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Jessica VandenHouten
Brand Communications Manager
Jewelers Mutual Group
(920) 521-2374 or [email protected]

Jewelers Mutual donates seven damaged synthetic diamonds to Diamond Durability Lab for research
Differences observed between typical natural diamonds and synthetic diamonds

NEENAH, Wis. (December 9, 2019) - Jewelers Mutual Group, as part of its continuing support of the jewelry industry, has donated seven synthetic diamonds to the Diamond Durability Laboratory (DDL).

Each of these diamonds had been damaged and were sent to Jewelers Mutual as part of its policyholder claims process. Jewelers Mutual worked with the policyholders' jeweler of choice to replace the stones with synthetic diamonds of the same kind and quality.

About the synthetic diamonds:

The donated, damaged synthetic diamonds ranged in size from 0.64 carat to 2.27 carat weight.
Each of the synthetic diamonds were worn in an engagement ring by a Jewelers Mutual policyholder.
The length of normal wear of the donated, damaged synthetic diamonds varied from 43 days to less than 2 years.
Jewelers Mutual and DDL have been collaborating for more than a year to better understand damaged diamonds – both natural and synthetic – and their relationship to several physical characteristics with the goal of creating a more predictive model for potential damage during wear.

Jewelers Mutual’s Kay Kostelny and Mitzi Rietveld, Graduate Gemologists (GIA), studied the damaged synthetic diamonds and shared their observations with DDL that “the damage to the synthetic lab grown diamonds are not characteristic of damage to natural mined diamonds.”

When Jewelers Mutual observed the differences in the damage between their typical natural damaged diamonds and the synthetic damaged diamonds, they reached out to DDL for discussion. The idea of the donation was in part supported by the lack of a secondary resale market for synthetic diamonds.

DDL plans a complete evaluation of the donated synthetic diamonds. The donation from Jewelers Mutual will deepen the understanding of synthetic diamond durability, a subject that has not been studied with any rigor. As the only diamond lab that focuses on diamond durability, DDL is well positioned to learn from these diamonds.

Additionally, DDL CEO Thomas Gelb has served as the technical advisor to the ASSURE Program and its development of a universal standard for synthetic diamond screening or detection services.

“We appreciate this donation from Jewelers Mutual and we are excited to use the stones to further our research and contribute to the industry knowledge about synthetic diamonds,” Gelb said. “Our collaborative research relationship with Jewelers Mutual is extremely important, and we hope by adding these synthetics to our knowledge base we can learn even more.”

ABOUT JEWELERS MUTUAL
Jewelers Mutual Group was founded in 1913 by a group of Wisconsin jewelers to meet their unique insurance needs. Today, Jewelers Mutual offers products and services nationwide and throughout Canada that enable jewelry businesses to run safe, secure, and successful operations. Consumers also put their trust in Jewelers Mutual to protect their personal jewelry and the special moments it represents. The group's strong financial position is reflected in its 32 consecutive ratings of "A+ Superior" from A.M. Best Company. To learn more, visit JewelersMutual.com.

ABOUT DIAMOND DURABILITY LABORATORY
The Diamond Durability Laboratory was created in 2013 by gemologist Thomas Gelb and master diamond cutter Wolf Gluck. The goal was to professionalize the disparate field of assessing risks to diamonds. In 2014 DDL brought Daniel Howell PhD on board to deepen our understanding of the relationships between the physical characteristics of diamonds and their likelihood of damage. DDL has evaluated some of the largest and most important diamonds to have been cut. With offices in New York, Antwerp and Tel Aviv, DDL is the only diamond risk evaluation firm proactively researching diamond durability. With its unparalleled knowledge and collaborative relationships across the jewelry industry and academia, DDL is working towards a greater understanding of diamonds and their risks.

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