Diamond Empowerment Fund Announces Largest Giving Increase in 8 Years

The Diamond Empowerment Fund (DEF) announced last week that its largest increase in grant money—$470,000—is being given to nine beneficiaries across three continents.

The grants will support girls’ education, entrepreneurship, youth empowerment, and higher education opportunities across Africa, Canada, and India.

This year, a first-time grant was given to the Ambaba Girls School in Surat, India, for its STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) program for high school girls. Nine out of 10 natural diamonds are cut and polished in Surat. Veerayatan, in western Gujurat, India, is a grant recipient this year as well.

In Africa, the Flaviana Matata Foundation and the Graca Machel Trust in Tanzania have been awarded grants to support girls’ education, and in Botswana, the Botswana Top Achievers Program has been awarded for empowering youth afflicted with HIV. In South Africa, a DEF grant supports graduate students through the Mandela Institute for Development Studies.

In Canada’s Northwest Territories, the Mine Training Society was awarded technical training scholarships for diamond industry jobs as well as entrepreneurship studies given to youth from indigenous communities.

For more information on this year’s grant recipients, visit diamondsdogood.com.

Gemlogis Vista Achieves 100% Lab-Grown Diamond Referral Rate

Gemlogis USA recently announced that its Gemlogis Vista, a portable diamond verification instrument (DVI), was given a 100% laboratory-grown diamond referral rate when tested by Project Assure.

Project Assure, a DVI testing standard developed by the Diamond Producers Association in collaboration with De Beers and Signet Jewelers, seeks to develop a consistent benchmark for testing DVIs. It uses four metrics in its testing: synthetic diamond referral rate, synthetic diamond false positive rate, natural diamond referral rate, and natural diamond accuracy.

The Gemlogis Vista is reported to have achieved the top score on the metric for its category—DVIs retailing for less than $1,000. Complete results may be seen here.

 

Artisty Ltd. Announces Diamond Screening

Jewelry company Artistry Ltd. recently announced that in February 2019, it began screening all of its products with the DRC Techno J-Smart diamond screening machine. The J-Smart is used for identifying undisclosed laboratory-grown diamonds.

“We are proud to have implemented the DRC Techno J-Smart diamond screening machine earlier this year,” said Susan Klemt Williams, vice president of Artistry Ltd., in a statement. “While it was—and continues to be—a big financial and human resources investment for our company, we believe that there is nothing more important than our reputation and our customer’s trust in our products.”

For products, visit artistrylimited.com.

Smyth Jewelers Hosting Simon G. Trunk Show and Restyle Event

Smyth Jewelers, with locations in Timonium and Ellicott City, Md., plans to hold a Simon G. trunk show at both of its locations this month, as well as a jewelry restyling event for repurposing old jewelry or gemstones.

The retailer’s Timonium location will hold its trunk show on Oct. 17, and its Ellicott City location will host Simon G.’s extended inventory Oct. 18–19. Visitors to either location will be treated to Simon G.’s collection of bridal, gemstone, and diamond jewelry pieces and will receive a free gift with purchase while supplies last. Simon Ghanimian, founder of the brand, will make an appearance at both locations.

In addition to the trunk show, Smyth Jewelers is hosting a restyling event on the same dates. Customers are encouraged to bring in old jewelry or gemstones to have them redesigned for a custom piece that will see more wear.

For more information on the events, visit smythjewelers.com.

Top: Diamond Empowerment Fund executive director Nancy Orem Lyman with science and physics teachers and Krupaliben Shah, principal at Ambaba Girls School, in Surat, India

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