(IDEX Online) - Natural diamonds are increasingly being found in parcels of lab-grown melee sent for grading.
The undisclosed higher-value gems have been spotted among lab-growns on "numerous occasions" in recent months, according to the US-based lab GSI.
The mix-up is probably because both types of stone are handled in the same factories, said Debbie Azar, the lab's president and co-founder.
"Some may argue that a consumer buying a piece of laboratory-grown diamond jewelry is getting an "upgrade" if they have a few natural diamonds sprinkled in with their laboratory-grown diamonds," she writes in this week's guest Memo.
"But what if that consumer does not want natural diamonds?"
Pic shows a natural diamond among lab-growns