【Vietnam】Who Controls Vietnam’s Diamond Grading Market?

The Vietnamese diamond grading market is a closed market, with the majority of market share held by member companies of the gold, silver, and gemstone trading ecosystem.

The diamond market in Vietnam is facing a crisis of confidence as scandals continue to unfold. Notably, after Mr. Dang Ngoc Thao – former Director of PNJ’s grading subsidiary P-Lab – was prosecuted and detained for his involvement in a diamond smuggling ring.
Both P-Lab and PNJ subsequently stated that the case falls under Mr. Thao’s personal legal responsibility. All diamonds traded by the company are certified according to GIA standards, and the technical specifications of each stone can be traced upon request.
This event follows a series of upheavals since late April this year, when numerous diamond brands such as Kim Ly and Ngoc Doan were called out for quality issues. Subsequently, many major diamond stores in Ho Chi Minh City suddenly closed their doors, and their sales websites ceased operations.

Looking back at history, Vietnam’s gemstone grading market began forming in 1995 with the emergence of public institutions like the REXCO Gemstone Grading Laboratory (later the Research Center for Geology and Gemstones – RGG). However, the commercial landscape truly took shape in 1996 when PNJ established P-Lab.
P-Lab was not only the first unit in Vietnam to achieve the international ISO/IEC 17025 standard but also pioneered the application of laser inscription technology on diamond girdles – a feature described as the immutable “identification code” of each gemstone.

At its peak, P-Lab held up to 70% of the national diamond grading market share, processing over 10,000 products per month, including diamonds worth millions of USD. Its certificates gradually became one of the most trusted by consumers.
The success of P-Lab also set a precedent, creating a formula that many other gold, silver, and gemstone giants later adopted to complete their closed-loop value chains.
Specifically, the DOJI Group owns DOJILAB (formerly the DOJI Gold, Silver, and Gemstone Grading Center, established in 2009). This enterprise operates both grading and training divisions. SJC holds a 49% stake in Rong Vang LAB (established in 2005), acting as the quality gatekeeper for input and output of gold and diamond jewelry products under the national gold brand.

In addition to the aforementioned entities, Sacombank also owns Sacombank-SBJ (operating since 2009), combining grading with the development of feng shui jewelry. Agribank is present through GIV (Center for Research and Grading of Gemstones), a subsidiary of Asean Gold and Gemstone Joint Stock Company.
Alongside these “big players,” the market in recent years has seen fragmentation with smaller-scale units (with charter capital of only about 1 billion VND), such as the Vietnam Natural Diamond and Gemstone Grading Joint Stock Company – VDG (established 2018), the An Dong Gemstone Research and Grading Joint Stock Company – AD Lab (established 2023), and the VINAGEMS Institute of Gemstone and Gold Research (IGG).
Notably, the leaders of these smaller units often also own or manage private jewelry businesses.
Given this landscape of Vietnam’s diamond grading market, the majority of the diamond and gemstone grading market share is currently held by member companies of the “big players” in gold, silver, and gemstones.
This is in stark contrast to the global norm, where the most powerful grading organizations, such as GIA (Gemological Institute of America), HRD Antwerp, and the International Gemological Institute (IGI), operate as non-profit organizations or completely independent corporations.

The principle of not trading what one grades and not grading what one trades is maintained by international grading institutions. This complete separation of interests is the most fundamental filter to ensure objectivity and protect consumers when purchasing diamond and gemstone products worth millions of USD.