Risk Assessment & Mitigation Flashcards

What is the primary risk of failing to detect HPHT treatment in a diamond before issuing a grading report?

Answer: The treated stone may be sold as a higher-value untreated natural diamond

HPHT treatment can improve apparent color grade, so an undetected treatment causes the stone to be assessed and sold far above its true untreated value.

Which instrument is most effective at mitigating the risk of misidentifying a CVD synthetic diamond as a natural stone?

Answer: DiamondView or photoluminescence spectroscopy

DiamondView imaging and photoluminescence spectroscopy reveal the distinctive growth patterns and spectral signatures unique to CVD-grown diamonds.

What risk associated with laser drilling must be disclosed on a diamond grading report?

Answer: It is a clarity enhancement that changes the stone from its natural state

Laser drilling is a man-made clarity treatment that alters the natural stone and must be disclosed because it affects the true untreated clarity grade.

A diamond tests positive on a standard thermal conductivity tester but displays unusual strain patterns under the microscope. What is the correct risk management response?

Answer: Submit the stone for advanced spectroscopic or photoluminescence testing

Standard testers confirm thermal conductivity but cannot distinguish all synthetics or certain simulants; conflicting evidence requires escalation to definitive spectroscopic analysis.

What risk is introduced when a diamond has been surface-coated to artificially improve its apparent color grade?

Answer: The coating may be mistaken for natural color, causing significant over-valuation

Color coatings temporarily mask true body color; if undetected, the stone is graded and sold at a premium that reflects a fictitious quality.

In risk management for stone-switching prevention, what does 'plausible deniability' for the switcher typically depend upon?

Answer: The absence of a recorded unique identifying characteristic for the original stone

Without a documented unique identifier—such as a plotted inclusion map or laser inscription—there is no objective proof that the stone returned is the same one submitted.

What is the primary risk to market integrity when a jeweler submits the same diamond to multiple laboratories seeking a more favorable grade?

Answer: Grade shopping erodes consumer trust in grading standards and may conceal undisclosed treatments

Submitting a stone repeatedly until obtaining the highest possible grade exploits variability between labs and undermines confidence in the grading system as a whole.