DTC to Launch Forevermark in 4 New Markets

De Beers' marketing arm, the Diamond Trading Company (DTC) announced today (Monday) plans to launch the Forevermark in Japan, China, India and the Gulf by the end of 2006. The pilot program was in Hong Kong.

The DTC Forevermark program is a trail of assurance from the DTC to its clients and to their customers in turn, and guarantees the diamond being purchased is genuine, natural, has been supplied by the DTC and has not been altered or treated by any artificial means.

Invisible to the naked eye and confirmed by the world’s leading gemological laboratories as not affecting the grade of the diamond, the actual size of the Forevermark inscription is only 1/20th of a micron deep (a mere 1/500th the thickness of a human hair) and can be seen using a proprietary Forevermark viewer.

Each diamond inscribed with the Forevermark is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity, representing the DTC’s commitment that the diamond has been sourced and crafted in an ethically, socially and environmentally responsible way.

The Hong Kong pilot was launched in September 2004: nine DTC Sightholders, together with their chosen retail partners, were authorized to use the Forevermark on the basis that they satisfied certain core, objective participation criteria.

The DTC says demand for the Forevermark over the past year has been buoyant, adding that it has been very encouraged by the experience of the Forevermark pilot in Hong Kong.

The diamond supplier plans to increase the number of Sightholders involved in the manufacturing and marketing of the Forevermark. To that end, the DTC will take a major step forward in 2006 with the launch of the Forevermark in the four key diamond jewelry markets.

The DTC believes that the Forevermark can play a very important role in building and sustaining consumer confidence in diamonds. Its key objective is to reduce consumers’ perceived anxieties in purchasing diamonds by offering customers and the diamond jewelry industry a simple, secure and cost–effective way to proactively identify natural, untreated and ethical diamonds.

The six DTC Sightholders involved are: A. Dalumi, Eurostar, Julius Klein, Karp Impex, Louis Glick & Company, Rosy Blue, Tache, Chow Tai Fook and EMA Diamond Manufacturing.