Growing Diamonds (16.30)
There have always been stories circulating of diamond cutting shops “growing” diamonds. This is not in the literal sense, but rather in the fraudulent sense. The shop takes in a re-cut from a client that is perhaps a G in color and VVS2 in clarity and will have a finished weight of 1.05 carat. What the client gets back is a different stone than the one that was submitted for re-cutting. The returned stone is a slightly lower grade and size like a 1.02 carat, G color, VS1 clarity which perhaps is so slight that the client does not question it. With enough fraudulent
switches, the cutter can “grow” an H SI2 into an E VVS1. This is an excellent reason in itself, to become very familiar with grading, so as to avoid intentional or accidental stone switching.