The GIA lab is getting its printers out of storage.
The influential diamond lab has backtracked on an announcement, made last year, that it will stop printing paper reports.
Since Jan. 2, GIA has issued its Diamond Dossiers only in a digital format. The Diamond Dossiers—GIA’s most popular report—are available for 0.15 to 1.99 ct. D- to Z-color diamonds.
The end of the printed Dossiers was billed as the first step in a larger plan by GIA to end paper reports by 2025.
But the trade balked, citing concerns about security with digital reports, and noting that clients in non-English-speaking regions had difficulty with the new format. Others said that consumers simply found less value in non-paper reports.
“We appreciate your candid and constructive feedback,” Tom Moses, GIA executive vice president and chief laboratory and research officer, wrote in a April 6 letter to clients, obtained by JCK. “After much consideration, we have decided to return to printed GIA Diamond Dossier reports beginning April 9.”
Moses’ announcement also said:
– All diamonds submitted to GIA on or after April 9 will be returned with a printed Diamond Dossier. It will be the same type of report as those issued before the paperless introduction in January.
– GIA will, upon request, provide a free printed Diamond Dossier to any client that received a digital-only report.
– Current digital versions of the report will still be valid.
Moses concluded: “I recognize and appreciate that both the change to a digital-only Diamond Dossier and now the return to the printed report may have caused some disruption to your business.”
The new change won’t affect GIA’s laboratory-grown diamond reports, which have always been digital and will remain so, says GIA spokesperson Stephen Morisseau.
In a statement issued after the announcement, Pritesh Patel, GIA senior vice president and chief operating officer, admitted, “We did not adequately anticipate the challenges of adopting the digital-only GIA Diamond Dossier report.”
GIA had billed the digital-only plan as an environmental move to save paper. Moses said in the statement that GIA intends to “continue to create environmentally friendly and secure products.”
(Photo courtesy of GIA)
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