Key takeaways
• Stealth CVD, also known as Super CVD, is a new type of lab-grown diamond designed to bypass traditional testing equipment by appearing as a natural diamond.
• Unlike static testers of the past, the industry is shifting toward dynamic, AI-driven testing platforms like the YEHUDA AI that can receive real-time updates to identify evolving synthetic growth methods.
• To help jewelers adapt to this threat, industry experts are offering trade-in programs where old lab-grown diamond detection equipment can be applied as credit toward modern AI-based systems.
In this industry, we’ve all experienced lots of changes over the years. I came on board in 1978 when the quartz watch was first introduced. “It’s going to ruin our businesses,” was in all of the articles that I read back then. Not that I read a lot of industry trade mags at the tender age of 17, but the ones I did read were all doom-and-gloom. Fast-forward 10 years to 2026, and there’s a new threat on the horizon.
This threat is so new that many of you haven’t even heard of it yet, but it’s real, and you need to be proactive.
When lab-grown diamonds hit the market a few years ago, it was like a tsunami. One day, there were none; the next day, they were everywhere. The industry adapted by developing new testing equipment to separate the wheat from the chaff. That’s how we handled cubic zirconia, so that’s how we handled moissanite. And that is how we handled lab-grown diamonds. And that is how we’ll handle this new threat.
I’ve always said that if I could choose a different career, I’d be the printer handling the Stuller and Quality Gold accounts, because I’d never run out of new work coming through the door. Now I’d like to add Gemological Testing Equipment Manufacturer to that list, as that’s how we’re going to overcome this next hurdle.
So, what is this next problem/threat/hurdle? It’s called Stealth CVD. Some also refer to it as Super CVD. If what I’m seeing is correct, this new addition to the market can fool all the lab-grown diamond testers and will test as a natural diamond.
Before I go on, let’s have a little Gemology 101. There are 3 categories of gemstone origins: genuine, synthetic, and imitation. With genuine stones (also called natural), the crystal spends its entire life growing within the earth until humans unearth it. Even if the crystal undergoes extensive alterations after mining (such as heat treatment, laser treatments), it is still considered genuine.
Synthetic gems must match their natural counterpart chemically, physically, and optically within narrow limits. It’s important to emphasize that it must have a natural counterpart to be classified as a synthetic gemstone.
Imitation gems are just something that looks like something else. Faceted red glass can be considered an imitation ruby because it resembles a ruby. Where this gets tricky is something like synthetic red spinel. When red, it resembles a ruby, but it does not match a ruby chemically, physically, or optically. So is it a synthetic red spinel or an imitation ruby?
Since these new Stealth CVDs fall into the synthetic category, I will spend some time on the evolution of that category. A genuine diamond is the only single-element gemstone. Mineralogically, a diamond is pure carbon and nothing else. A lab-grown diamond is, mineralogically, also pure carbon and nothing else. Thus, a lab-grown diamond is technically a synthetic diamond but with better marketing, promotion, and branding.
Synthetic gemstones have been around since the late 1800’s. Rubies and sapphires are mineralogically known as corundum, and they were the first commercially viable synthetics. Corundum crystallizes in all colors, from colorless to dark black, and all colors and variations in between. If it’s red, it’s considered a ruby. If it’s any other color, it’s considered a sapphire. Thus, a sapphire can be colorless, blue, yellow, green, pink, black, or any other color.
Natural corundum is crystallized aluminum oxide. Synthetic corundum is crystallized aluminum oxide. Until the late 1980’s, they were easy to identify because they almost always displayed curved stripes (growth lines). A natural ruby or sapphire only exhibits straight striae. Then, just like now, someone figured out a way to straighten out the curves. For almost 100 years, those manufacturers had been trying to fool the public. Then they started trying to fool the industry. Manufacturers of synthetic gemstones have been trying to fool the industry ever since.
Scientists have been trying to make a commercially viable synthetic diamond for a long time, but the necessary technology wasn’t yet available. Lab-grown diamonds have been around since the 1950’s, but they were all small, highly included, ugly, and not at all desirable enough to be used in jewelry, and I always wondered what happened to all of those failed experiments. Most ended up as drill bits, but not all.
If you go back a few years to when lab-grown diamonds first hit the marketplace, new detection equipment had to be developed to distinguish lab-grown from natural diamonds. I remember store owners swearing they would never, in a million years, sell anything other than natural diamonds. Then we all found out that millions of pieces of jewelry contained lab-grown melee mixed in with the natural diamonds. Those pieces all ended up in all of our showcases. I can only assume that’s where many of those failed experiments ended up. So, what do we do now?
To begin navigating this new challenge, I called industry expert Alex Kessler with Sy Kessler Sales & GemOro Products, a 3rd-generation dealer of gemological instruments. It was quite an interesting conversation because I learned many things I had no idea were happening. To summarize, Alex told me that the lab-grown diamond industry is an ever-evolving business model. The way crystals are grown today differs from how they were grown a few years ago. She said that Stealth CVD would be more accurately described as Evolving CVD.
She told me that the problem with the existing testing equipment is that it was designed to detect what was happening several years ago. Those testers can’t evolve with the industry. She told me to address this situation; your testing equipment needs to evolve in real time as well. Enter the YEHUDA AI!
This new testing platform was designed to evolve with the industry. This machine uses an AI-driven phone application. Because the app is constantly being updated, your equipment will always be up to date as well. The testers of yesteryear are static – they only detect what they were programmed to detect. Many lab-grown diamonds on the market no longer exhibit those traits, which is why they are called Stealth CVD. The new YEHUDA AI are dynamic testers – they are always learning and expanding.
To help offset the steep cost of new equipment, Alex and YEHUDA are offering to buy your old lab-grown diamond equipment to apply as credit toward a YEHUDA AI purchase. For questions related to this new system, please contact Alex and her team at 800.527.0719 or akessler@sykessler.com.
