Jewelry x Blockchain – Fighting Fraud with Technology

Posted 2021-04-29 JeJEWEL

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As “blood diamonds” gain more attention, trust and transparency are two of the most important factors to consider during the jewelry purchasing. Jewelry tracing is becoming increasingly important for business.

Key words: Jewelry industry, Jewelry tracing, Blockchain

Jewelry x Blockchain – Fighting Fraud with Technology

Jewelers, diamond dealers turn to Blockchain for increased transparency and traceability.

Source: Shutterstock

According to IBM, the blockchain collaboration, dubbed TrustChain, will use digital and physical verification processes to track and authenticate the jewelry, diamonds and precious metals at all stages of the global supply chain, following their path from miners to manufacturers to wholesalers to retailers, bringing greater transparency to the jewelry business and making that information available to participants.

Jewelry x Blockchain – Fighting Fraud with Technology

TrustChain links suppliers with manufacturing and retail so you can be sure that your engagement ring came from where the store says it did.

Source: Shutterstock

TrustChain is the latest effort by the jewelry industry to use blockchain – a digital ledger that is immutable – to prove to consumers that their purchases don’t include "blood diamonds" or "conflict metals" and are ethically sourced.

The TrustChain Initiative includes precious-metals refiner Asahi Refining, US jewelry retailer Helzberg Diamonds, precious-metals supplier LeachGarner, jewelry-maker the Richline Group and verification service UL. Other industry players may join the effort as well. Products being tracked through the program should be available to consumers shopping for jewelry by year-end, according to a joint statement on April 26.

In collaboration with five jewelry companies, IBM has released a new blockchain platform to help track the origin of diamond rings.

Source: Shutterstock

TrustChain is not the first initiative to apply blockchain technology to the jewelry industry. A startup called Everledger has been tracking diamonds since 2015, and has already traced provenance of more than 2 million gems. Moreover, De Beers Group, the world's biggest diamond miner who controls about 35% of the world's diamond production, announced earlier this year on Jan 16 that it was progressing development of the blockchain 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 TrustChain project, however, differs in that it also tracks gold and finished pieces of jewelry rather than just diamonds.

“

Diamonds hold enduring value and represent some of life’s most meaningful moments, so it’s essential to provide assurance that a diamond is conflict-free and natural. By leveraging blockchain technology, we will provide an additional layer of assurance to consumers and industry participants, with every diamond registered on the platform having a record as everlasting as the diamond itself.

”

-- Bruce Cleaver, CEO of De Beers Group

Couples who pick out an engagement ring will soon be able to trace its history from the mine to the jewelry store.

Source: De Beers Group

For consumers, the system provides documented provenance for each jewelry piece and insures that each and every one of the participants throughout the supply has done their work compliantly and ethically.

"Consumers care deeply about the quality and source of the jewelry they purchase. This is evidenced by the fact 66% of consumers globally are willing to spend more to support sustainable brands,” said Bridget van Kralingen, senior vice-president of Industry Platforms for IBM.

Van Kralingen added that TrustChain is already up and running for the retailer Helzberg and its suppliers, and that consumers should be able to use the blockchain technology themselves by the end of the year.

Sources: Bloomberg

Reuters

De Beers Group