The US & International Diamond week in Ramat Gan, Israel opened Monday, August 26, and record attendance was reported throughout the trading floor of the Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE).
Thousands of diamond companies, buyers, distinguished industry leaders and guests were in attendance demonstrating the vibrancy, strength and resiliency of the global diamond trade. As seen throughout the trading floor and in private offices and personal spaces of the IDE, the business of buying and selling the world’s rough and polished diamonds was conducted under the controlled and consistent lighting of Dazor lamps.
Dazor diamond grading lamps observed throughout the trading floor of the IDE
Source: IDE Communications - Massive turnout at Israel Diamond Exchange on first day of Diamond Week (August 27, 2013)
“The lighting environment, in which diamonds are purchased, sold, sorted, and graded is critical. The same diamond responds differently in different lighting conditions, so the consistency and repeatability of the lighting environment is essential from supply to trading floor to laboratory to retail selling. When possible, a diamond buyer should view a diamond in the same lighting conditions as a diamond seller, and both the buyer and seller should view diamonds in a lighting environment which closely matches that of a laboratory from which an appraisal will be issued. For those in the trade, a diamond is viewed indoors under controlled lighting conditions in order to observe its true body color”, explained Stan Hogrebe, prior Chair of the Accredited Gemologists Association Task Force on Lighting and Color Grading Diamonds.
Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, sent a congratulatory message to the participants in the US & International Diamond Week. "Israel is among the most important diamond centers in the world, and the diamond industry ... it has become a crossroads of international trade for a significant volume of the world's rough and polished diamonds. It prides itself on its creativity and its state-of-the-art technology, and it is constantly developing new innovative methods that help maintain Israel's position at the forefront of the world diamond industry," Netanyahu wrote.