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the future of trade

PROVENANCE,TRACEABILITY AND TECHNOLOGY

DMCC's Provenance, Traceability, and Technology Forum

This special edition report covers the significant transformations in the diamond industry, driven by changing consumer behaviour, the rise of lab-grown diamonds (LGD), and G7 import restrictions. At this critical time, advanced traceability solutions are essential to maintain the integrity and sustainability of the diamond supply chain.

DMCC's Provenance, Traceability, and Technology (PTT) Forum, held alongside the Kimberley Process intersessional meeting in Dubai in May 2024, gathered hundreds of industry leaders to discuss key developments and challenges, emphasising the crucial role of technology in enhancing traceability and transparency. This report outlines some of the key findings, interactive questions and expert recommendations that came out of the forum.

Navigating the Changing Diamond Industry

The diamond industry faces significant challenges, including changing consumer behaviour, the rise of lab-grown diamonds (LGD) and the G7 import restrictions.

Enhancing Trust, Technology, and Regulation through Diamond Traceability

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Traceability, Trust and Transparency
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Traceability and Technology
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Traceability and Regulation
 
 

01
Enhancing Transparency in the Diamond Supply Chain

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Traceability is essential for ensuring transparency and accountability within the diamond industry. By adopting advanced traceability solutions, stakeholders can combat challenges like conflict diamonds, counterfeits, and regulatory compliance. These efforts uphold ethical practices and strengthen Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives, enhancing the credibility and appeal of natural diamonds.

 
 

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Technology Driven Solutions

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Technology solutions like blockchain, synthetic DNA, and laser microjets enhance traceability in the diamond industry, despite obstacles like readiness and bias. Collaboration, compatibility layers, and comprehensive registers ensure robustness. This technology shifts the focus to unique stories and positive impacts, enhancing the value and appeal of natural diamonds.

 
 

03
Regulation and Transparency

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Traceability is crucial for preserving industry self-determination and regulatory integrity. The diamond industry must unite to establish standards that ultimately foster innovation and remain technology-agnostic. A coordinated approach ensures consistency and effectiveness, enhancing key bodies such as the Kimberley Process and benefiting producers through improved transparency, compliance, and economic opportunities.

Driving Technology Solutions: The Case for Nano Engraving and Blockchain

Nano Engraving

Establishing the provenance of a diamond anywhere else than at its origin  - at the mine  - has an adverse impact on its trust level. Nano engraving can play an important role in establishing a strong trust layer and, over the past years, enhanced systems have been made available to the industry capable of rough planning and marking even smaller rough stones. As these technologies evolve it can be expected that their prices will become increasingly attractive. 

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Are technologies fast enough to consider mass deployment and testing?

Blockchain

A number of blockchain solutions are already widely used by the diamond industry as their immutable and chronological nature contribute to better compliance, proof of authenticity and provenance. Blockchain solutions often rely on other data sources, certificates and documents. The problem is often raised that the authenticity of these documents cannot be verified, yet this can easily be achieved through the adoption of secure, unique identifiers. Linking these unique identifiers to the blockchain records further increases the trust in the overall process.

Key Recommendations for the Future of the Diamonds Industry

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The industry must set its own standards

Given the unique expertise within the natural diamond industry, it is essential to preserve the ability to set traceability standards. This can be achieved by forming a task force of industry experts, technology providers, and academic leaders to create "Minimum Viable Levels of Traceability and Transparency" by March 2025, ensuring robust, comprehensive, and technology-agnostic standards.
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Develop an interactive ledger to stay ahead of digital innovation

It is urgent for the industry to leverage available technologies and fast-track traceability. This requires maintaining a comprehensive, evolving register of technologies, detailing their capabilities, limitations, features, and viability to ensure the most effective solutions are identified and used.
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Promote digital innovation and a technology-agnostic approach

The industry should create a facility for testing and piloting new digital solutions, ensuring robustness and viability before adoption. A technology-agnostic approach should be maintained to foster innovation and avoid dependence on one-size-fits-all solutions.

