ASDI 500
The ASDI-500 is able to detect and extract synthetics and simulants as small as half a millimetre in diameter, at the astounding speed of 850 stones per hour.
In 2020, to fill the unexplored gap between 0.50 and 0.85 mm, SSEF validated a robust analytical solution based on several thousand manual tests on diamonds as small as 0.45 mm. Later, the Swiss Innovation Agency partly financed the computer processing of ASDI-500 analytical data.
In November 2022, the ASDI-500 Automated Diamond Spectral Inspection system, jointly developed by SSEF and UNIMEC, was unveiled at the international GemGenève show.
Principle
A batch of stones submitted to the ASDI-500 shall be made of colourless (D to J) round polished (full cut, 8/8, 16/16) stones. The maximum diameter divergence in one batch is approximately 0.05 mm (e.g. 0.60 mm to 0.65 mm). ASDI-500 can automatically inspect batches of melee as small as 0.50 mm up to batches of melee as large 3.80 mm.
Equipment
The ASDI-500 instrument is now being brought to the market to test melee diamonds with diameters down to 0.50 mm or 500 microns, hence its name ASDI-500. First automatised authentication solution for melee smaller than 0.85 mm.
Feeding a batch of melee for inspection
An operator pours a large batch of colourless melees – several thousand – into a vibrating hopper. On the touch screen, the operator enters customisable references (e.g. batch reference, total weight, etc.) and just clicks on “START”.
Diamond inspection
Prior to starting inspection, the ASDI-500 runs a fast – less than one minute – automated internal calibration on a diamond of reference included inside the device. This calibration is usually performed once a day and can be launched on demand at any time by the operator. As soon as the calibration is performed the automated inspection starts.
Result of the inspection
The ASDI-500 counts accurately and places au-tomatically all tested stones in one of the following bins:
1) “Natural Diamond”, 2)“Refer”, 3) “Simulant”, 4) “Not analysed”
Result ouput
At the end of the process, the operator can export an inspection result file.
Technical details
Dimensions
653 x 565 x 844 mm
Weight
98.0 KgSorting speed
850 stones per hour
Voltage
110 – 230 V / 50 Hz / 13 ADiameter of stones
0.50 mm up to 3.80 mmMaximum divergence in a batch
+/- 0.05 mm (e.g. 0.60 – 0.65 mm)
