Sarine Technologies Ltd. | Annual Report 2015 |
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Sarine Technologies Ltd. develops, manufactures, markets and sells precision
technology products for the processing and trade of diamonds and gemstones.
Our products and services provide industry-leading automated solutions for
every stage of the rough diamond manufacturing process, from high-precision
geometrical modelling and internal inclusion mapping of the rough stone,
through determining the optimally derivable polished gems, based on true dollar
value, through laser cutting and shaping, to the inline quality control of the actual
making and faceting of the polished jewel.
Our DiaExpert™ family of platforms (DiaExpert™, DiaExpert™ Atom,
DiaExpert™ Nano 6.5, DiaExpert™ XL, DiaExpert-Eye™, DiaScan™ S+,
DiaMobile™ XL and DiaMark™ Z) and the Advisor™ software are the de-facto
worldwide standard for planning the optimal utilisation of rough diamonds. Our
systems assist the manufacturer in cutting and polishing rough stones so as to
achieve maximum value, based on three of the four C parameters which can be
meaningfully optimised by the process, namely Carat weight, Cut quality and
Clarity grade (using inclusion mapping input form the Galaxy™ family of systems
or the DiaExpert™ Eye).
The revolutionary and still unmatched Galaxy™ family of internal inclusion
mapping systems for rough diamonds, based on revolutionary and unique
(patented / patent-pending) technology comprises the Galaxy™ 1000 / 2000
systems for diamonds 2.5 to 20+ carats in size, the Galaxy™ XL for large stones
up to 200+ carats, the Solaris™ for small stones from .90 to 2.5 carats in weight
and the newly introduced (2015) Meteor™ for even smaller rough stones 0.20 to
0.90 carats in size. The Galaxy™ Ultra provides high resolution scanning, which
offers microscopic-level, fully automatic, fast and comprehensive identification
and mapping of inclusions at single-micron accuracy, allowing for the more
confident planning of internally flawless (IF) and VVS1 polished diamonds.
All these products enable the automated prediction of the Clarity of the
Advisor™-planned polished stones, so as to truly optimise the dollar return
derived from the processed rough diamonds. To allow the industry to fully benefit
from this cutting edge technology, we offer per-carat inclusion scanning services
at wholly-owned or affiliated service centres in all the major diamond trading
and polishing centres: Mumbai and Surat (India), Ramat-Gan (Israel), Antwerp
(Belgium), Moscow, Johannesburg, Gaborone (Botswana), Windhoek (Namibia)
and New York.
Our 3rd-generation Quazer™ 3 green-laser system and the Strategist™ setup
station are, together, the industry’s most cost-effective high-end solution for
the laser cutting and shaping of rough diamonds. The new Quazer™ 3’s main
advantage is its ability to perform complicated cutting like pie sawing with a
single setup (single gluing), giving more accurate results and saving time. Rough
diamond cutting and shaping services are also offered as a per-carat service at
various locations in India, Israel and southern Africa, in wholly-owned or affiliated
service centres.
The combination of these technologies has redefined the art of polishing
diamonds. They have not only pushed the optimally achieved yield of the polished
stone(s) weight from 40-42% of the rough stone’s weight to over 50%, a 25%
benefit, but also allow the manufacturer to select planning options which best
suit the actual markets at any given time, trading off between weight (size – more
sought in US markets) and quality (Clarity – more sought in Far Eastern markets).
Similarly, the just-launched Allegro™ system does much the same as the above-
described systems, using appropriately adapted technology, for non-diamond
gemstones. The system models the rough gemstone, plans the optimal shaped
polished stone and cuts it as well.As clarity is less critical for coloured gemstones,
there is no inclusion mapping stage, and the actual cutting uses non-laser
technology, as it is more affordable and equally amenable to the softer gemstones
processed. We have here too demonstrated significant yield improvements of up
to 25%, depending on the processed rough stone’s initial size.
We also aid in key aspects of the polished diamond trade - the grading of a
polished diamond’s Cut and light performance and the provision of tools that
simplify the online trade and enhance the in-store buying experience.
Our DiaMension™ family of products launched in 1992 for the accurate
measurement of a polished diamond’s proportions, in order to derive the Cut
and Symmetry grades, are used in all leading gemmological institutes worldwide.
