Is This Lab-Grown Diamond Company Trolling the Trade?

(jckonline.com) - I came across a release from Ada Diamonds, a Silicon Valley–based, lab-grown diamond distributor: Ada Diamonds…recently discovered a number of undisclosed mined diamonds mixed into multiple parcels of laboratory-grown melee diamonds, ranging from 0.01 carats to 0.06 carats. The discovery, in two separate batches, was subsequently confirmed by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). Ada Diamonds exclusively works with laboratory grown diamonds and has removed the mined diamonds from their supply. … As a result of the discovery of illicit mined diamonds, Ada Diamonds has implemented enhanced screening procedures to further inspect all parcels of melee diamonds as well as all finished jewelry to ensure that all diamonds sold by Ada Diamonds are in fact grown, not mined diamonds. It was a little hard to take this release seriously. There have been numerous documented cases of the opposite—undisclosed man-made diamonds being passed off as naturals. There is a good reason for that: Since nonmined diamonds typically sell for less than naturals, there is an economic incentive to disguise one as the other. There is little incentive to do the reverse. That would be a pretty inept criminal activity. In addition, while it’s obviously wrong to misrepresent any stone, a mined diamond does not legally have to be disclosed, like a synthetic does. That’s because, under the Federal Trade Commission Guides, a diamond is assumed to be from the Earth.