Tmall Brings World's Diamond Capital to China

The Antwerp World Diamond Center, a public-private corporation that represents Belgium's diamond industry, has launched a storefront on Tmall to facilitate the sale of AWDC-certified jewelry to Chinese consumers The first brand selling on the Belgian Diamond Pavilion is Shape of Antwerp, which is a partnership between AWDC and Tmall's owner, Alibaba Group Eighty-four percent of all of the world's rough diamonds pass through Antwerp for cutting and polishing before they are sold to retailers for resale to consumers, while 50% of all cut diamonds are traded there, making the city the diamond capital of the world.

While the U.S accounted for 52% of the $82 billion in global diamond sales in 2017, China was number two with 12% - and it's growing, according to a report from diamond-trading company De Beers Group "The growing demand [for] luxury goods in China is generating tremendous opportunities for international brands and businesses.

The diamond market is benefiting from this trend too, as sales are on the rise and China represent now the world's second-largest market in the world for polished diamonds," said Tmall Fashion and Luxury President Jessica Liu As part of the partnership, HRD Antwerp, a leading authority in diamond certification - and owned by AWDC ­- will grade each stone for its cut, color, clarity and carat weight By scanning the QR code via the Taobao, Tmall or Alipay apps, consumers can follow each step of their diamond's journey back to Antwerp, checking detailed information that includes quality assessments, cutting and polishing records, customs-clearance reports and other parts of the logistics process. Source