Diamantes sintéticos - empresa de Hong Kong diz ter solução para os detectar

Ainda o problema dos diamantes sintéticos. Uma empresa de Hong Kong, Diamond Services Ltd, irá comercializar dentro em breve um dispositivo de baixo custo mas extremamente eficaz para examinar e separar os diamantes sintéticos dos diamantes naturais.

O aparelho, do feitio de uma caneta, chamado DiamaPen, será apresentado este mês na Hong Kong Gem & Jewellery Fair. O dispositivo consegue detectar diamante sintéticos, tanto os produzidos pelo processo HPHT como por CVD, separando-os dos diamantes produzidos pela natureza.

O preço da DiamaPen é de 199 dólares norte-americanos e usa ondas longas de 405 nm de frequência no seu emissor a laser.

J. Kuzi, dono e CEO da EGL Asia, a que a Diamond Services Ltd, e que testou o DiamaPen, diz que o alto poder do feixe de laser exige que quem o utilize use óculos especiais de protecção.

''We have conducted a series of tests both on synthetic diamonds produced by means of the classic HPHT methods, as well as on CVD diamonds produced by Gemesis,'' disse Kuzi. ''The detection of fancy yellow synthetics is the easiest and fastest job for the DiamaPen. The procedure takes a bit longer for colorless CVD synthetics, but in all cases the testing results are consistent and highly satisfactory. While this new device is not a replacement for a full-scale identification run in a gemological laboratory, it is and will be an important tool for those working in the diamond industry and trade,'' acrescentou Kuzi.

“It gives you a hint that these diamonds should be looked at more thoroughly. The differences between CVD and naturals are enough to raise a flag.”, afirmou. A ideia surgiu a Kuzi depois de ele ter lido um artigo de um gemólogo alemão discutindo a possibilidade de raios laser poderem identificar diamantes HPHT. “I said: Why not CVDs? I became curious. So I contacted a big company that specializes in laser and I said let’s go up a bit with the output power.”

“The timing was pure luck. I was planning to play a little bit more with it, but then there was this noise, so I said, Okay, let’s go out with something. The enemy of the good is the best. The smallest item I got from Gemesis was 39 points. I don’t see size being an issue here.”

Lynette Gould, porta-voz da De Beers, que desenvolveu o detector de diamantes sintéticos actualmente usado pelos laboratórios, diz que a companhia "está a par da técnica" mas que “can’t really comment on the safety and usefulness of the device any further without testing it.”

Stephen Morisseau, porta-voz do Gemological Institute of America, disse. “Based on our decades of research and practical testing experience with different synthetics, reliably distinguishing synthetic diamonds from natural diamonds requires a well-trained staff in a fully equipped gemological laboratory”.