INNOVATION 创新科技 26 | JNA January/February 2025 Traceability platforms and artificial intelligence (AI) are reshaping the gem and jewellery industry, fundamentally altering processes and priorities in an increasingly digital world marked by economic and political uncertainties as well as evolving market preferences. Blockchain first made its presence felt in the diamond space in 2018. Once framed as a transparency and provenance mechanism to enhance the diamond narrative, it has steadily evolved into a vehicle for integrity, sustainability and legitimacy in a geopolitically charged ecosystem and a socially conscious society. For instance, given heightened vigilance in the past year over the entry of Russian diamonds in key markets, blockchain-powered traceability solutions have emerged as possible safeguards against such eventualities. Wesley Tucker, CEO of Tracr, the De Beers-backed digital platform that tracks diamonds from mine to consumer told JNA, “While we did not build Tracr to regulate trade restrictions, our system has the best balance of scale, certainty and compliance, making it a seamless, effective and efficient way to prove the origin of diamonds.” Provenance The real game changer though is the wider commercial application of diamond traceability platforms for transparency, provenance and responsible sourcing. Such systems are now a powerful tool to counter market misgivings over the product’s origins and its environmental and social impact. Tracking platforms now abound in various forms, and traceable diamonds could indeed become a product category all its own, despite concerns over possible premiums for such goods. Originally a De Beers initiative before becoming an industry-wide platform in 2023, Tracr covers the entire diamond supply chain. As of September 2024, it had tamperproof digital fingerprints of 2.8 million rough diamonds. Tucker said, “Every month, we load about a quarter of the world’s diamonds onto Tracr. It is quite a sizable portion of production, which keeps on increasing as we onboard more producers. The most recent joiners are Mountain Province Diamonds in Canada and Petra Diamonds in South Africa. We should have around 40 to 50 per cent of global production in the next 12 to 15 months.” Tracr can register rough as small as three grainers, which would yield 30 points in polished. “Our algorithmic matching feature now enables us to trace rough diamonds through scans in different locations at scale. It can match a scan created in Botswana with a scan created in India to trace the rough all way back to the source,” Tucker shared. Midstream and downstream expansion is a priority hence Tracr is actively growing its network and making the technology available at scale. Scanners are delivered to miners, manufacturers and retailers for them to add their production to the platform. Downstream partners include major diamond jewellery retailers such as Signet and Brilliant Earth. “The manufacturers on Tracr already represent half of the world’s diamond production capacity, and this will only grow. We also want to see retailers stocking a larger percentage of diamonds that are traceable,” said Tucker. Tracr also partners with laboratories and diamond solutions providers around the world such as the Gemological Institute of America, Sarine Technology Group and Innovseed on interoperability with their diamond grading reports and products. Tamper-proof authentication Patent-backed blockchain platform Authentia, for its part, places the emphasis on robust Intellectual Property (IP) protection in ensuring diamond authentication and verification. Driven by 26 IP governance principles, it offers a “Rule of Law” to police blockchain entries and guarantee | Olivia Quiniquini 程爱莉 and Bernardette Sto. Domingo 杜明高 | The jewellery industry is witnessing an unprecedented surge in technological advancements that are revolutionising production, operations and efficiencies in the trade, with traceability platforms and artificial intelligence leading the charge. 珠宝业正取得前所未有的技术成就，彻底提升行业的生产和运营效率，当中可追溯平台和人工智慧 正在引领大潮流 。 in the new year 蛇年迎新意 Innovation
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