The world diamond manufacturer n. 1 produced by Alrosa (MCX: ALRS) has joined the "end-to-end" block-block program of De Beers aimed at emptying the supply chain of conflicting impostors and gemstones.
De Beers of Anglo American, the largest diamond miner in value, began developing its "Tracr" tracking platform last year, but officially launched a pilot program to test the technology in January.
With the involvement of Alrosa in Russia, Tracr now counts with the main names of the diamond industry working as a group to provide greater security to consumers and participants in the trade on the authenticity of their gems.
De Beers, the largest diamond miner in value, began developing its "Tracr" tracking platform last year, but officially launched a pilot program to test the technology in January.
In May, the world's largest diamond jewelry retailer, Signet Jewelers, became the first major retailer to join the De Beers monitoring pilot.
"The collective efforts of the two world's leading diamond producers will allow us to monitor most of the world's diamonds on their journey from the mine to retail," said De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver.
"Traceability is the key to the further development of our market," said Alrosa CEO Sergey Ivanov. "It helps to ensure consumer confidence and fill in information gaps, allowing people to enjoy the product without any doubt about undisclosed ethical or synthetic issues."
The blockchain platform is basically a shared database of transactions managed by a network of computers on the Internet, a technology currently used in the bitcoin industry.
Trac gives each diamond a unique ID that memorises the characteristics of the stones as weight, color and clarity. To support the process, the system will also use stone photos and images of planned results.
Despite the establishment of the Kimberley Process in 2003, aimed at removing the so-called conflict diamonds from the supply chain, experts say that the precious stones trade is still ongoing.
De Beers and Alrosa believe that the development of a system like Tracr, which will complement and support the diamond industry's initiatives and regulations, should help solve this problem.