Digital Alternatives to Curb Growing Fake Diamond Certification Cases

There has been a sharp spike in cases of misusing diamond authentication certificates in recent years

The Surat city police recently uncovered a racket involving inferior diamonds being sold with genuine GIA certifications. Valuables worth Rs 11 lakh, twenty-four GIA certificates and five low-quality diamonds were seized from diamond trader Dharmesh Patel. Police investigations are still underway to determine the authenticity of the GIA certificates used for the scam.

Image Source: Times of India

The original certificates were procured from other businessmen who had not given them to their customers during purchase. Businessmen with low experience were victimized through the racket, and they were sold inferior diamonds with laser-inscribed numbers matching those given in genuine certificates. A similar incident has also been reported by the GIA in Mumbai, and the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council of India is trying to bring awareness to curb the problem.

The Gemological Institute of America developed diamond certifications in order to protect diamond authenticity and ensure that proper quality standards are being followed. However, the scam in the well-known diamond market hub of Surat has thrown light on the flaws in the system, and has proven that such certifications alone are not fully effective in curbing scammers.

Image Source: GIA Certificate

Under the existing system, ensuring the authenticity of each diamond certificate is a lengthy process that is neither time nor cost-efficient. This makes it easy for scammers to get away with the crime. A simple solution for this problem is to bring awareness among customers, but that too is not always practical when done manually. Clearly, ensuring diamond security is not as simple as it sounds, and the recent incident calls for a more feasible alternative to paper diamond authenticity certificates. 

Based on industry trends, it appears that digitizing diamond certificates with gemstone blockchain solutions is the most efficient solution for protecting and verifying diamond authenticity. The Authlink platform is blockchain-driven, and enables diamond brands and customers to trace, manage and verify their product certificates. Issuing digital blockchain verified certificates for each physical diamond makes it quite simple to manage and authenticate data. Unlike physical certificates, digitally-managed data remains tamper-proof and irrefutable.

Diamond sellers can automatically generate digital certificates for consumers at the time of purchase, which ensures that each certificate is accounted for. It becomes next to impossible for scammers to sell inferior products when each diamond is associated with a genuine document.

Find out more about our services at https://authlink.com
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