GIA announces new initiatives for fast-growing Indian market
GIA launches Finished Jewelry Report to boost trade/consumer confidence
GIA (Gemological Institute of America), a global leader in gemology (diamond/gem grading and analysis, education and research), announced a series of significant initiatives to tap the vast opportunities in the fast growing large Indian gem & jewelry market.
Ms. Susan Jacques, President & CEO, reiterated the Institute’s reputation for integrity and independence. She said that GIA India will maintain a steadfast focus on its mission to uphold trade & consumer confidence in India’s gems and jewelry business at a time when there is a lot of confusion.
GIA also named Mr. Pritesh Patel, as its new President and Chief Executive Officer, effective August 4, 2025. He holds a Master of Business Administration from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. He will be responsible for operational strategy, planning, developing and implementing innovative solutions.
Talking about his new role, Mr. Patel said that he is committed to building on GIA’s iconic & trusted foundation with humility, purpose and unveiled his strategic vision for the future growth of the Indian operations. Inspired by GIA’s legacy of excellence and integrity, Mr. Patel said that the series of new initiatives will stimulate business growth. GIA will leverage its extensive research program, industry-leading education initiatives, specialized instrument development and scientifically backed, reliable laboratory services.
GIA India launched its Finished Jewelry Report service to give details about the jewelry piece’s components, including the metal, gemstone characteristics, and existing engravings. These examinations are part of its gemstone identification and pearl services and focus on the gemological examination of the gems in the jewelry pieces.
The description in the Finished Jewelry Report will include metal verification and ranges for the clarity, color, and estimated carat weight of D-to-Z diamonds that don’t already have GIA reports for unmounted diamonds. The Jewelry Report will also include details of any current markings. For diamonds that have existing GIA report numbers, the specific grades will be detailed on the report with a link to GIA’s Report Check for additional verification.
Beginning later this year, GIA will start using descriptive terms to characterize the quality of laboratory-grown diamonds and will no longer use the color and clarity nomenclature that GIA developed for natural diamonds. The Institute will continue to accept laboratory-grown diamonds for evaluation and identification.
The revised GIA description system for laboratory-grown diamonds will confirm that the submitted item is a laboratory-grown diamond and whether it falls into one of two categories, ‘premium’ or ‘standard.’ The categories will be defined by a combination of metrics related to color, clarity and finish. If the man-made diamond fails to achieve the minimum standard for quality, it will not receive a designation from GIA. Until the revised descriptive system for laboratory-grown diamonds is finalized, the current GIA services for laboratory-grown diamonds will continue to be available.
More than 95% of laboratory-grown diamonds entering the market fall into a very narrow range of color and clarity. Because of that, it is no longer relevant for GIA to describe man-made diamonds using the nomenclature created for the continuum of color and clarity of natural diamonds.
This change to how GIA describes the quality of laboratory-grown diamonds will help consumers understand the important differences in the two products’ origin, ensuring their confidence and enabling them to make informed and educated purchase decisions.
