(IDEX Online) – Jewelry group Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group and the GIA are to use blockchain technology to deliver secure, digital diamond grading reports to consumers for the first time, the GIA said.<?xml:namespace prefix = "o" ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /?>
Clients of Chow Tai Fook’s diamond brand, CHOW TAI FOOK T MARK (T MARK), will receive a permanent and immutable blockchain record of their diamond’s GIA grading information.
This innovative service will first be piloted in selected Chow Tai Fook stores in Hong Kong before expanding to other locations at the end of 2018, the GIA said.
Kent Wong, Chow Tai Fook managing director, said “We are very proud of our cooperation with GIA which gives our customers additional assurance and transparency, and the opportunity to have both diamond grading and diamond traceability information at their fingertips. This is an important industry breakthrough and adds a new chapter to the customer experience.”
Tom Moses, GIA executive vice president and chief laboratory and research officer, said: “Securely linking T MARK customers to their diamond’s grading information through the use of blockchain is an important step to enhance consumer trust.
“GIA has been delighted to work closely with Chow Tai Fook to bring this advancement to the entire gem and jewelry community.”
GIA diamond grading information for T MARK diamonds will be written directly to a blockchain ledger shared between Chow Tai Fook and GIA. The unique record of the diamond’s information is transferred via the T MARK app to the final customer.
"This is among the first consumer-facing initiatives to use...