Garard helped found the association in 2016 and will remain on the board. The IGDA is a non-profit association formed in order to act as a ‘central point’ for communication, education and development of the lab-created diamond industry.
Joanna Park-Tonks of lab-created diamond company Chelsea Rocks has been appointed president. Louis Price of M. Geller will serve as vice president.
“[The lab-created diamond] industry needs to move from a trade status to a professional status,” Park-Tonks told JCK Online.
“I hope to bring people together with a common clarity of vision and purpose.”
She added: “If we flood the market with cheap commodity product and insist on comparing ourselves with Rapaport pricing, this is not a position of strength. I want to work very hard on improving the luxury cache of created diamonds. We mustn’t just describe lab-created in cold technical terms, but focus on why people buy diamonds, both mined and lab-created.”
The IGDA aims to encourage ethical industry practices and promote cooperation amongst its members, amongst other objectives.
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