October 2021 | Lab Grown Magazine

October 2021 | The Lab Grown Diamond Resource Book 28 To advertise call (888) 832-1109 | October 2021 29 “what needs to happen with a rough diamond,” while it’s moving from mine to market? This claim appears utterly unrealistic. Regardless, their corporate statement sticks, word-for-word, now in their online document: https://eco-age.com/resources/hb-antwerp-building-a- more-transparent-diamond-supply-chain How might the consumer direct the flow of a diamond from the rough stage onwards? Even if the policies and procedures would somehow allow this, the stone would have to be pre-purchased. How could one know the pre-purchase price if the diamond hasn’t been cut, polished and delivered? Isn’t their system based on the most direct and simple route? Isn’t bringing the consumer voice into the supply chain a means of adding delays and added conversations? And what if the stone doesn’t match consumer expectations? So many questions… This is where transparency turns more opaque than clear. Hopefully, we’ll gain closure on this important element of their business plan by the third installment of this feature. For now, HB Antwerp isn’t revealing their blockchain partner or commenting on any details on the “very important” consumer connection within the diamond lifecycle of an HB Antwerp Diamond. The Single Source of Truth Addressing mined diamonds only, De Beers made a global corporate announcement in August at the JCK show. The news was its launch of a code-of-origin diamond.These specific stones include a table inscription to identify the stone as conflict-free and natural. Since these are De Beer’s diamonds, the country of origin would be Botswana, Canada, Namibia, or South Africa. The diamonds (0.3 carat and up) carry an inscription invisible without a microscope, and a tangible means of comparing digits on all supply chain checkpoints matched to the diamond itself. De Beers ensures that this marking will not affect the clarity or value of the diamond.Unless the value increases, of course—and one thing that will go up is the price. After all, any additions to the diamond supply process require additional per- sonnel, training, new equipment, and a new form of quality control. All those costs aren’t going to be absorbed by De Beers. They will simply be marked up in the wholesale price.The identifying digits will hit the stone post-polishing via the company’s lab— the De Beers Group Institute of Diamonds. This pipeline tracking process is called the Tracr platform. Similar to GIA’s Mine to Market system, Tracr will use data attached to each mined diamond touchpoint identifying each stone with the branded “Global Diamond ID,” an online system following a single source of truth (SSOT). What is an SSOT? SSOT is an accepted cross-industry process of structuring information in a single hub. Every data element is mastered (or edited) in only one place. Because all other locations of the data must refer to the primary single source of truth location, updated data propagates to the entire system. SSOT helps to avoid the possibility of a duplicate value or missing a touchpoint in a natural diamond lifecycle since everything is supposed to bemonitored and maintained by one centralized system. A common and current SSOT example is the electronic health record, a systematized collection of patient and population data. Digitally stored private health information runs through one command center.How one properly polices all constituencies in this process or enables a roadblock, keeping a mined diamond from advancing to its next scheduled stage, is debatable. Nay-sayers call out the potential nightmare of having a mainframe firewall security breach at a master server in one operation’s location. Yes, there is robust redundancy for connected servers, but that security back-up feature is weakened when the redundancy is at the same location as the main operation’s unit. If hackers can gain access to the main hub’s geographic location, they would know where the backup or copycat servers exist.This A new lush and emotionally-charged campaign from the Natural Diamond Council. While recently launching a consumer-facing campaign with the pretty model in the pretty car, this strategy is elevated and intriguing. The messaging is on mark with their art museum-worthy layouts and copy series. One headline reads: "Your natural diamond helps provide access to healthcare for more than 4 million people" as a photo shows a 30-something Mom patting her adorable baby who makes eye contact with the camera. Very pricey campaign, but worth every penny. (Image: NaturalDiamondCouncil.com) >>