Invisible engravings, ethical diamonds: the technology that tracks stones from mine to market

Could the diamond in your engagement ring come from a country in conflict, like Russia? Not legally, and there is now a technology developed by a European project in Poland that could prevent it from happening illegally in the future.

Barbara Dembowska runs her diamond sales business in the Polish city of Poznań. Its precious stones only come from trusted suppliers in Belgium, France or Italy, but in reality not even their certificates can guarantee the origin one hundred per cent. New technologies developed by Nanores, a laboratory in Wroclaw, are revolutionary in this respect.

Barbara explains that “If a brooch consisting of, say, 20, 30 or 50 stones from a known company contains information inside it about the company, for example Cartier or Harry Winston, such as initials saying that these stones belong to this company, in case of theft, this stone becomes unsellable.” 

Blood diamonds, also known as conflict diamonds or dirty diamonds, are stones mined in war zones and sold to finance armed conflicts, human rights violations and illicit activities. 

To combat the trade in conflict diamonds, the so-called Kimberley Process, a certification system that imposes strict requirements on the traceability of diamonds, ensuring that those traded come from legal and sustainable sources, was launched internationally in 2000. Member countries notably ensure that imported diamonds do not originate from countries in conflict.

In recent years, the European Union has added Russia to the list of banned countries.

Despite progress, the system has weaknesses. There are still escape routes and lack of control in some areas, which allow blood diamonds to enter the market.

The diamond tracking technology developed by Nanores is called Diamond