This blog is written as the world’s largest jewelry show, Jewellery & Gem World Hong Kong, is in full swing. Of course, this show’s results will serve as a gauge to measure the temperature of the diamond, gem, and jewelry market. Its outcome will set the stage for the holiday sales season, which is only a few months away.
Concerning the diamond market, here is what we already know: We can expect to face fierce competition from jewelry set with LGDs. Notably, according to some diamond industry analysts, sales of LGD bridal jewelry may soon reach the 50 percent barrier. This represents a potentially devastating development for our industry throughout the supply pipeline, a pipeline that is facing enormous challenges itself.
Not only is consumer confidence in natural diamonds at a historic low, but the industry, too, seems to be losing confidence in its ability to overcome this unprecedented crisis.
What are we to do? More specifically, what measures can the large industrial miners take, and what can the midstream, i.e., the manufacturers and traders, do?
During the past decades, at multiple biennial World Diamond Congresses and Presidents’ Meetings, we have been playing a broken record, repeating the industry’s intentions to advance consumer confidence in diamonds but never following up.
However, the time of procrastination is forever over.
Recognizing the multiple, major challenges in the supply pipeline, as the only organization that represents the interest of diamond manufacturers around the globe, IDMA’s prime objective is to rally the industry around the table and create a broad industry coalition that will take tangible, practical steps to guarantee the survival and sustainable development of our beloved diamond industry and revive consumer confidence in diamonds.
In March 2022, IDMA 41st Presidents’ Meeting will take place in New York. With the help of multiple sponsors, the Presidents’ Meeting will take place adjacent to the New York JA show, which is a major sponsor.
We have begun working to bring together all the relevant players in our industry – the larger miners, artisanal miners, manufacturers, and traders on a single platform in the Big Apple and present a plan de campagne.
Our industry cannot afford to leave any participants in the supply pipeline, large or small, behind. We need to focus -together – on telling the story about diamonds, the communities where they are mined, mechanized, and artisanal, to the consumer.
We always talk about how our industry supports the livelihoods of millions. Then, let’s substantiate those stories. Let’s tell the stories of people, together with the unique story of diamonds, small and large, that Mother Earth allows us to gather and collect from its crust.