Tiffany & Co. announced today it is now including country-of-origin information on just about all the diamonds it sells over 0.18 cts.
As part of its new Diamond Source Initiative, beginning today, each diamond will get a laser-etched Tiffany & Co. serial number that will include information about each gem’s specific provenance and country of origin. Later this year, that information will be added to the company’s in-house grading reports.
In some cases, that provenance information will also be included on the store display. It also hopes to offer additional information about the specific diamond-producing countries.
As De Beers does not segregate its diamonds by origin, De Beers-mined stones will be marked “Botswana sort.” De Beers only recently reversed its prior policy that forbade downstream participants from identifying diamonds from its mines.
By 2020, Tiffany also hopes to add information on its diamonds’ “craftsmanship journey,” which will include information about where they are cut and polished.
Andy Hart, Tiffany’s senior vice president of diamond and jewelry supply, says that the retailer is able to provide this information because more than 80 percent of its diamonds come from rough that it buys from the source and then manufactures.
The other 20 percent comes from third-party suppliers. “Those are trusted partners we have been working with for long time, and we have been working with them to make sure that their supply chains are transparent,” Hart says.
