Diamonds. We know they are a girl's best friend.
But is her best friend fake? Or could her best friend be a blood diamond?
For the first time in history, the diamond industry will be able to answer that question with 100% certainty.
Thank you, blockchain.
De Beers Group says it has just completed a pilot project that tracked 100 high value diamonds from their source to their final sale.
It's a platform called Tracr, and the company says it will roll the blockchain powered service out to others in the diamond industry later in 2018.
How does blockchain for diamonds work?
De Beers outlined details of its Diamond Blockchain Initiative, and authentication is a huge part of it.
- At the mine: diamonds receive a unique Global Diamond ID.
- Authentication elements: diamond attributes such as carat, color, clarity, stone images, and physical identification techniques
- During the diamond's travels:
- The diamonds are tracked and traced as they go through many hands: mine to cutter, to polisher, to jeweler
- Tracr blockchain creates an "immutable" trail that guarantees each diamond's authentication, source, and chain of custody.
“The Tracr project team has demonstrated that it can successfully track a diamond through the value chain, providing asset-traceability assurance in a way that was not possible before," says Bruce Cleaver, CEO of De Beers.
"This is a significant breakthrough made achievable by the close engagement of the pilot participants who share our commitment to industry progress and innovation. We look forward to sharing the platform with more partners in the coming months and capturing their insights before ultimately making this technology available to the broader industry.”
De Beers partnered with five diamond manufacturers in the initial test of the diamond blockchain, and they expect this breakthrough to change the face of the industry.
Amit Bhansali, Managing Director of diamond manufacturer Rosy Blue NV, says: “Technology has already significantly contributed to improving transparency within the diamond industry. Initiatives that use blockchain can drive this process even further, as their implementation requires collaboration and trust creation among all industry stakeholders."
And the "immutable" part of the diamond records will be very attractive to those concerned about blood diamonds. The current system of certification is being criticized.
If you want a few more details, you can check out this video on how the diamond blockchain works.
