Crystal Clear

22 Feb 2019
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2 min read
One of the world’s most respected gemmological laboratories, the Gübelin Gem Lab, has just launched its latest technology of the Provenance Proof initiative. With the first digital ledger for coloured gemstones, the Provenance Proof Blockchain aims to offer greater transparency within the entire gemstone and jewellery industry.

Boasting laboratories in Lucerne, Hong Kong and New York, the Gübelin Gem Lab is highly respected for its analyses of diamonds, coloured gemstones and pearls. With transparency being one of the hottest topics in the jewellery industry, Gübelin’s latest independent project combines years of industry experience with innovative and cutting-edge technologies to modernise and bring greater transparency to the industry.

Known as Provenance Proof, the initiative and its services are designed and available for every stakeholder in the industry who embraces transparency, from miners to end consumers. For example, The Emerald Paternity Test that makes up part of the Provenance Proof initiative uses nanolabels to trace emeralds back to the exact mine.

The latest technology is the Provenance Proof Blockchain,a truly inclusive solution, applicable to any type of gemstone and open to any stakeholder of the gemstone and jewellery community who is ready to embrace transparency, and free of charge. With a gemstone’s journey beginning at the mine, the Provenance Proof Blockchain aims to start tracking from here, with every transaction and hand-over adds an entry to the blockchain from there onwards, resulting in a record, providing transparency into the complete journey of a gemstone, from the mine to the end consumer.

The Provenance Proof Blockchain carefully balances the diverging needs of both transparency and privacy. The importance of providing the industry with technologies and solutions to enable a new level of transparency, creating trust and confidence. The visibility into the supply chain is restricted to the entity in ownership or custody of the gemstone, and only upstream, i.e. towards the mine.

It is a simple and fast process that also allows very small players to use the Provenance Proof Blockchain in a lean and efficient way. All processes, including the registration and the upload of data, can be done with a smartphone. This ensures that the use of the Provenance Proof Blockchain is a truly inclusive solution, convenient for all types and sizes of stakeholders – artisanal miners, small-scale cooperatives, large companies, and any size of cutters and treaters, dealers, wholesalers, gem labs, manufacturers, jewellery brands, retailers, and end consumers.

Both the data contribution and access are completely free of charge. Costs are born by the Gübelin family who is proud to make this contribution to foster transparency in the gemstone and jewellery industry in general.

 

 

Find out more information about the Gübelin Gem Lab and Provenance Proof here…