Why Traceability and Sustainability Are the Industry’s Biggest Trend
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Why Traceability and Sustainability Are the Industry’s Biggest Trend
Consumers are savvier than ever, with constant questions and demands regarding the transparency and trustworthiness of the jewelry they buy.
Brought To You By Sarine
For generations, tracing the true provenance of diamonds has been tricky, if not near impossible. Besides that, somewhere between Hollywood's scrutiny being cast upon the diamond industry and the societal drift towards social justice, a finger was pointed at the diamond community. One reason the industry still holds the reputation that it does is because of the lack of information and the "cloudy journey" of a diamond as it travels from the mine to the retail store.
As the decades pass, slowly but surely, the diamond industry is moving from secrecy to transparency. Starting with one of the biggest turnarounds in ethical and environmental practices of mining companies, it is now one of the most closely regulated sectors.
While the industry is evolving and changing, the mentality and interests of the consumers are even more rapidly changing. Modern consumers are savvier and more knowledgeable, thus coming with a flow of questions and demands regarding the transparency and trustworthiness of the jewelry they buy.
Verifiable Data: The Key to a Sustainable Diamond Industry
The biggest obstacle to tracking a diamond is the broken chain of events in the transformation of a rough mined diamond into several polished diamonds – the stones must pass through multiple owners, such as the mining company, manufacturer, gem lab, wholesaler and retailer. The rough stone undergoes several transformations. Essentially, every change of hands creates another possibility for the diamond's journey to be potentially unreported or wrongly recorded.
When it comes to traceability, Sarine believes that technology is the way forward to achieving full disclosure and trust regarding the diamond's transformation from its rough form to the polished stone. Providing advanced technology to the diamond industry for over 30 years and having over 100 million diamonds pass through its systems each year, Sarine can provide a fully automated and verifiable tracking of the diamond as it goes down the pipeline.
Sarine’s systems are the industry standard for producers and manufacturers, the verifiable data is secured in Sarine’s cloud where accumulated data about each specific diamond as it evolves from the rough to polished is reserved and thereby tracks the diamond through the process. This provides a foundation for the world’s most advanced and unbreakable traceability solution: Sarine Diamond Journey™ Traceability.
The Answer to Consumer Demands
The diamond industry must give consumers access to the complete history of the diamond. They want more than a simple declaration; they want verifiable assurance that the diamond is ethically sourced and that their craftsmanship processes have not exploited people or the environment. They want a guarantee of full traceability and the trade is obligated to provide it if they want to make the sale.
The shift to communicating the story behind diamonds has become a powerful tool to drive sales. So, rather than simply highlighting the grading characteristics of a diamond, the focus is placed on its digitized journey from mine to cutter and then retailer, and the transformation of the stone from rough to the polished piece ready to be mounted sitting in the store.
In accordance, more and more fashion and jewelry houses are striving to become sustainable, with the French jewelry brand Maison Boucheron at the forefront. With its proactive and uncompromising approach towards sustainability, these days Boucheron is launching a new bridal jewelry line for which it has partnered with Sarine to provide Boucheron-branded diamond reports "powered by Sarine."
Boucheron's meticulously selected supply chain eco-system, with actual visual presentations of the diamond throughout the process and in its final polished form. The Boucheron Diamond Report is presented in an appealing and secure digital format, providing Boucheron customers with a fully digital representation of the diamond containing all the information about its parameters and history.
In Conclusion…
Ultimately, the lack of traceability and sustainability in this pivotal moment won't just mean a beautiful diamond without a backstory. Instead, what it means is a massive rift with the one thing that has kept the diamond industry around for generations: the people that love diamonds.
Verifiable data in digital visualized form of storytelling elements have become increasingly important as millennials respond more positively to the narrative that a diamond is unique, has enduring value, is natural and positively impacts the environment and community from which it is sourced. In an ever-changing world, those who don't change are bound to fade. Traceability isn't something we should look at as an add-on to a diamond but as bridging the gap between the diamond industry and the modern generation.
