“Global Natural Diamond Industry needs transparent, practicable Universal identity”
An appeal made in the JGW Hong Kong Jewellery Show by the man with a mission, Shri Mehul Shah, President, World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB); Vice President, Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB) and Chairman, Gemmological Institute of India (GII), Mumbai.
“A diamond is a treasure of emotions, artistry, desire and above all it carries a story. Branding, innovation, jewellery design and craftsmanship take the diamond from business to industry growth through art and story-telling. Movies like blood diamond painted a different picture about diamond and it is our responsibility to make the narrative by ourselves so that the true story will be the result that helps all stakeholders to have an apt description of the diamond.
Diamonds’ journey beginning from mining to manufacturing and upto marketing (famous 3Ms) should be seamless. Here I would like to stress that blockchain technology and robust tracking are crucial and essential for instilling customers’ confidence.
We must invest in consumer level marketing and our efforts should result in responsible appeal and beautiful narratives. My appeal to Natural Diamond Council (NDC) is to join hands with the trade bodies and local jewellers to ensure making responsible, ethical and beautiful stories that would reach the end consumers.
I don’t have any confusion about natural diamonds and lab grown diamonds (LGDs). They are two separate entities though both are diamonds. In my opinion, LGDs can be considered as a gateway to natural diamonds.
Protecting consumers confidence is only possible through clear & honest declarations that are both in English for global reach and in local languages for penetrating every nook and corner of local markets. I also believe that the declarations must appear on certificates, invoices and branding. Entire world of diamonds must focus efforts on making standards, communicate to the stakeholders and speak in one voice to the Governments to implement the standards.
Developing standardised grading system and regulating through Government bodies is a priority. I have a dream that we collectively work on a process to develop a universal symbol for diamonds and register it for global use. It is very similar to hallmark for purity of gold and woolmark for pure quality of wool. Such a symbol carries authenticity, origin and quality of every diamond so that all stake-holders across the globe shall have same information that can not be tampered.
Thus, the future lies in collaboration, authentic storytelling, technological innovations and instilling consumer confidence. I believe a man working in mines, a diamond grader, a jewellery designer and a few more belong to the diamond family, and our collective efforts should ensure that every member of the family be happy”.
is a political war thriller. It dramatised brutal reality of the Sierra Leone Civil war (1991-2002). It also depicted the global illegal diamond trade leading to Africa conflicts, thus the name ‘conflict diamonds’ came into use.
is a secure decentralised digital register. Data are grouped in blocks (files). Each block holds a list of transactions, a time and a unique code (hash). Each new block is connected to the previous block’s hash and thus block chain has lots of files connected sequentially. Changing/tempering old data ruins the chain. Once blockchain is saved, it can not be hacked.
Information of diamonds from mines to customer stores is stored in the blockchain by creating a secure, permanent digital record of every step in the supply chain. It retains provenance details, stops entry of conflict diamonds, makes it difficult to mix LGDs or imitations with natural diamonds and above all avoids paper work.
It has ability to document, verify and follow a diamond journey backward and forward through the entire supply chain. Thus, it focuses on provenance and history of a diamond & possible to connect a polished diamond to its mother stone, rough diamond.
Physical parameters like weight, length and time are traceable to ISO MKS standards. Often reference standards are used whose parameters are standardised & traceable to ISO system.
hallmarking involves estimation of gold in the subsample of a gold article and making a stamp on the article with a unique id that can be used to get details. Hallmarking is also done for precious metals like silver, platinum etc in the respective articles.
is globally recognised certification mark which guarantees that the product is made from pure natural wool. It was developed by the woolmark company, Australia.