Laser Inscription: Food for Thought

With a lot of commotion surrounding laser inscription in the past few months, it is important to step back and have a think about the effect and effectiveness of laser inscription.

1. A laser, whether “hot” or “cold” can damage a diamond through operator or machine error. If the diamond is damaged, then it isn’t a pretty situation for anyone involved. Why then would a lab knowingly use machines that would damage the diamond they are certifying?
2. Never read a laser inscription to find out the quality or grade of a diamond. An H/SI2 stone may well be inscribed D/IF. Does that make the inscriber unethical? No – just like sellers of guns aren’t murderers.
3. If a diamond is laser inscribed after certification, then technically, the certificate is invalid, and should be re-certified to check for any damage.
4. Laser inscription doesn’t guarantee against a jeweller or merchant switching stones. However, consider this anecdote:

 

Two men are out in the bush, one wearing hiking boots and one wearing running shoes. The man wearing running shoes says to the man wearing boots:

“These shoes protect me from bears.”

“How?” the man wearing hiking boots replied.

“Well, when a bear comes, I’ll be able to outrun you!”

The same goes for laser inscription. Given that most diamonds are not laser inscribed, it would be a lot easier for a jeweller to switch a non-laser inscribed stone than a laser inscribed stone.

This entry was written by Nikhil Jogia and was posted on on Wednesday, April 4th, 2007 at 5:51 pm and is filed under Buying Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.