A delegation of the World Diamond Mark Foundation (WDMF), headed by the organization's chairman, Alex Popov, is currently in India for a series of talks the leadership of Indian diamond, gem and jewelry industry and trade about the implementation of the World Diamond Mark� program.

Popov and his colleagues are meeting with representatives of the Gems & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), headed by Vipul Shah, the Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB), led by its president Anoop Mehta, and the executive board of the Indian Gem and Jewellery Trade Federation.

Popov explained that the WDMF's global objective is to ensure the health and future growth of the diamond and jewelry industry in the luxury market sector. "It is based on three fundamental principles: the education of the jewelry retail business community about diamonds; confidence building with the consumer public with the WDMF accreditation program and the creation of a generic marketing program to promote diamonds and diamond jewelry, based on the Authorized Diamond Dealer concept�," he stated.

The Authorized Diamond Dealer� concept is the cornerstone of the WDMF program. The international diamond business community, represented by the WFDB, will accredit jewelry retailers as Authorized Diamond Dealers. "This will lead to greater and wider brand recognition of diamonds as a luxury product and to the increased visibility of diamonds in jewelry shops and outlets. Worldwide marketing campaigns will add to greater consumer confidence and enlarge the slice of diamonds in the luxury spending pie," the WDMF chair explained.

The WDMF is a not-for-profit foundation that came into existence formally last month in Hong Kong, SAR, China, following the approval of the foundation's charter at the presidents meeting of The World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) that was held in Istanbul the past June.

"This is good news,'' Popov noted. "The WDMF's core team has done a fortune of work during the run-up time toward the WDMF's incorporation. For all practical purposes, the Foundation's incorporation means that we can now begin operating the World Diamond Mark� (WDM) program with the backing of the legal structure of the WDMF." Popov noted that in Istanbul, WFDB president Ernest Blom was elected as the WDMF vice chair.