Traceability has become a central theme in the diamond sector, driven by stricter expectations from luxury brands, evolving regulations, and growing consumer awareness. In this interview, Kirill Van den Abbeele, director of IGC Group and SBD, shares his perspective on these developments and explains how IGC Group is addressing them today.

Could you tell us a bit about yourself and how you ended up in the diamond sector?

“My interest in stones has actually always been there. As a child, I often went hiking in Switzerland with my family, and I would always bring home stones that I found beautiful. I still remember finding a particularly heavy stone once and carrying it for miles. It’s still at my parents’ house today!

The link with the diamond sector came through my grandfather, who was already active in the industry. Later, I studied Business Engineering at the University of Antwerp, where I wrote my thesis on the transfer of family businesses. In that context, I studied three cases within the diamond sector. From there, the step to IGC Group developed very naturally.”

Diamond companies are not yet required to use a digital traceability platform. Could you briefly explain to SBD members what traceability in the diamond sector actually means and what the current obligation entails?

“The original idea was to place all diamonds of 0.50 carats or more on a digital traceability platform. Rough diamonds would first have to pass through a limited number of hubs to be registered. After cutting and polishing, the diamond would have to pass through such a hub again to confirm that the polished stone effectively originated from the registered rough.

Under the previous policy adopted by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre, Antwerp positioned itself as a quasi-exclusive hub. In theory, this is a strong model because it centralizes control and would increase the flow of goods through Antwerp, but in practice it encountered many operational challenges, which led to resistance within the sector.

Although registering the origin of polished diamonds of 0.50 carats and above on a digital platform was long the end goal, this has been postponed several times. Currently, this system has been replaced by a Due Diligence Statement for the import of polished diamonds of 0.50 carats and above. In this statement, you declare that the diamond is not of Russian origin, and you must be able to substantiate this with supporting documents if requested. For smaller stones, there are currently almost no restrictions.”

IGC Group goes beyond the legal requirements in terms of traceability. Why is this so important to you?

“It is essential that the end consumer feels good about purchasing a diamond. You want to avoid someone later discovering that their stone has a questionable origin.

For major luxury brands, this is even more critical: their brand image is at stake. It is therefore no surprise that several luxury brands had already imposed their own, stricter origin requirements even before the conflict in Ukraine.”

What kind of pressure is coming from clients, governments, and consumers to better document the origin of diamonds?

“The conflict in Ukraine has accelerated everything. Since then, luxury brands have significantly expanded their origin requirements. While legislation is limited to stones of 0.50 carats and above, they impose conditions on all diamonds, regardless of size.

Moreover, they want more certainty than a simple declaration of where a diamond did not come from. They want to know exactly which mine the diamond came from, which mining company was involved, whether an intermediary was used to purchase the rough, and who that was. They also want to know in which workshop it was cut and polished, and to what extent all of this can be supported with documentation. They want a clear breakdown of all origins present in a delivery. In addition, each brand has its own rules, often monitored through external audits, though sometimes clients conduct their own audits as well.

Governments also play a role. In the United States, for example, there have been import tariffs depending on origin.

As for consumers: although we have less direct visibility, we do see a clear trend. People increasingly want to know where products come from, whether it’s diamonds, clothing, or food. Notably, however, retail staff even at high-end brands, do not always have this information readily available or cannot always provide reassuring answers.”

How is traceability handled in practice?

“Good administration is crucial. Especially with a high volume of transactions, you need a well-thought-out ERP system.

For larger stones, it is relatively simple: one stone has one origin. For smaller stones, which are often sold in parcels, it becomes more complex. You can keep them separated by origin, but that quickly leads to an explosion in the number of parcels. Alternatively, you can mix origins, but then you must ensure that only compatible origins are combined. There are various calculation methods to manage origin in mixed parcels, such as FIFO (First In First Out) or working with averages, but none of this is as simple as it seems.

Technologically, several solutions are being developed. Blockchain is sometimes used to record transactions, but it often remains a ‘paper trail.’ There are also systems where a kind of DNA marking is applied to polished stones, but these are currently too expensive to be reliably used on a large scale for smaller diamonds. Moreover, in my opinion, this DNA marking cannot provide a hard guarantee of the origin of the rough and ultimately also amounts to a paper trail.

The most promising technology seems to be scanning and tracking the transformation from rough to polished diamond. In theory, this allows every step to be recorded, but the question remains whether this will ever become cost-efficient, especially for smaller stones.”

Can traceability strengthen the reputation of the Antwerp diamond sector?

“It is no secret that in some other diamond centers, it is very easy to access goods with, for example, Russian origin, something that is not available in Antwerp. We notice that some clients prefer rough purchased in Antwerp over other centers. However, this has not yet translated into hard figures in terms of revenue growth for us. I do believe that the strict restrictions on the import of Russian rough have given a boost to Antwerp’s reputation as an ethical diamond center.

Whether this will also translate into clear turnover growth remains to be seen.”

Do you have any tips for SBD members who want to start with traceability?

“Start by collecting basic information about the origin of your diamonds: the country of origin of the rough and the country where the stone was polished. If you work with older stock, make sure you have guarantees that it qualifies as ‘grandfathered stock.’

Even if this information is currently only available on your purchase invoices and not yet in an ERP system, it is already an important first step. If a client ever asks about origin, you will then be able to look it up and provide accurate information.”