A Valentine’s Day press release from the EightStar Diamond Company received an unusual public rebuke from the Gemological Institute of America, which said there was no basis to EightStar’s claim that GIA had judged its diamonds “perfect.”

The EightStar release said the company’s diamonds “won a search by the prestigious Gemological Institute of America for a perfect diamond.”

“The renowned Gemological Institute of America looked at 67,000 diamonds in an attempt of find stones whose symmetry matched that of a perfect diamond it had created in a computer,” the release said. “Only one real-world diamond equaled GIA’s cyber-diamond for perfection of shape and faceting: The EightStar.”

The GIA response noted that it used EightStar diamonds only to illustrate the appearance of a highly symmetrical diamond in fully diffused lighting. It added: “It was specifically stated in the article…that the EightStar approximates the symmetry of the computer model…Likewise there was no conclusion…that the EightStar equaled GIA’s cyber-diamond for perfection of shape and faceting…In fact, GIA has often stated publicly that there is no single best proportion for a diamond.”

Richard Sternberg, president of EightStar, told JCK that he regrets the release. “The GIA is absolutely right,” he said. “If I could somehow reach through time and take the release back, I would. I made a mistake.”

GIA says it issued its statement because “it was imperative to publicly correct the record as to the intent and findings of the research…GIA has always been vigilant about the use of its name and associated trademarks.”