"As a global leader in cutting and polishing diamonds, it is our duty to stir clear of synthetic diamonds,"said Praveenshankar Pandya, GJEPC Chairman in his inaugural speech at the 2nd edition of Diamond Detection Expo and Symposium (DDES) at Samast Patidar Samaj Bhavan in Surat.

The advanced diamond detection devices like GIA's latest Mounted Gem Testing Devic, IIDGR' AMS2, DRC Techo's D-Secure, etc. Aftet the successful first edition of DDES in Mumbai that witnessed around 7000 visitors from across India, the second edition too has witnessed quite a warm response on Day 1.

In the last few years, India being a C& P hub has received a backlash due to few cases of undisclosed mixing of synthetic diamonds in natural diamonds. Following this, even Bharat Diamond Bourse has banned synthetic diamond business in its premises. The move was seen in a negative light by the synthetic diamond industry. Commenting on the same, Pandya said "The Council and the Indian diamond industry is not against the synthetic diamond industry but they need to follow ethical ways of doing business."

Even Dr Wuyi Wang from GIA New York in his presentation on 'Synthetic Gem Diamonds and its Identification' mentioned "Synthetic diamonds are a legitimate product but its disclosure is needed."

Day 1 also had panel discussions on Impact of synthetic Diamonds o Surat Industry, Diamond Detection and Technology, etc. The panelists included Praveenshankar Pandya, GJEPC Chairman; Ashish Mehta, NDMC Convener; Keval Virani from Karp Impex; Dr Wuyi Wang from GIA New York; Dr Shastri from GII; Amitabh Das from IIDGR.