Jewellery Between Product and Experience: Luxury …
21
vice president diamond and jewellery supply Andy Hart, in early 2019 to promote
traceability and transparency in the diamond industry. Consumers will be able to
know the origin (region or country of origin) of all diamonds recently mined above
0.18 carats. Each diamond is engraved with a serial number and customers receive a
certificate of origin for the diamonds. By 2020, the New York giant will also be able
to share information on the intermediate stages, including where diamonds are cut
and cleaned.
For this initiative, Tiffany & Co. uses a proprietary and secures database that links
the serial number of the diamond to its origin and craftsmanship. Yet the traceability of
diamonds is mainly associated with the blockchain technology that is still evolving
today. When the Kimberley Scheme for conflict-free diamonds was introduced in
2003, it was one of the earliest traceability programmes in ethical sourcing. But
today blockchain technology is coming to the jewellery industry to guarantee absolute
traceability of every element in the jewellery supply chain. Blockchain tracks raw
materials—like gold or diamonds—from the mine to the refiner or gem cutter, through
distributors and manufacturers, to the retailer and to the consumer. But the real
innovation it is that instead of keeping a paper log, the raw material is assigned a
serial number, and data is entered into the digital ledger, as it moves from place
to place, throughout the material’s transformation. Blockchain systems cannot be
edited and they are extremely secure, so the data that is entered for each step of the
process is permanent. The technology enables diamond suppliers to replace a paper
certification process with a blockchain ledger.
Some companies are applying blockchain in their supply chain tools. Everledger
Diamond is a traceability initiative built on a blockchain-based platform for the
diamond and jewellery industry with the aim to engage all industry participants
including manufacturers, retailers, and consumers to know a diamond’s story from
the origin to the end customer.
Trustchain is a blockchain created by IBM that proves the provenance of jewellery by following the supply chain from mine to store. It includes a consortium of
companies involved in every step of the supply chain: Asahi Refining, the precious
metals refiner; Helzberg Diamonds, a US jewellery retailer; LeachGarner, a precious
metals supplier; and The Richline Group, a global jewellery manufacturer.
Tracer is an online distributed ledger based on blockchain created by DeBeers
that improve global provenance in the diamond and jewellery supply chain. It is very
significant information because 70% of the world diamond comes from DeBeers
sites.
Bit Carat is a start-up with the aim to create an asset-backed token that allows
the trade of certified and safe diamonds through traceability using the blockchain,
ensuring the origin of natural diamonds throughout their history.
Currently, on the market one can find natural diamonds, fake diamonds and synthetic diamonds. Synthetic diamonds have the same physical and molecular characteristics as natural diamonds, but they are human-made and do not take 3 billion
years to form like natural diamonds. The process for their production is costly due
to high-energy consumption, but it has been now so refined to produce diamonds
21
vice president diamond and jewellery supply Andy Hart, in early 2019 to promote
traceability and transparency in the diamond industry. Consumers will be able to
know the origin (region or country of origin) of all diamonds recently mined above
0.18 carats. Each diamond is engraved with a serial number and customers receive a
certificate of origin for the diamonds. By 2020, the New York giant will also be able
to share information on the intermediate stages, including where diamonds are cut
and cleaned.
For this initiative, Tiffany & Co. uses a proprietary and secures database that links
the serial number of the diamond to its origin and craftsmanship. Yet the traceability of
diamonds is mainly associated with the blockchain technology that is still evolving
today. When the Kimberley Scheme for conflict-free diamonds was introduced in
2003, it was one of the earliest traceability programmes in ethical sourcing. But
today blockchain technology is coming to the jewellery industry to guarantee absolute
traceability of every element in the jewellery supply chain. Blockchain tracks raw
materials—like gold or diamonds—from the mine to the refiner or gem cutter, through
distributors and manufacturers, to the retailer and to the consumer. But the real
innovation it is that instead of keeping a paper log, the raw material is assigned a
serial number, and data is entered into the digital ledger, as it moves from place
to place, throughout the material’s transformation. Blockchain systems cannot be
edited and they are extremely secure, so the data that is entered for each step of the
process is permanent. The technology enables diamond suppliers to replace a paper
certification process with a blockchain ledger.
Some companies are applying blockchain in their supply chain tools. Everledger
Diamond is a traceability initiative built on a blockchain-based platform for the
diamond and jewellery industry with the aim to engage all industry participants
including manufacturers, retailers, and consumers to know a diamond’s story from
the origin to the end customer.
Trustchain is a blockchain created by IBM that proves the provenance of jewellery by following the supply chain from mine to store. It includes a consortium of
companies involved in every step of the supply chain: Asahi Refining, the precious
metals refiner; Helzberg Diamonds, a US jewellery retailer; LeachGarner, a precious
metals supplier; and The Richline Group, a global jewellery manufacturer.
Tracer is an online distributed ledger based on blockchain created by DeBeers
that improve global provenance in the diamond and jewellery supply chain. It is very
significant information because 70% of the world diamond comes from DeBeers
sites.
Bit Carat is a start-up with the aim to create an asset-backed token that allows
the trade of certified and safe diamonds through traceability using the blockchain,
ensuring the origin of natural diamonds throughout their history.
Currently, on the market one can find natural diamonds, fake diamonds and synthetic diamonds. Synthetic diamonds have the same physical and molecular characteristics as natural diamonds, but they are human-made and do not take 3 billion
years to form like natural diamonds. The process for their production is costly due
to high-energy consumption, but it has been now so refined to produce diamonds