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Create compatibility and industry trust layers

A technology-agnostic approach requires a "compatibility layer" for seamless data integration and visualisation across the diamond value chain. Additionally, a neutral "trust layer" can authenticate records at each stage, ensuring transparency, reducing fraud, and boosting consumer confidence in diamond authenticity and traceability.
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Develop payment efficiency

Industry would benefit from launching a new technology-based payment model that ensures efficient and timely payment for miners and credit flexibility for retailers, all while maintaining transparency and trust within the diamond supply chain.
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Industry must drive continuous collaboration

Continuous collaboration among all stakeholders in the natural diamond industry—miners, manufacturers, retailers, regulators, and tech partners—is essential for future success. The motto "to go far, go together" highlights the need for unity. Working together, the industry can develop advanced traceability solutions, enhance certification compliance, and foster innovation, ensuring long-term prosperity and value for all.
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Key Technologies and Companies

Learn more about industry-leading companies and their innovations.

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Authentia

Authentia offers a legally recognised blockchain protocol, ensuring comprehensive diamond origin and authenticity. It navigates regulatory landscapes, maximises diamond value, and guarantees complete transparency from mine to market.

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Diatrace

Diatrace uses blockchain to ensure data authenticity and traceability from mine or lab to market. It provides comprehensive ESG sustainability ratings, covering carbon neutrality, environmental, social, and governance factors, using AI and site audits.

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iTraceiT

iTraceiT, a Belgian software company, offers traceability solutions across industries. It tracks products from origin to end user, monitoring each supply chain step and documenting data on the iTraceiT Network.

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GIA

The Gemological Institute of America (GIA), established in 1931, is the leading authority on diamonds, coloured stones, and pearls, providing knowledge, standards, and education in gems and jewellery.

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Opsydia

Opsydia secures the gemstone, jewellery, and luxury goods industries with patented sub-surface laser inscription technology, allowing for microscopic identifiers on gemstones.

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Provenance Proof

Provenance Proof integrates synthetic DNA and blockchain technology for transparency in the supply chain, from rough gem to finished jewellery, combating counterfeiting and fraudulent claims.

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Sarine

Sarine Traceability™ creates a "Digital Twin" of rough diamonds, linking them with digital reports and ensuring traceability from rough to polished, integrating seamlessly with existing infrastructure.

Synova

Synova

Synova uses Laser MicroJet® technology for precise and efficient cutting, drilling, and shaping of materials, including diamonds, with high precision and minimal thermal damage.

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Tracr

Tracr combines IoT, AI, and blockchain to trace diamonds from source, providing a secure, immutable record of provenance, grading certifications, and inscription reports.

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World Diamond Council

The World Diamond Council (WDC) safeguards the integrity of natural diamonds, ensuring they follow human rights, labour rights, anti-corruption, and anti-money laundering principles, with members across the diamond industry.

Expert Voices on the Future of Diamond Traceability

Equipped with the growing support of industry technology, most notably, through the companies who joined us last month, the diamond industry’s demonstrable ability to collaborate and coordinate will continue to be its greatest asset.

Ahmed Bin Sulayem
Ahmed Bin Sulayem, CEO and Executive Chairman, DMCC

Traceability is one of the key developments that will shape the future landscape of the luxury industry. The journey and origin of a product are key building blocks for any sustainability reporting, provenance programmes and for meeting changing consumer demands. Achieving this full supply chain transparency will require technology partners to work together and ensure that all companies along the supply chain are able to contribute to the story of the product and no-one gets left behind

Frederik-Degryse
Frederik Degryse, CEO, iTraceiT

Traceability is about giving a voice to the good that diamonds do in the world and give credit to those who advocate for ESG and CSR practices through their business. It is a platform to build trust with the consumers and show that the diamonds they are buying are truly sustainable

Vinit-Jogani
Vinit Jogani, Director, Lemon-Diatech Group

Reliable transparency and traceability within the diamond industry is a necessity for credibility within the entire jewellery sector and builds trust with consumers. It is our role as enablers and technology providers to deliver inclusive and user-friendly solutions that are immutable, fraud proof, and securely link physical diamonds with their digital documentation. Aligned with the regulatory frameworks, our technical transparency solutions must be designed to prevent the whitewashing of diamonds from questionable sources

Klemens-Link
Klemens Link, Director, Provenance Proof

The foundation of traceability already exists in the diamond industry in the form of the Kimberley Process which provides the basis of ethical sourcing and authenticity within the diamond industry.

Wesley-Tucker
Wesley Tucker, CEO, Tracr

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