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.
A melee stone from the ASSURE Sample, secured with an identifier using Opsydia technology, photographed using a phone camera through a 10x eye loupe.
