The mission of the Natural Diamond Council (NDC) is to advance the integrity of the modern diamond jewelry industry and inspire, educate and protect the consumer. Together, the seven Members represent approximately 75% of the world’s rough diamond production. With 35 operations in eight countries across four continents, NDC Members impact the lives and environments of millions of people (more information on https://www.naturaldiamonds.com and  https://onlynaturaldiamonds.com.cn/). 

In June 2020, the Diamond Producers Association (DPA) was rebranded and launched as the Natural Diamond Council (NDC). Since then, the NDC has developed a diverse portfolio of digital content, bringing the multi-faceted world of natural diamonds from epic stories to inside the diamond world, street culture to red carpet, diamonds knowledge to innovation and trends.

By the end of 2021, unique daily visitors to the NDC’s global websites throughout the year have reached 130 million, 100 times greater than the figure before the launch as the NDC. The traffic to its website has offered the opportunity to tell consumers the many wonderful stories about the natural diamond industry and the innovations happening in diamond jewelry. The NDC has also observed that the significant increase in consumers searching for diamond jewelry on search engines and, ultimately, the impact in the significant growth in the sales of natural diamonds in 2021.

One of the key priorities of the NDC in 2021 was to work closely with natural diamond retailers to protect and convey the authentic and unique beauty of natural diamonds together. In May 2021, Chow Tai Fook became the NDC’s strategic and exclusive retail partner in China. By joining hands with the leading retail chain with massive influence in China’s jewellery industry, the NDC hopes to ignite the “Natural Diamonds Dream” among young consumers. 

In this exclusive interview, Mr. David Kellie, Global CEO of NDC reveals the initiatives and outlook of the instititue for the new year.

“The global market for natural diamonds has seen huge increases this year (2021) when compared with pre pandemic levels. This is partly a result of the changing habits created by the pandemic, partly a significant upgrade in digital capabilities in the industry, but, more importantly, longer term cultural shifts in consumer behavior.” – David Kellie, the Global CEO of Natural Diamond Council

The millennials and Gen-Z are becoming the most important consumers for natural diamonds, however, they might have a long shopping list, such as jewellery, other luxury products and electronics. What initiative will NDC take to persuade them to purchase natural diamond jewellery?

David Kellie: As the number 1 publishing authority for Natural Diamonds, NDC has over 100 million visitors to our global websites a year. The millennials and Gen-Z consumers are loving our rich and diverse contents on our social platforms and websites. They seek to understand the people and brands creating those jewelries as well as the stories behind them and also the natural diamonds as an industry. Ultimately, consumers today make their purchase choices with much better information and knowledge. 

Many studies on millennials and GenZ shopping behavior have pointed to the group’s fondness of uniqueness of the products/brands which can represent their personality. This generation has a much greater access to global experiences, even if they’re not able to have those experiences in person. Each individual creates their own unique personality taking into account what they see through social media and the internet, and they can share their personality through these same channels. They are constantly looking for inspirations and culturally relevant contents, brands and lifestyle to associate with themselves.

Every natural diamond is unique, like their wearers. The desire of owning natural diamond and its meaning to each consumer is different and personal. We are offering the world of inspirations of natural diamond for those who would like to fulfill their diamond dream.

Some of the mega jewellery chain stores have experimentally launched their lab-grown diamond business in these two years, alongside their traditional business in natural diamonds. What initiative will NDC take to make sure that the focus of the business of these chain stores remains on natural diamonds?

Kellie: Our mission at NDC is to inspire consumers and create emotional dreams for natural diamonds that are exciting and culturally relevant to our consumers. It is also important to support those dreams by the values and social benefits inherent in the diamond industry. For example, the natural diamond industry has contributed to 16 billion  dollars of annual benefits for our world. That includes healthcare, jobs, education, biodiversity and infrastructure. The natural diamond industry helps support the livelihood of over 10 million people around the world.