The DiaMension™ HD (High Definition) is one of the industry’s leading and best-
selling solutions for proportion measurements and Cut grading worldwide. The
newest DiaMension™, the Axiom, is based on completely new technology with
micron level accuracy, developed to meet and exceed Tiffany & Company’s most
stringent requirements. It has also become the standard for Cut and Symmetry
grading at leading manufacturers and gem labs worldwide. Our polished stone
proportion measurement and Cut/Symmetry grading systems operate using the
Instructor™ software package. Our original DiaVision™ software (discontinued
in 2015 with the release of the Instructor™ 3.5) was the first proportion and Cut
grading software which was thoroughly evaluated by the Gemological Institute
of America (GIA) in an extensive testing program and was qualified as being
accurate in excess of 98% of the tested cases. It, and the subsequently introduced
Instructor™, have been adopted by the GIA as one of their standard software
packages for use in their Cut grading systems.
Our Instructor™ software also assists in the real-time quality control and
optimising of the diamond’s faceting, by proposing corrections to deviations from
the optimal polishing solution, including unique asymmetrical solutions, in order
to optimise weight (Carat) vs. proportion (Cut) trade-offs.
The recognition that imaging technologies have become essential marketing
and sale tools with the capacity to “show and tell” the polished gem, as well
as branding it and differentiating it from the commoditised standard cuts and
stones, has become near-ubiquitous amongst e-tailers and retailers alike. Dry
tabular non-intuitive data, as formulated in the historic four C’s, no longer
appeal, nor convince, the younger generation of internet-savvy buyers. We have
thus pioneered the Sarine Profile™ which provides succinct image and video
information pertaining to the offered diamonds’ quality and beauty. We believe
that doing so will enable online transactions with a completely new level of
confidence, while reducing costs for both seller and buyer. The Sarine Profile™
will also enhance the in-store buying experience by empowering the consumer to
make a truly informed decision, while allowing chains to offer any stone from their
entire (virtual) inventory, regardless of its physically being in the specific outlet or
not. The Sarine Profile™ is unique in that it offers each retailer, whether online
or brick and mortar, to select its preferred imagery from a toolbox of options
including the various levels of imagery produced by the Sarine Loupe™, light
performance grading and video generated by the Sarine Light™, hearts and
arrows graphics, Cut proportions graphics, laser inscription viewing, etc., all as
derived from our diverse cutting-edge systems described below, along with other
user-provided data, such as the stone’s gemmological laboratory report, retailer
promotional material, etc.
The systems that have been developed to provide these varied data and assist in
the sale of diamonds and jewellery both in stores and online are:
(a) The DiaScribe™ system for inscribing polished diamonds with distinct marks
such as text, numerals and symbols, whether for branding, personalisation or
simply recording the stone’s certificate number.
(b) The Sarine Light™, a system that enables the automatic, accurate, consistent
and quantified measurement of a polished diamond’s appearance (light
performance), in order to add another means by which to value the diamond
and its consumer appeal:
Brilliance -
the intense bright light that shines from the diamond
Sparkle -
the dramatic flashes that burst out of the diamond as it moves
Fire -
the vivid colours of the rainbow that radiate from within the diamond
Light symmetry -
the equal distribution of light that reflects from the
diamond
(c) The Sarine Loupe™ imaging system, which creates high-quality multi-level
video imagery, so that a potential buyer of a polished diamond, whether a
qualified wholesale trader or a consumer, can truly assess both its beauty and
internal features without having the polished diamond physically in hand.
At the highest level, Real View, the buyer sees the stone under 3-5 times
magnification (depending on the stone’s actual size), allowing him/her to
assess its true appearance and beauty, while also verifying, by observing its
inclusions, just how eye-clean the stone is. At the next level, Top Inspection,
imaged at 5-10 times magnification, the buyer can accurately assess the
stone’s Cut and Clarity by inspecting the stone in detail, as viewed through
its table. Finally, using 3-D Inspection, with optional virtual zoom, the buyer
can inspect the stone at up to 40 times magnification, from virtually 360
degrees in all axes, even better than through a conventional loupe, and truly
scrutinise even its minutest details.
Additional technologies which will further enhance the polished diamond’s trade’s
transparency and provide supplementary data are in development, including, for
example, the announced “fingerprinting” and fine-sorting of a diamond’s Clarity
in accordance with industry accepted sub-grades pertaining to the diamond’s
actual appearance (e.g., “eye-clean”, “no black inclusions”, “no inclusions under
the table”).
