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Articles from DIAMOND JEWELLERY (1026 Articles), DIAMONDS BY CUT - BRILLIANT (ROUND) (290 Articles), INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS (263 Articles)
More entities are beginning to enquire about the project and how they can be involved
World Diamond Mark gathers support
Posted September 09, 2013 | By Emily Mobbs • Former Editor
The World Diamond Mark is rapidly gaining support from international
stakeholders following the announcement that a pilot program for the
diamond marketing project would be going ahead next year.
As reported previously by Jeweller, the World Diamond Mark (WDM) is an initiative of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) and aims to be the new marketing arm of the entire diamond and diamond jewellery sector, ensuring the health and future growth of the industry.
President of the Diamond Dealers Club of Australia and executive member of the WFDB, Rami Baron, said increasingly more entities were enquiring about the project and how they could be involved.
“Last week we had some tremendous support from the International Diamond Manufacturers Association who has really galvanised behind it as well. They actually published a whole article about their support for it, which was great,” he explained.
The WFDB in Turkey has also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with CIBJO, and, while Baron said it was early days and would not speak on behalf CIBJO, he did suggest it would be “very exciting should they decide to directly participate”.
Leaders of the Diamond Dealers Club of New York and the Diamond Manufacturers and Importers Association of America have also recently pledged their support to the program’s objectives.
“What we’re [WFDB] interested in doing is building broad support. We’ve had a lot of interested support from HRD Antwerp and GIA. Of course they want to understand how to participate and how we see them as participating,” Baron said.
As part of the plan to increase support for the initiative, visitors attending the Sydney jewellery fair last week were privy to an exclusive preview of the project as well as a brief history on the world of diamonds.
Baron, who presented the seminars, noted that he received a lot of positive feedback from the Australian industry.
“Everyone was really excited by the fact that something like this is happening. A lot of those in attendance were surprised that the project was already so well developed.
“There was a lot of interest from the club, a lot of interest in how people can participate, what sort of things will be involved in the accreditation. They were really interested to know, or should I say happy to know, that a diamond club exists in Australia and that they don’t have to be, strictly speaking, a diamond dealer to participate,” Baron said.
Next stage
The committee in charge of spearheading the WDM will be meeting with industry representatives from Hong Kong this Thursday 12 September.
The funding for the WDM pilot program was secured from the Bharat Diamond Bourse and Indian Sightholders. It begins next year in Hong Kong and mainland China.
While in Hong Kong, the committee also plans to further “tweak” both the pilot and accompanying accreditation program.
The plot might be about to thicken, however, as Baron hinted that there was also a European country that would like to be considered for a pilot program. He would not disclose any further information.
The WDM is a non-profit organisation operating from Hong Kong that was first announced in October 2012. The WFDB is the largest diamond organisation representing 28 affiliated diamond bourses worldwide.
More reading:
Diamond marketing plan to be unveiled at fair
World Diamond Mark moves step closer
Diamond industry develops World Diamond Mark initiative
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