It is also our mission to educate and protect consumers. In the light of the market contains different materials for jewelry, we work closely with local governing authorities to protect consumers’ interest and understanding the nature of different materials to ensure that they are able to make well informed choice when they purchase.

What is NDC’s outlook on the business in the emerging markets for natural diamonds in 2022, especially the Asian market?

Kellie: The global market for natural diamonds has seen huge increases this year when compared with pre pandemic levels. This is partly a result of the changing habits created by the pandemic, partly a significant upgrade in digital capabilities in the industry, but, more importantly, longer term cultural shifts in consumer behavior.

We are confident that the success of the industry in 2021 is just the start of something bigger. There are direct market factors such as the number of weddings forecast for 2022 and the growth in online revenue for retailers, but there are also significant shifts in fashion that will positively influence the diamond jewelry market. Younger (Millennial and Gen Z) consumers, both women and men, are now considering diamond jewelry as a part of their everyday wardrobe, not just for engagements, weddings and special occasions and this offers huge potential for the markets globally.

Our evolved strategy launched to coincide with our new identity as the Natural Diamond Council was to elevate our expertise, investments and presence on the multiple digital platforms around the world. Irrespective of which market our consumer is in, she (and he) is spending more time on their digital devices than ever before and we need to show up frequently on their devices with content and stories that inspire them by the magic of natural diamond jewelry. In Asian market, as the consumer is slightly younger compare to other markets, we bring in culturally relevant contents such as street culture, hip hop; language and visual that are familiar to these young Asian consumers. 

Will the competition between natural and lab-grown diamonds intensify in the next few years? How will NDC take up the challenge?

Kellie: We strongly believe that natural diamonds and laboratory-grown diamonds possess two distinctive value propositions: Natural diamonds are finite and rare. The number of recovered diamonds peaked in 2005 and has decreased ever since. Only 15% of kimberlite pipes ever found contain diamonds— and of these, only 1% are suitable for diamond recovery. Laboratory-grown diamonds are not identical to natural diamonds. They are mass produced in industrial reactors in factories. The rapid, artificial production process which occurs in just 2 weeks creates telltale marks within the stones, making them easily detectable with the right equipment.

Over the last 35 years, natural diamonds have shown to appreciate in price by approximately 3% on average every year, and in its 2019 Global Diamond Industry Report, Bain & Co found that over the past 50 years, the diamond market has grown three times. However, the cost of laboratory grown diamonds continues to decline due to mass production. LGD prices have dropped significantly over the last few years with prices down from 80% of the natural diamond price in 2016 to 35% by 2020. The value is expected to continue to fall to 10% of their natural counterparts like synthetic (lab-grown) rubies and sapphires have done. 

The consumers are becoming aware of and understanding these two distinctive propositions of natural diamond and laboratory-grown diamond. 

Small to medium jewellers are more vulnerable to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic because they have limited access to financing and strategic resources. How will NDC help them to survive and develop?

Kellie: The COVID-19 outbreak has disrupted communities and businesses around the world, putting the livelihood of many people in our industry is at stake. It is in these moments of hardship that we need to work together, support each other, and focus on strategically building the common path to a sustainable recovery.

Local jewelry stores and retailers, many of which are family-owned for generations and comprise a large and important aspect of the industry are particularly vulnerable during this crisis. In response, we have joined forces to form the Jeweler Support Network to provide assistance to independent jewelers.  Our goal with this initiative has been to keep the trade engaged by providing skill-building opportunities with free e-learning programs and webinars, financial guidance and legal support, and a platform where retailers can connect and share their stories. For readers who are interested about these initiative, visit jewelersupportnetwork.com in the US and jewellersupportnetwork.com in the UK for more details.

In addition to the trade campaign we have also launched in the US a consumer campaign Support Your Local Jeweler, to remind consumers that independent jewelers need their support now more than ever.  Reaching consumers through social media, we are reinforcing the values of independent and local jewelers and their service to communities. Natural Diamond Council helps to grow consumer demand for natural diamond jewelry, which will benefit all sectors of retail and manufacturing.