August 2025 | Lab Grown Magazine

August 2025 | The Lab Grown Diamond Resource Book 26 Mailed to 24,000 Jewelers Monthly - To advertise call (888) 832-1109 | August 2025 27 How the ISO Fits In The International Organization for Stan- dardization (ISO) is a global organization that develops and publishes international standards, including those related to the dia- mond industry. The worldwide federation of national standards (ISO member bodies) work on preparing guidelines carried out through ISO technical committees. Again, these are self-regulated policies and not laws. International organizations, in liaison with ISO, take part in the work. The voluntary procedures used to develop a document, namely SIO 24016:2020 (Jewelry and pre- cious metals – Grading polished diamonds – Terminology classification and test meth- ods) are described in Part 1 of the ISO/IEC Directives and list the different approval criteria. This document was drafted with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 see: https://www.iso.org/directives ) Think of this as ISO’s version of the FTC’s Jewelry Guidelines. ISO specified the terminology, classification and methods used for the grading and de- scription of single unmounted polished dia- monds of over 0.25 carat. The new standard applies to natural, un- mounted, polished diamonds; and is not to be used for fancy color, synthetic or treated diamonds or assembled stones. “Together with ISO 18323, which sets the nomenclature for diamonds, synthetic dia- monds and diamond simulants, an ISO stan- dard for the grading of polished diamonds will strengthen the trust in the diamond in- dustry worldwide,” noted ISO. According to the federation, the need for an ISO standard to grade polished diamonds is supported by recent agreements between international diamond organizations and CIBJO (The World Jewelry Confederation), with the aim of adopting CIBJO’s unique diamond grading and diamond nomencla- ture standard Despite best efforts by international groups like the ISO their attempt to enforce grading and terminology are not supported by any country law and only followed by voluntary guidelines like CIBJO. Group Conscience not Law Non-profits that hone into LGD and jewelry try to establish hardline guideposts for the industry to follow but to date even the most focused of organizations can only offer hope - not changes in law. This is true of The Grown Diamond Trade Organization (GDTO). As Zev pointed out in his Publisher’s Letter, the group certainly means well with their focus to “unite grow- ers, manufacturers, and retailers to create a single voice for consumers and unify the rapidly growing LGD segment of the jew- elry market.” But the lack of lobbyists or having a government official on the board doesn’t strengthen their good intentions to materialize in federal mandates. The same is true of Positive Luxury, an ex- panding non-profit London-based group of sustainability experts from the global luxury industry including diamond jewelry. They offer an outstanding mission statement but they’re missing any lawful component from any country to legally uphold their purpose. While dynamic growth of eco-friendlymind- sets is prevalent within major manufacturers and brands, self-regulation can only stand so strong for so long. Without the hardline of the law strictly enforcing all things green within the diamond world, even the best of business intentions are weakened.