Dog-Tagging Diamonds

When police recover a stolen auto or camera, they can attempt to find the owner through the item's serial number. But when authorities find filched gems, they know the owners have probably kissed their property goodbye. Most gems contain no traceable markings. Systems for registering diamonds by photography and other means have proved unreliable. Says Robert Doubet, vice president of Lazare Kaplan & Sons, a New York City diamond-cutting firm: "Once removed from its mounting, a diamond is as good as ownerless."

Lazare Kaplan has now developed a way to dog-tag diamonds. It has patented a device that uses a laser beam...

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