London: The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) will join De Beers’ Tracr, the world’s first distributed diamond blockchain platform.

The diamond group said GIA’s participation in Tracr will enable the world’s leading diamond grading laboratory to include an immutable record of the provenance of polished diamonds in its diamond grading reports for the first time, as the industry moves towards a unified approach to provenance assurance.

“As the issue of diamond provenance rapidly grows in importance for stakeholders across the diamond value chain, having immutable data about a diamond’s journey from the source on grading reports is a major step forward and will underpin consumer confidence,” said De Beers acting executive vice president of strategy and innovation, Ryan Perry.

“We are delighted to see GIA – the largest provider of diamond grading reports in the diamond industry – join Tracr and lead the way.

“We have always believed in the importance of having a single provenance solution for the diamond industry, and Tracr’s leading technological solution and ability to operate at scale are extremely important for meeting emerging needs in this area.”

Consumers who purchase a diamond traced from the source by Tracr and graded by GIA will receive a GIA grading report with enhanced information about the diamond’s provenance, according to the group.

The collaboration between GIA and Tracr represents a step-change in the diamond industry’s ability to provide provenance assurance at scale for consumers as it registers more diamonds on Tracr, which are then traced through the value chain.

GIA and De Beers have a long and successful history of collaboration in areas that advance the industry and protect the interests of consumers, such as the identification of laboratory-grown diamonds and diamond treatments.

Tracr has securely registered over 1 million rough diamonds at the source level and 110, 000 diamonds at the manufacturer level.