The American Gemological Institute (GIA) has opened a new laboratory in the Dubai Multi-Commodity Centre (DMCC). GIA said on Tuesday that the location would open on February 19. GIA explained that at present, the laboratory will only serve customers operating in the Dubai Free Trade Zone and cannot accept submissions from other parts of the United Arab Emirates. However, in the near future, the location will be able to accept the purchase testing of other countries.
Ahmed bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and CEO of DMCC, said: "The establishment of the GIA DMCC laboratory... not only adds important value to our free zone members, but also to the wider industry, especially in accelerating In terms of cycle time.
GIA added that the new Dubai laboratory will grade diamonds in colours from D to Z, weighing up to 3.99 carats.
In addition, GIA also announced that its report confirmation service launched in its New York laboratory in January is now available at all GIA laboratory locations. This new service confirms that GIA-graded diamonds (whether engraved or not) are matched with their corresponding GIA reports. It is best (but not forced) for customers to submit diamonds with original GIA reports or faxes.
GIA said that the waiting time may vary, but it is not expected to be very long: 1 bare diamond takes 15 minutes, 2 to 5 takes 1 hour, and more than 5 diamonds takes 24 hours. GIA will also accept the confirmation of set diamonds, but it will take longer.
Source: Diamond Observation