The Natural Diamond Council (NDC) has relaunched as The Diamond Collective, unveiling a new logo, purple colour palette and the motto “Old Soul, New Energy.” Announced on 22 September 2026, the move marks the organisation’s third identity since it was established in 2015 as the Diamond Producers Association (DPA), before becoming the NDC in 2020.
The change is not technically a full rename. The Diamond Collective will be the public-facing brand in most markets, while the Natural Diamond Council remains the legal entity. For the trade, therefore, the more relevant question is not what the body is called, but what the new identity and strategy are intended to address — and whether they deliver.
The relaunch is the first major move under CEO Amber Pepper, who took over from David Kellie on 1 February 2026. Pepper says the new strategy follows six months of consultation with producers, retailers, brands, creatives and consumers.
It is built around three priorities: Unite, bringing industry voices together around shared growth priorities; Protect, strengthening consumer confidence and addressing misinformation and confusion around natural and synthetic diamonds; and Inspire, creating consumer desire through culture, creativity and storytelling.
The organisation describes the strategy as a move from defending the category to renewing desire, from isolated campaigns to a connected global growth programme, and from industry representation to shared action, investment and measurable commercial impact.
That last commitment is the one the trade will be watching most closely.
Beyond the identity, the Collective has outlined a universal Trustmark, stronger origin and provenance storytelling, renewed retailer and brand partnerships, investment in AI and digital discovery, and a Diamond Desire Index.
The Index will establish a baseline across the US, India and China, tracking consideration, purchase intent, sentiment and recommendation, with annual reporting planned. The organisation has also indicated that further senior appointments are expected in the coming months.
The Index provides a mechanism for measuring consumer response. But the initial indicators are sentiment and intent rather than direct commercial measures such as sales, conversion or sell-through.
That distinction will be important when the organisation begins reporting results.
The rebrand comes at a difficult point for the natural diamond trade. Natural diamond prices have declined, De Beers has paused some mining operations, while synthetic diamonds have gained market share, particularly in US engagement rings.
The funding history of the organisation adds another dimension. Its budget peaked at $84 million in 2021, largely on contributions from De Beers and Alrosa. Following Alrosa’s exit after the war in Ukraine, the budget declined from a planned $95 million in 2022 to $62 million, $54 million in 2023 and $36 million in 2024.
It recovered to $38 million in 2025 after Angola’s Endiama and Sodiam pledged $8 million, matched by De Beers, under the Luanda Accord.
The Accord brings together producing countries, De Beers and industry organisations, including India’s GJEPC and the Antwerp World Diamond Centre, around greater participation in category marketing. Under the framework, signatories are committed to contributing 1% of annual rough-diamond revenue to the NDC/Collective.
GJEPC formally joined the NDC on 28 May 2026, becoming the first industry body to progress towards membership under the Luanda Accord framework. The move followed GJEPC’s signing of the Accord and subsequent memorandum of understanding.
GJEPC’s membership also includes a financial commitment to the NDC’s long-term mission and category-marketing efforts.
India is separately one of the three markets selected for the Diamond Desire Index, alongside the US and China. That gives the Indian trade a direct interest in both the organisation’s consumer strategy and the way its performance is eventually measured.
Three identities in a decade, multiple leadership changes and a funding base that has moved significantly over four years make the latest strategy more than a branding exercise.
A rebrand is easy to announce; a scorecard is harder to deliver.
The Diamond Desire Index is a step towards the “measurable commercial impact” the Collective has promised, but consideration and purchase intent will need to be connected to commercial outcomes if the initiative is to provide the trade with a fuller picture of performance.
For retailers and manufacturers, the eventual questions are likely to be straightforward: Is consumer demand increasing? Is the natural diamond proposition becoming clearer? Are category-marketing investments translating into measurable market activity?
For India specifically, the stakes are higher now that GJEPC is participating in the organisation and India is one of the Index’s three baseline markets.
The new identity may signal a new phase for the organisation. The trade’s bigger test will be whether the new strategy can demonstrate what that investment delivers — in numbers, not just in a new name and logo.