This content was first published on IGR – Italian Gemological Review no. 18 in 2024. The information provided here is therefore current as of the original publication date.
On October 26, 2023, the Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty of France decided to fully confirm the text of Decree 2002-65 of January 14, 2002. Article 4 of this decree requires that diamonds, like all other precious stones, must be referred to with the term “synthetic” for «stones which are crystallized or recrystallized products, the manufacture of which is wholly or partially induced by man, obtained by various processes, whatever they may be, and whose physical and chemical properties and crystalline structure correspond essentially to those of the natural stones which they copy».
The request to amend the text came from a French company active in the field of synthetic diamonds, which asked to be allowed to use the term “created in a laboratory”, equivalent to “lab-grown diamond”, following the terminology allowed and recommended by the FTC in the United States, as opposed to the term “synthetic diamond”. The Ministry had considered the request, acknowledging that «some dealers have indeed argued that the English term ‘lab-grown diamond’ is accepted in some foreign countries and is perceived by consumers as an indication that diminishes the product less than the French term ‘diamant synthétique’».
Gem News published on IGR – Italian Gemological Review #18, Spring 2024
