Basel, Switzerland – The Swiss Gemmological Institute (SSEF) and the Swiss robotics company Unimec have launched a new version of the Automated Diamond Spectral Inspection (ASDI), which can inspect diamonds as small as 0.5mm in diameter.
First launched eight years ago, the ASDI was developed to protect the Swiss watch and jewellery industry, a major consumer of rough diamonds, from undetected lab-grown diamonds and simulants.
It was the first device to automatically screen large batches of colourless diamonds, says SSEF.
However, there was no automated solution for the authentication of very small melee, so SSEF and UNIMEC responded by developing the ASDI-500, which can screen large quantities of round colourless polished diamond melee to detect synthetics and simulants.
The new ASDI-500 can analyse diamonds from 0.50 to 3.80mm in diameter at an average sorting speed of 700 stones per hour.
Unimec has made this possible by integrating its fast pick-and-place robot, which has a positioning accuracy of 5 microns or 0.005 mm, into the instrument.
The ASDI-500 can detect both HPHT and CVD grown diamonds, as well as diamond simulants.
“The ASDI-500 is the first automatic machine to fill the gap between approximately 0.50 mm and 1.00 mm,” said Jean-Pierre Chalain, director of SSEF’s diamond division. “To the uninformed, this gap may seem insignificant, but traders and consumers of rough diamonds know that it represents millions of diamonds per month.”
The ASDI-500 will be unveiled at the GemGenève International Gem & Jewellery Show, which takes place from 3 to 6 November at Palexpo in Geneva.
