EGL USA to announce major breakthrough on near colorless diamond treatments at Budapest conference

NEW YORK, August 9 - EGL USA announced today that its Director of Gem Identification and Research, Branko Deljanin, is one of the featured speakers at the European Conference on Diamond and Diamond-like Materials, held this year in Budapest, from September 2nd through 7th. His topic will focus on the characterization and lightening of a particular category of Type Ia diamonds, from brownish to near colorless using the high pressure, high temperature (HPHT) process. To date, researchers have believed that only Type IIa diamonds can be made near colorless through the HPHT process.

The research being presented in Budapest is the result of a yearlong study at EGL USA's headquarters in New York in association with various international research organizations. The presentation will be done in conjunction with Dr. Emmanuel Fritch of the University of Nantes in France. A copy of the paper will be available through EGL USA laboratories in New York and Los Angeles in mid September.

"EGL USA has been deeply involved in HPHT research since 1999," said Mark Gershburg, its Director. "On behalf of both our consumer and trade customers, we are committed to taking a leadership position in this challenging area of changing diamond color and to maintaining our state-of-the art technology."

EGL USA gemologists have conducted research at numerous facilities, including the Nova Diamond gem-technology center in Utah and several in Russia. EGL USA was the first lab to announce that HPHT colored diamonds were being circulated in the trade. It was also the first lab to design a grading report especially for HPHT diamonds. Its research findings have been presented at international conferences and to gemological groups around the world.

Mr. Deljanin is a graduate of the University of Belgrade in geology. He earned his gemology diploma and worked under the guidance of Robert Crowingshield in GIA's Gem Identification Department. He is a fellow of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain and an instructor of their FGA program. He has conducted on-site research on colored stones and diamonds in Sri Lanka, Russia, Brazil, South Africa, and Australia.

EGL Press offers a free brochure to the trade entitled: "Changing the Color of Diamonds: The High Pressure High Temperature Process Explained," which was co-authored by Mr. Deljanin and Gregory Sherman, GG, FGA, who is EGL USA's Director of Marketing and Education. For a copy of the brochure, contact EGL USA New York at 212-730-7380.