Earlier this month, 52 countries, including Canada, adopted a certification program to help stop the sale of conflict diamonds. Under the agreement christmas gift, known as the Kimberley Process after the town in South Africa where it began in 2000, diamonds must be accompanied by certificates that detail where rough diamonds came from. The program is to take effect in January. Officials say about 4 per cent of mined diamonds come from areas of conflict, although human rights groups say the total is likely higher.
When the Canadian industry this month unveiled a voluntary code of conduct designed to ensure that diamonds promoted as Canadian are indeed mined in Canada christmas gift on sale, those involved took pains to emphasize the code was about truth in advertising – not about blood diamonds.
In what could be seen as typically Canadian style, the idea is to emphasize what’s nice about Canadian gems – and not what’s bad about the rest.
”I just say this diamond, from source to sale, has a provenance guarantee like no other diamond in the world,” Mr. Ben-Oliel says Links Rings .
As branding gathers momentum in the diamond world, there is no clear-cut agreement on the best way to go about it. Unlike other luxury goods – a watch, say, or a car or even luggage – diamonds are small and to some degree anonymous. The well-trained eye can spot a fake or flaw, but most consumers can’t.
Experts say branding will come through special or unique cuts, value-added items such as certification or the cachet of a particular retailer links of london friendship Bracelet.
When the Diavik Diamond Project – only 30 kilometres from Ekati – gears up for production, expected in the first half of 2003, it has no intention of branding its own diamonds.