Articles and News
Industry News: D.E.F. Names First Indian Beneficiary; GIA and De Beers To Address Synthetic Diamonds March 11, 2015 (0 comments)
Diamond Empowerment Fund Announces First Beneficiary In India
Mumbai, India—The Diamond Empowerment Fund has approved a $50,000 grant to Veerayatan, the first educational institution in India to receive funding from DEF. Veeraytayan was chosen because of how its innovative approach to education improves the quality of life for its students.
Veerayatan is a model for encouraging the development of responsible citizens who are educated, have strong integrity, and a motivation to give back to their community. Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., Senior Strategic Advisor for the Diamond Empowerment Fund, says, ”Veerayatan epitomizes the convergence of excellence in education with holistic sustainable development. This institution is making a positive transformative difference in India.”
Chavis, along with D.E.F. executive director Nancy Orem Lyman and diamantaire Dilip Mehta, D.E.F. board member and CEO of Rosy Blue, met with officials of the school and saw firsthand how the Veerayatan approach to education was making a difference in the quality of life of thousands of students. (Left: Indian prime minister Modi, and the chief minister of Gujarat at the opening of the Veerayatan Institute of Pharmacy.)
At a welcoming ceremony for the Diamond Empowerment Fund, students from the Veerayatan College of Engineering, College of Pharmacy, and College of Business Adminstration gave their inspiring stories of overcoming adversity with the promise and opportunity of a quality higher education. Dilip Mehta, moved by the intensity and passion of the students made an on-the-spot commitment to match D.E.F’s donation to the school for this year and all subsequent years, bringing the total donation to $100,000 in 2015.
“I just felt in my heart…and my mind…that this was the absolute right decision to make. Empowering young people from diamond communities through access to higher education has been D.E.F’s mission from the beginning. What bigger community than that found in India where 9 out of 10 diamonds in the world are cut and polished,” says Mehta.
Two students from Veerayatan will make the journey to D.E.F’s Diamonds in the Sky Las Vegas event on May 28t in Las Vegas, to celebrate the importance of education and to salute the global achievement of Indian prime minister Modi, the Government of India and the people of India, who are being honored by D.E.F. at the event.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome this very deserving organization as the Diamond Empowerment Fund’s first beneficiary in India,” says D.E.F. board president Phyllis Bergman. “Diamonds truly do Good.”
Veerayatan joins existing D.E.F. beneficiaries: African Leadership Academy, Botswana Top Achievers Program, and CIDA City Campus.
GIA and De Beers To Address Synthetic Diamonds In Basel
Carlsbad, CA—Leading research scientists from GIA (Gemological Institute of America) and De Beers Technologies UK will speak on the topic of synthetic diamonds during GIA GemFest Basel 2015 on Sunday, March 22 at the Congress Center Basel in Switzerland. Tom Moses, executive vice president and chief laboratory and research officer for GIA, will moderate the discussion with Dr. Simon Lawson, head of technologies UK for De Beers and Dr. Wuyi Wang, director of research and development for GIA. The free event will commence at 5 p.m. (17:00) in the Montreal Auditorium, with a reception to follow.
From left: Tom Moses, executive vice president and chief research and laboratory officer for GIA, Dr. Wuyi Wang, director of research and development for GIA, and Dr. Simon Lawson, head of technologies UK for De Beers.
The technology for creating synthetic diamond has improved significantly over the last decade and, as a result, gem-quality synthetic diamonds have appeared in greater quantities and received wider media exposure.
Reports of synthetics being presented as natural, however, have raised concerns within the industry. GIA and De Beers have applied years of research to identifying these laboratory-grown diamonds, resulting in devices and methods that effectively distinguish them from natural diamonds, from the smallest melee to stones of significant size. GIA’s Wang and De Beers’ Lawson will speak at GemFest Basel about the latest research on synthetic diamonds and their identification, and how GIA and De Beers are working to meet the on-going challenges posed by potential non-disclosure. A question and answer session will immediately follow the moderated discussion.
GemFest Basel 2015 is a free event that will be held at 5 p.m. (17:00) on Sunday, March 22 at Congress Center Basel in the Montreal Auditorium. A reception will immediately follow the panel at 6 p.m. (18:00). Registration is now available.