Founder of the International Grown Diamonds Association (IGDA), Richard Garard, is vacating the role of president.
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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