GIA plans to close its diamond grading lab in Ramat Gan, Israel, by the end of 2024, after 12 years in operation.
The lab’s closure sprang from “changes in the global diamond industry that resulted in significant declines in submissions from local clients over the last several years,” according to a GIA statement. “Despite reductions in operating costs and reduced staffing through attrition, the laboratory is not financially sustainable.”
The Ramat Gan facility will grade and return diamonds it has already received. After Nov. 17, it will still take in diamonds, but will send them for grading at other GIA labs.
Once the lab closes, GIA will designate a third party to “accept submissions from walk-in clients in Ramat Gan for service in other GIA laboratories.” Further details will be announced later, GIA said.
GIA shuttered another international lab, in Antwerp, in 2022. Following the Israel closing, GIA will operate 11 labs worldwide; in the U.S., they are located in New York City and Carlsbad, Calif.
(Photo courtesy of GIA)
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