The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC, hereinafter referred to as the FTC) has broadened the term “diamond†in its latest jewellery industry guidelines: in addition to natural diamonds excavated from the mine, synthetic diamonds are also included. Inside. However, it still strictly stipulates that the term “diamond†is used and expressed only in natural diamonds, unless a phrase that clearly indicates that the product is not a natural diamond is added before the word.
The FTC's revised jewellery industry guidelines set off new waves between the “natural diamonds†and “synthetic diamonds†industries.
After extensive consultation and deliberation, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued revised guidelines for the jewellery industry, precious metals industry and daylight industry. Some of the revised jewellery industry guidelines have made some practitioners in the diamond industry uneasy because the guidelines seem to inject new life into the synthetic diamond industry.
The revised jewellery industry guidelines expand the definition of diamonds, which allow diamonds grown in laboratories and factories to be called diamonds after natural diamonds. At the same time, the FTC emphasizes that this requires synthetic diamond producers to clearly express that these synthetic diamonds are not naturally mined diamonds.
Previous FTC guidelines allowed the use of "laboratory-created", "laboratory-grown", "[manufacturer-name]-created" and "synthetic" Describe those non-mined diamonds. The diamond industry has always used the term "synthetic" to describe the stones that are made in the factory.
Now the FTC no longer recommends the use of "synthetic", and it is said that if the manufacturer of these gems can "clearly and clearly convey that the laboratory synthetic diamond is not a diamond that has been mined", then other terms can be used to describe Synthetic diamonds.
Synthetic diamond manufacturers claim that the term "synthetic" leads consumers to believe that it is a diamond imitation that has been asked to avoid using "synthetic" to describe synthetic diamonds.
At the same time, FTC also refused to use the terms "[manufacturer-name]-grown", "foundry", "created", and "grown" to describe synthetic diamonds.
FTC seems to be in thin ice between the synthetic diamond and natural diamond industries, so it has been marked in the guidelines to show that the FTC not only refers to the perspective of the diamond industry practitioners, but also the consumer's awareness of proper nouns. .
But the diamond industry, which has been using the term "synthetic" for many years to describe synthetic diamonds, may be disappointed with these changes.
They say that although synthetic diamond producers emphasize that the diamonds synthesized in the laboratory are both pure and environmentally friendly. But they are actually diamonds made in a factory environment that require a lot of energy to sustain their production. Organizations such as the World Diamond Exchange Alliance say that synthetic diamonds have neither the romantic feelings of natural diamonds nor the economic benefits of miners and their families.
As for the producers of synthetic diamonds, we can safely assume that they want the FTC to further expand the terminology of synthetic diamonds such as “cultured†and “syntheticâ€.
So will the FTC guidelines have a practical effect? Can the Federal Trade Commission implement this rule? In fact, the FTC is a government agency and will not send staff to implement its guidelines. Simply put: this is only a guide.
Nonetheless, in the ongoing undercurrent conflict between the “natural†and “synthetic†diamond industries, both parties want to prove that the FTC's jewellery industry guidelines are supporting their position.
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