Ernest Blom, WFDB President addresses WDC India 2014

Ernest Blom, President of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) addressed the World Diamond Conference (WDC) held in Delhi, India. WDC India 2014 is taking place at Vigyan Bhavan, Delhi during 11-12 December 2014.

Blom acknowledged and thanked the GJEPC, WDM and Alrosa for sponsoring an event of this nature to plan and build the position of diamond jewellery in the luxury goods market. The importance of this can be judged by the attendance of Vladimir Putin, the Russian President and Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India.

Reference was made by Blom to the long association between India and diamonds, probably going back 6,000 years and its current standing in the market as the biggest cutter and polisher of diamonds by volume in the world.

He pointed out that the responsibility for developing a marketing plan and strategy for diamond jewellery has become the responsibility of the industry as they can no longer rely on mining houses to do this. The WFDB representing 30 Bourses across the globe has for the past 67 years been at the forefront of developments in the diamond industry. The WFDB has recognised the importance of marketing and the elevation of the status of diamond jewellery in the eyes of the consumer when competing for the luxury Dollar spend. Based on this assessment, the WFDB created the World Diamond Mark (WDM). The WDM has been very active in building awareness, raising funds and launching this very extensive program to assist with the marketing of diamond jewellery. Blom thanked his colleagues at the WDM for their commitment and success in the roll-out of the key development for the WFDB.

Reference was made as to how the diamond industry is dependent on Mother Earth for its product and that natural diamonds take millions of years to be made deep inside the Earth as opposed to other products in the luxury market that can be produced by factories based on demand.

The matter pertaining to diamond certificates was raised by Blom in reference to recent issues regarding grading and he stated that the WFDB will be hosting a meeting in early 2015 to facilitate discussion about grading standards and methodology for the industry. This meeting will be inclusive of industry people and key laboratories from around the world.