Grown Diamond Trade Organization launches with advisors including Kira Jewels’ CEO

The Grown Diamond Trade Organization has been established as an industry body designed to revolutionise the global lab grown diamond industry. Designed to advocate for businesses in the sector, the GDTO’s advisory board includes Kira Jewels’ CEO Mehul Vaghani.

“It’s time for lab-grown diamonds to have its own ecosystem,” said the GDTO’s executive director Marty Hurwitz, the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council reported on its website. “The consumer’s voice is loud and clear; we must organise to meet the growing demand and proudly differentiate from the traditional mined diamond institutions.”
 
The GDTO aims to bring together lab grown diamond manufacturers, growers, and retailers to voice needs and address concerns. The lab grown diamond sector is growing globally and the GDTO plans to create industry reports exclusively for its members to detail trends and provide certifications on quality control and finished jewellery specifications among other variables.
 
“Lab grown diamonds are manufactured to strict standards and should be graded accordingly,” said Hurwitz. “Lab grown diamonds are grown to strict tolerances with multiple quality control steps throughout. Sending a grown diamond to a laboratory to verify the quality after it’s produced is akin to re-opening and tasting every bottle of wine after it’s corked. It simply doesn’t make sense.”
 
Along with Vaghani, the GDTO’s advisory board will also include Valentina Designs’ president Lani Nguyen, Renaissance Global’s president Suhel Kothari, and Daniel’s Jewelers’ CEO David Sherwood among others. The organisation also plans to launch the lab grown diamond industry’s first sustainability rating to promote transparency.