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The Forevermark
The Forevermark of the DTC, introduced in September 2004 in Hong Kong, will
present a challenge to the industry worldwide. The inscription (on
the table of the diamond) is meant to show that a Forevermark diamond
is genuine, natural and has not been altered or treated. The
inscription consists of the Forevermark icon and an
identification number, and can only be seen with a DTC Forevermark
viewer. At the launch, De Beers Chairman, Nicky Oppenheimer, remarked
that the idea was to build and sustain consumer confidence in natural
diamonds.
The diamonds engraved with the Forevermark are on sale at 100 retail
outlets throughout Hong Kong owned by six authorized jewelers:
Chopard, Chow Sang Sang, Chow Tai Fook, Just Diamond, Larry Jewelry,
and Luk Fook. All feature the Forevermark initiative on their jewelry
internet sites.
There are 9 sightholders (A. Dalumi Diamonds, Chow Tai Fook, EMA
Diamond Manufacturing, Eurostar Diamond Holding, Julius Klein
Diamonds, Karp Impex, Louis Glick & Company, Rosy Blue, and Tache
Company) who were chosen for this pilot project because they had
systems in place to ensure the traceability of DTC diamonds in the
Forevermark program and were willing to submit to independent
auditing of their pipeline-integrity. EFD has since joined the program
with the
princess cut diamond.
A month before the launch, jewelry with the Forevermark was
advertised in the Hong Kong version of Elle magazine.
It will be interesting to follow this and to see if the goal of
selling approximately 20,000 Forevermark stones by August 2005 can be
achieved.
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