Birmingham Assay Office to launch LGD screening service
SafeGuard Valuations will automatically screen all diamond-set items to determine whether they are natural or potential lab grown
The Birmingham Assay Office has announced that it will now screen laboratory-grown diamonds (LGDs) as a part of its jewellery valuation service.
SafeGuard Valuations will automatically screen all diamond-set items to determine whether they are natural or potential lab grown.
It comes in a bid from the organisation to support retailers and the changing needs of consumers, and will be offered as a standard part of the current jewellery valuation service.
Carla Goodfellow, operations director at the office, said: “Laboratory grown diamonds are identical; chemically, physically and optically to natural diamonds.
“Only by using specialist screening equipment can the distinct differentiating indicators be seen between those diamonds grown in a laboratory and those formed billions of years ago in the earth.”
Commencing on 31 August 2021, the new service will be available via high street retailers across the UK, or directly from SafeGuard.
Goodfellow added: “Since the pandemic, there has been a sharp rise in consumers buying fine jewellery via the internet.
“Automatically screening diamonds as part of our valuation service will give consumers peace of mind that what they’ve purchased is what they have paid for.”
