New Device Allows Customers To Determine Diamond Sparkle

The 'Isee-2', an electronic scanning device that numerically determines a diamond's sparkle, has been developed by Overseas Diamonds of Antwerp. The device, which is being tested in the U.S. and launched in Japan, grades a diamond's ability to capture and reflect light on a scale of 1 to 10. It is this rating that Davy Lapa, the company's Chief Executive Officer, hopes consumers will accept as an objective rating of a stone's overall quality.

ODA states that the technology will afford a potential diamond buyer a "technical" eye to compare diferent stones much in a way only a trained diamond professional could otherwise do.

By taking 180 photographic views of a diamond the Isee-2 will objectively evaluate the brilliance, scintillation and symetry of any round brilliant stone. The device will also allow buyers to verify the provenance of stones, by reading laser-engraved trademarks and serial numbers, "thus providing reassurance that the diamond comes from a legitimate source," explains Lapa.

Systems of certification for the color, weight and clarity of a stone exist but Overseas Diamonds say the variety of systems confuses buyers and that all ignore the diamond's sparkle, which is largely the result of its cut. "Ninety-nine percent of first time diamond buyers are confused and threatened by the purchasing process," Lapa told Reuters.

De Beers, which controls around 65 percent of the world's $8 billion (5.1 billion pounds) market in rough diamonds, said they were not involved in the Isee-2 project but backed such efforts to employ more sophisticated marketed techniques.

"It's what we're trying to encourage," said a spokesman for De Beers, which is 45 percent owned by Anglo American.

Though the devices are being tested in the US and will soon be launched in Japan, the company hopes to offer them worldwide very soon.