Dominion Diamond bringing back CanadaMark

Toronto--During the Las Vegas jewelry shows, Dominion Diamond Corp. will relaunch the CanadaMark diamond hallmark program, a branding program that marks stones as being of Canadian origin. 

BHP Billiton Diamonds originally launched CanadaMark in 2003. Dominion acquired the program when it finalized its purchase of the Ekati Diamond Mine from BHP Billiton last year, as BHP Billiton opted to bow out of the diamond mining business. 

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The program provides assurance through an independently audited process that a polished diamond originated in Canada. According to Dominion, every CanadaMark diamond is responsibly mined in the Northwest Territories, is 100 percent natural and untreated, and is tracked through every step from country of origin to polished stone and cut under strict quality standards.

All CanadaMark diamonds are laser inscribed with the CanadaMark logo and a unique serial number, and each diamond is accompanied by a certificate card.

The company said that it believes the program is poised to benefit in today’s consumer market, where buyers are increasingly interested in the origin of their purchases. 

Dominion will officially re-introduce the program to the trade at booth S10156 at JCK Las Vegas, which begins Friday and continues through Monday at Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino. It will raise awareness of the program with increased marketing activity to the diamond trade over the next two years.

Dominion also noted that an online business-to-business trading platform is in development, which will allow diamond jewelry wholesalers and retailers to easily source polished diamonds from approved CanadaMark manufacturers.

Dominion Diamond Corp., which owned Harry Winston until it sold the brand and its stores to Swatch Group in 2013, has ownership interests in two diamond producing mines. The company has an 80 percent stake in the Ekati diamond mine as well as a 59 percent interest in the surrounding areas containing additional resources, and a 40 percent ownership of the Diavik mine.

However, the company notes that CanadaMark is available to any Canadian diamond production that meets the necessary criteria.

“The CanadaMark program represents the company’s commitment to category marketing of Canadian diamonds,” said chairman and CEO Robert Gannicott. “Through this program, the company aims to highlight the long-term environmental stewardship and social responsibility of the Canadian diamond mining industry, which ultimately will help achieve the highest prices for the company’s diamond production.”