The NDC was founded in 2000 with the goal of expanding commerce for the whole diamond value chain, from mine to retail. One of the organization's primary goals was to reduce the trafficking of "conflict diamonds." David Kellie, the NDC's CEO since 2019, recently addressed at the Antwerp World Diamond Centre, emphasising the importance of Alrosa's exit earlier this year. "Alrosa suspended themselves from the NDC in February of this year, resulting in a loss of nearly half our financial resources for 2023," he explained.
Natural Diamond Council
"This is a catastrophe that is looming for the sector, and I hope we can discuss it as soon as possible." Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in late February, Alrosa self-suspended. Kellie also bemoaned the lack of diamond jewellery to perform on par with the rest of the luxury business, which he attributed to marketing mistakes. "This [contemporary] customer has little similarity to the consumer on which our company was founded," he explained.
Financial Trouble
"Contrary to popular belief, she is not sitting at home watching cable TV." "She has accounts on TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, and Snapchat." These are the platforms via which she is now impacted. Our consumer is on all of these other channels where, other from the NDC and premium brands, the sector does not exist." Kellie's presentation was not all negative; he also highlighted a number of positive trends in recent years, including the emergence of the 'female self-purchase' market. He also stated that the NDC's Only Natural Diamonds platform is currently used by 130 million users each year.
