First Chinese Retailer Joins GIA's M2M

RAPAPORT... Chinese retailer Laelim Jewelry and Belgian manufacturer IGCGroup will collaborate to test the Gemological Institute of America's (GIA) M2Mtraceability program. Laelim is the first Chinese jeweler to participate in the project, it said last week. The two companies are also the first retailer-manufacturer duo touse the program, which tracks diamonds from mine to market, theGIA noted. M2M will record the journey of a select number of Laelim'sGIA-graded stones from mine to IGC, where polishing will occur, and then on to Laelim's retailstores. "Since launching in 2017, we have seen an increase in theinterest of the program," said Tom Moses, executive vice president and chieflaboratory and research officer at the GIA. "Consumer demands are shifting andprovenance is becoming an important topic in the buying process." Russian miner Alrosa and Botswana government-owned roughsupplier Okavango Diamond Company are among the businesses that have piloted M2Msince its launch at the JCK Las Vegas show last year. Image: Polished diamonds. (Shutterstock)