Earlier this month, a meeting of the Young Diamantaires Association (YDA) was held at the London Diamond Bourse. The event was initiated by Alan Cohen the President of the Club and coordinated by David Troostwyk, a LDB board member.
The meeting was chaired by Rami Baron, President of the Diamond Dealers Club of Australia and YDA Founder. The YDA operates under the auspices of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB). The meeting stimulated robust conversation and insight for all who attended with feedback confirming it was a great success, and convincing the board of the value to plan more such meetings in the future.
The key, according to Rami Baron, is to invite youngsters in the diamond trade from outside a club or bourse, to share their thoughts and views, improving communications in the trade especially with the next generation.
"There is so much disruption in our trade. After all, the current generation has uses tools like Whatsapp to chat and therefore often may not feel the need to attend regular meetings. Meeting face to face, however, is crucial in connecting us. By meeting one can appreciate that most conversations may be happening in a different medium today, but nothing beats a get together once in a while," Baron said.
The Young Diamantaires group has well over 200 members from 18 countries. Recently it embarked on contributing to the positive social media input of promoting natural diamonds. In support of this De Beers has sponsored a special tour for 25 YDA members to visit the Venetia mine in Limpopo South Africa and meet surrounding communities who have benefited from diamond mining.
The YDA is open to all those - under 45 - who are active in rough, polished and diamond jewellery , both wholesale and retail.
"The next meeting will be a breakfast in Hong Kong at the September show. Last year it was oversubscribed, so get in early," Baron warns.
To join the YDA, a referral is needed from someone already in the group or from a local diamond club or bourse.