One Voice

The 38th World Diamond Congress, the biennial meeting of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) and the International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA) that was hosted in Mumbai by the GJEPC, ended with a resolve to unitedly tackle pressing issues like finance, lab-grown diamond nomenclature, SMEs, generic diamond promotion and much more.

At the conclusion, WFDB president Ernie Blom urged diamond exchange presidents and members to join hands to boost the global presence of the trade organisation. IDMA president Ronnie Vanderlinden, in a press note, expressed concern over the closure of diamond manufacturing units in smaller diamond centres like Armenia, Namibia, South Africa, Russia, Sri Lanka and Thailand. He also indicated that diamond manufacturing was dwindling in China, which is down from a peak of 40,000 cutters to less than 5,000.

Echoing Blom’s sentiments, Vanderlinden, too, said that the time may have come for the diamond trade to unite under a single header and speak with a single voice on behalf of its members.

For the Cover Story, US-based journalist Cynthia Unninayar travelled to Bogota, Colombia, for the Second World Emerald Symposium, which discussed the challenges facing the emerald industry along with talks on industrial mining, geology, gemmology, origin, treatments, new technologies, jewellery and more.

Vivek Shah of Karma Designs, Ahmedabad, outlines jewellery trends for the coming year in Industry Insight, while Italy Trends showcases design directions from the recently concluded Vicenzaoro show.