DW JAN - FEB 2020

In ConversatIon
Origin Books – one for each country of
origin, be it Botswana, Canada, Russia
or South Africa.
The Diamond Origin book for Botswana,
for example, talks about how the
diamond industry has built hospitals,
schools and roads, transforming
Botswana into one of Africa’s most
prosperous countries. Literacy rates
have reached above 80 per cent, and
healthcare and compulsory primary
education are free. Over 90 per cent
of the population has access to clean
drinking water and electricity, and
the country has more than 9,000
kilometres of paved road today. With
approximately 20 per cent of its
population employed by the diamond
industry, Botswana and the diamond
industry have created a middle class
and produced a stable economy.
How is the Diamond Origin report
different from blockchain and
other provenance programs?
The service does not currently utilise
blockchain or other digital tracking
mechanism, but instead relies on GIA’s
matching process. While blockchain
provides a means of logging
transactional data, it requires
meticulous transactional
recording at each step in
the process. As long as the
participants in the chain are
diligent in entering data in the
Blockchain platform, the data
should be reliable.
GIA continues
to explore
enhancing
its service
offerings through
many technologies. GIA continues to
investigate the efficacy of blockchain
and whether it is appropriate for GIA
reports and services, including the
Diamond Origin Report.
Can you tell us how stakeholders
in the diamond value chain
(manufacturers and retailers) be a
part of this program?
The programme is open to the industry.
Interested businesses can contact
us and we will provide them the
information to participate as a diamond
or jewellery manufacturer, wholesaler
or retailer. Currently, there are mine
operators, manufacturers, wholesalers,
and retailers participating in the
programme and the list continues to
grow. GIA maintains a list of
participants on its website to connect
participating miners, manufacturers,
wholesalers and retailers. This ensures
that expertly graded natural diamonds
that have been matched to rough of
know origin reach the end consumer.
Retailers and wholesalers desiring
to purchase and offer diamonds with
origin reports may visit our website,
GIAindia.
in/diamondorigin-report,
to find the
manufacturer
participants
listed there. There’s a good chance that
an existing supplier may already be a
part of the programme. If not, they can
contact GIA and we will work with their
existing polished diamond suppliers to
explain the programme to help them
find the right provider.
In addition, retailers can review
sample collateral and point-of-sale
(POS) materials from GIA to help
them develop an in-store programme.
Retailers can also review training
materials from GIA regarding
communicating and promoting the
programme to consumers. Also,
retailers can register on the free GIA
Retailer Lookup so consumers can find
retailers that carry diamonds with GIA
Diamond Origin Report easily.
The industry today is in a constant
flux - conditions haven’t really
improved over the last few months
and a recent report by Bloomberg
suggests that this lull in the industry
is going to continue for sometime
- do you believe this is true? If so,
where did we go wrong and how do
we redeem ourselves?
It is important to engage in telling the
story of diamonds. Formed billions
of years ago deep within the earth,
diamonds have a fascinating story to
tell about the formation of our planet.
In addition, diamonds have aa positive
in the local mining communities. In
addition, diamond merchants and
jewellers in India support health and
education causes. I believe bringing all
these together and presenting a story
will help generate interest and engage
with consumers.
82 | january-february 2020 | DiamonD WorlD