Gubelin and Everledger Launch First Blockchain For Colored Gemstones

(IDEX Online) – The Gübelin Gem Lab and blockchain company Everledger have signed a partnership "to create new transparency levels in the gemstone industry".

The Gübelin Gem Lab, is a well-known gem lab, while Everledger is a global emerging technology enterprise. They said in a joint statement that are teaming up to drive more transparency in the gemstone industry by creating the Provenance Proof Blockchain for colored gemstones.

"Under the Provenance Proof initiative, the Gübelin Gem Lab is developing technologies to further drive transparency in the gemstone industry. In the past month, as part of this initiative, it has kicked off a major project to establish a blockchain for colored gemstones. The project aims at providing a digital, decentralized ledger that tracks gemstones throughout their lifetime along the supply chain, from mine to end-consumer. To design and build the required technical backbone, it has partnered with Everledger, a leading expert in tracking the provenance of high-value assets using blockchain technology. All parties involved in the lifecycle of a gemstone will be engaged including miners, dealers, cutters, gemological laboratories, wholesalers, jewelrs, retailers and the end consumer. The Provenance Proof Blockchain aims to combine transparency, integrity and security, with the level of privacy and confidentiality required to bring these stakeholders together. This technology can be applied to every colored gemstone and enables a completely new level of transparency across the industry."

Leanne Kemp, Founder and CEO of Everledger, stated: “We are excited to collaborate with the Gübelin Gem Lab to develop our blockchain-based solution platform to track coloured gemstones in combination with their patented technology for the Provenance Proof initiative, as a world-first. The next-level transparency that will soon be established in the industry by the convergence of our technologies is aligned with our continued efforts in driving next-generation practices for global markets. Having successfully applied Everledger’s innovative solution to the diamond industry, it is a natural progression to now expand the application to the colored gemstones industry.”

Raphael Gübelin, President of the Swiss family-run business, of which the laboratory is a fully independent subsidiary, explains: “The concept and technology of a blockchain transforms an opaque business based on trust into a business based on transparency. The combination of the blockchain with the application of physical tracers – such as the Emerald Paternity Test – is a quantum leap for our Provenance Proof initiative. Thinking further into smart contracts, it opens up completely novel business models in our industry, and opportunities to establish more sustainable and fairer practices.”