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Further to this, he predicts an increasing interest in social<br />
responsibility from Milennials.<br />
“With this cultural shift in demand in the US is the emergence of<br />
what I would call the ‘we’ generation,” Rapaport explains.<br />
“Everything is community and social. So the idea that people want<br />
to know where their diamonds are coming from is going to grow,<br />
and I believe it will evolve competition.”<br />
He envisions a time when customers will shop around based on<br />
whether a retailer offers a diamond from a ‘good source’.<br />
“A guy will come up and say, ‘My diamonds have a very good source,’<br />
and I’ll go to another store and I’ll say, ‘That guy told me his diamond<br />
had a good source, what about yours?’ Consider what happened<br />
with XXX GIA certification. There was no cut grade. People didn’t<br />
ask for cut grades but now cut grades have come into the fore and<br />
everyone demands it.”<br />
MATTER OF ETHICS<br />
Rapaport, who played an integral part in the establishment of the<br />
Kimberley Process, adds that one of the biggest concerns today is<br />
the “greenwashing” utilisation of the Kimberley Process.<br />
“Companies and countries say, ‘I have a Kimberley Process certificate,<br />
and therefore I’m in compliance with the anti-money laundering or<br />
counter terrorism funding,’ and that’s simply not true,” he explains.<br />
“The industry is still lying about the efficacy of the Kimberley Process<br />
certificates relative to money laundering. I see this as a tremendous<br />
risk to industry reputation because as you see there are more<br />
terrorist attacks taking place.<br />
“I’m not accusing anyone of anything specific but I’m saying the<br />
industry is at fault, and I think those in the industry that say that the<br />
Kimberley Process protects the industry from anti-money laundering<br />
and terrorist funding are liars.”<br />
When questioned whether such an issue has any real significant<br />
impact on a retail jeweller, given consumers, particularly in Australia,<br />
rarely ask if a diamond is ethically sourced, Rapaport is unyielding<br />
that it should be a focus for everyone.<br />
“What’s the difference between a dog and a leader?” he asks. “A dog<br />
sniffs everybody else’s behind to see where to go and a leader says,<br />
‘Hold on, this is where we need to go.’ The fact that consumers don’t<br />
ask about it is not a reason for the industry to be unethical.<br />
WORTH & DOUGLAS<br />
1 800 006 388<br />
sales@worthdouglas.com.au<br />
worthdouglas.com<br />
Follow us on INSTAGRAM<br />
@ebony_wd<br />
“Are we leaders? Are we an ethical industry? If you say to me, ‘Well,<br />
we are not really as we only have to be an ethical industry if our<br />
customers ask for it,’ that is unacceptable by Rapaport standards.<br />
Second point is, as soon as god forbid, there is a problem, then it’s<br />
not just the reputational risk but it’s the tremendous damage that<br />
would come as the governments would start looking at us. Then<br />
people will start saying what are you doing? I think it’s wise to get<br />
ahead of the curve and we should always keep a clean house before<br />
people start to complain.”<br />
Tied with the subject of ethics and transparency is the issue of ‘over-
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