September 13, 2018 8:45 PM
Jewelry retailer Chow Tai Fook has an app that can access a blockchain record of the diamonds it sells.
Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group, part of a prominent Hong Kong conglomerate, will provide customers with information regarding the origin and quality of its diamonds, according to a report from the South China Morning Post. This service is enabled by blockchain technology startup Everledger and secured by the IBM Blockchain Platform. Individuals can access the diamond information through the company’s T Mark app.
Alan Chan, general manager of group branding for Chow Tai Fook, said that young consumers are often interested in the life cycle of diamonds. Therefore, he believes “there is a growing importance for jewellers to help ascertain the origin and authenticity of gemstones by leveraging modern technology” like blockchain.
The company’s managing director, Kent Wong, added that the service will both allow customers to conveniently manage their diamonds and provide them with greater knowledge of their gem assets.
Apparently, 3,000 T Mark diamond reports are already available via the blockchain platform. The diamonds have reportedly been graded by the Gemological Institute of America, a nonprofit organization dedicated to gemology research and education. Although the information service is initially being rolled out for four Hong Kong stores, Chow Tai Fook plans to expand to 10 stores and provide reports for 10,000 diamonds.
De Beers Group, a major diamond producer, has already pursued a similar blockchain-based initiative called Tracr, the pilot of which was announced in January. The company said the platform should be available to the rest of the diamond industry by the end of the year.
Daniel Putney is a full-time writer for ETHNews. He received his bachelor’s degree in English writing from the University of Nevada, Reno, where he also studied journalism and queer theory. In his free time, he writes poetry, plays the piano, and fangirls over fictional characters. He lives with his partner, three dogs, and two cats in the middle of nowhere, Nevada.
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