City-based diamond cos begin to adopt blockchain technology

Surat: In a major initiative to revive consumer confidence in diamonds and diamond jewellery, Surat-based diamond companies have started investing in blockchain technology to improve traceability of stones through the supply chain.
Two Surat-based companies — Dharmanandan Diamonds and Hari Krishna Exports — have become the first in the world to adopt blockchain technology, which tracks a stone’s journey from rough diamonds mined in the world to the end consumer.

Recently, world’s largest diamond mining company De Beers piloted the blockchain technology for the diamond industry, a technology initiative to span the diamond value chain and provide a single, tamper-proof and permanent digital record for every diamond registered on the platform.

The main objective behind the initiative, according to De Beers, is to underpin confidence in diamonds and the diamond industry by ensuring that all registered diamonds are conflict-free and natural, while also enhancing efficiency across the sector.

A pilot project is underway involving a small number of participants. After the success, the full launch of the programme will be done by the end of 2018.

According to US-based Rapaport Group, Dharmanandan Diamonds has partnered with technology company Everledger to place its diamond-tracking data on to a blockchain platform. The collaboration marries two existing projects: Everledger’s diamond blockchain, which it launched in 2015, and Dharmanandan’s Diamond Time-Lapse, a report that tracks a stone’s journey from rough to consumer.

Through the arrangement, it will now be possible to encrypt the information in Time-Lapse reports directly on to Everledger’s blockchain platform at either the manufacturing or the retail stage. Consumers will then be able to view the entire provenance report with a mobile app.

Dharmanandan and Everledger have named this joint initiative the Diamond Time-Lapse Protocol. It will enable them to record key data about a stone, including its origins, transactions and certification, on an immutable platform.

Meanwhile, Hari Krishna Export, too, has incorporated blockchain into its updated mobile app for diamond buyers. “Blockchain technology is secured using cryptography, which means that no one can tamper with the data once it has been recorded. This is because the data is stored across its network on multiple locations, thereby eliminating the risk that comes with holding data centrally,” chief executive officer of Hari Krishna Brijesh Dholakia said.

Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) regional chairman Dinesh Navadiya told TOI, “The blockchain initiative will go a long way in protecting the real identity of diamonds and would provide a sense of confidence to consumers. Surat’s diamond companies are working hard to restore consumer confidence in diamonds. Imagine, you own a diamond and also have its entire history from mine to market.”