The Swiss Gemmological Institute SSEF’s Automated Spectral Diamond Inspection (ASDI) device, “has been evaluated by the ASSURE Program of the Diamond Producers Association (DPA) and proved to be one the few instruments to have successfully passed 100% of the tests administered”, the institute announced recently.

“This means that all stones categorised by the instrument as “diamonds” were indeed natural diamonds, all diamond simulants were correctly sorted out, and all synthetic diamonds were correctly referred for definitive testing,” SSEF said.

The ASDI is an automated small synthetic diamond screener which was first released in 2014 by the SSEF.  “It was built after a five-year R&D programme at SSEF with the aim of protecting the Swiss watch and jewellery industry from being contaminated by synthetic diamonds, whose true origin is undisclosed,” SSEF elaborated. It noted that this was particularly important as every month, the industry consumes several million colourless small round polished diamonds, also known as melee.

“When it was introduced in 2014, ASDI was the very first machine to automatically and efficiently screen large batches of colourless diamonds,” SSEF averred. “Today, more than 20 different devices – automated and non-automated – are being offered by different producers, confirming that the pioneering vision of SSEF was in fact a necessity for the diamond trade.”

However, the institute opines that the proliferation of synthetic diamond screening instruments in the market created “a degree of confusion”, particularly concerning each one’s capability, reliability and accuracy.

In order to address the issue, the DPA, a body representing the world’s seven leading diamond mining companies, launched the "ASSURE Program”, in March 2019. The ASSURE Program is an independent and international testing programme that evaluates synthetic diamond screening instruments being offered in the market, and provides all test results on a dedicated website, in a transparent manner.

“As part of the programme, the ASDI system was subject to rigorous testing in May 2019 by an independent expert, UL Verification Services Inc., according to a very strict and standardised protocol,” SSEF said. “The testing sample was composed of 1,000 natural diamonds, 200 diamond-simulants and 200 synthetic diamonds, including stones created through HPHT and CVD, some of which were especially processed for the procedure. Although the ASDI can test stones as small as 0.85 millimetres (0.002 carats), the test sample was only composed of stones with a diameter ranging from 1.0 millimetre to 3.8 millimetres.”

“We are proud that ASDI was the very first such device available in the market to tackle the challenge of synthetic melees,” said Jean-Pierre Chalain, Director of SSEF’s Diamond Department “We are thankful to DPA for its ASSURE Program initiative, as it has provided us the opportunity to demonstrate the capability of ASDI technology when it comes to automated small diamond screening.”

 Pic Cap: The Swiss Gemmological Institute SSEF’s Automated Spectral Diamond Inspection (ASDI) device. The system, which can inspect 6,500 small diamonds per hour, screening out synthetic diamonds and diamond simulants, was evaluated by Project ASSURE and displayed 100% accuracy on all tests administered.