacturers and will contribute towards further learning, technical advancement and above all, ensure consumer protection.”

Andrew Rimmer adds: “It has been a privilege to support the Natural Diamond Council on the next wave of its ASSURE Testing Program. This has been an opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of Opsydia technology in a worthwhile project that benefits the whole supply chain.”

The Opsydia System uses a high-precision, ultrafast laser to place logos, alphanumeric sequences or coded shapes (known as identifiers) beneath the surface of a diamond. This laser is tightly focused only once it passes the surface of a diamond, therefore only creating the identifier at a selected depth without affecting the surface condition or polish. It can be applied beneath the surface of a diamond in a range of locations, such as the table or a specific facet.

By adapting its techniques to suit melee and larger diamonds, Opsydia is introducing the natural diamond sector to a unique methodology for addressing its core challenges, such as enhancing stone security, establishing bold traceability initiatives and protecting against fraud, non-disclosure and other counterfeiting concerns.

The Opsydia System (approx. one metre wide and standard doorway accessible) is based on cutting edge laser technology developed at the University of Oxford. It can place unique identity features in diamonds and is capable of processing 50,000 to 100,000 stones per year in an industrial environment. Encryption techniques ensure that each Opsydia system can only write authorised logos or identifiers preventing counterfeiting and protecting brand integrity.

Opsydia technology is deployable across the globe and can be utilised by natural diamond and laboratory grown diamond specialists.

[Pictured: The melee stone photographed at 50x magnification using a grading microscope. Note the three-character identifier in the centre of the table]

About Opsydia
Opsydia is a leading innovator in diamond security, combining cutting edge technology with immutable microscopic identifiers that form a physical link between a specific diamond and its grading report, blockchain record or branded jewellery origins. Using next generation sub-surface laser techniques, Opsydia provides a secure and tamper-proof way of confirming a diamond’s identity and empowers all stages of the diamond supply chain to protect the integrity of diamonds. Opsydia technology can be deployed across the globe for use by jewellers, miners, manufacturers and grading laboratories. For more information, please visit: www.opsydia.com.