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Third Anniversary of GIA’s Strategic Service Arrangement With Stuller

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A look into Melee Analysis by GIA

We’re celebrating the third anniversary of Stuller’s strategic service arrangement with GIA — the Gemological Institute of America® — at its Lafayette, LA facility. Melee diamonds, which weigh less than 0.2 carats, are dazzling accents in many pieces of jewelry and watches. In addition to natural melee, there are many laboratory-grown and simulated melee diamonds on the market. However, these sometimes get mixed in with parcels of natural diamonds.

How can a jeweler know for sure that their diamond from Stuller has been screened and is indeed a natural diamond? The answer is Melee Analysis by GIA®. In 2018, GIA brought this fully automated service onsite to Stuller. An advanced instrument developed through decades of GIA research sorts diamonds by identity, diameter, and even color range. Once sorted, each melee result type is provided back to Stuller.

When ordering GIA-screened melee from Stuller, you will receive a gray parcel sealed with a GIA sticker that signifies that your diamond has been screened by Stuller’s in-house GIA Melee Analysis service.  

One huge improvement to this arrangement at Stuller is the addition of a second GIA screening machine. This allowed GIA to handle Stuller’s large melee volume. In total, GIA has evaluated more than 6.5 million melee stones for Stuller through this arrangement. The goal is to give consumers confidence when purchasing natural melee diamonds — the most prevalent stones on the market. This arrangement serves GIA’s consumer-protection mission of ensuring public trust in gems and jewelry.  

Stanley Zale, Stuller’s vice president of diamonds and gemstones procurement, believes that “a strong, continuous collaboration between Stuller and GIA leadership provides unparalleled confidence as GIA is the most trusted gemological authority in the industry. There is no one better than GIA for Stuller to rely on to deliver on our commitment to correctly represent the product we are selling.”

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