From left: Mr. Paul Lau, Hon. Secretary of Diamond Federation of Hong Kong; Michael K.K. Woo, of Woo Leung Lee Jewellery Co Ltd.; Suresh Hathiramani, president of the Diamond Exchange of Singapore; Rami Baron, president of the Diamond Dealers Club of Australia; Lawrence Ma; Lily Chan, General Manager of the Diamond Federation of Hong Kong; Alex Popov; Victor Yiu, Marketing Manager of Brilliant Trading Company; and Chow Kit Shing, general manager of Chow Sang Sang Jewellery Ltd.

PRESS RELEASE - Hong Kong, SAR, China - September 23, 2013: A working group consisting of representatives of the Diamond Federation of Hong Kong (DFHK) and of prominent leading Chinese jewellery manufacturing and retail companies met with a delegation of the World Diamond Mark Foundation (WDMF), for an update on the implementations of the WDM's goals, the Authorized Diamond Dealers (ADD) ® concept and programme. Headed by DFHK president Lawrence Yung Yi Ma, the working group discussed with the WDMF delegates the specific needs and conditions for the WDM and ADD programmes to be implemented successfully in the Chinese jewellery retail and consumer markets. The meeting took place during the Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair earlier this month.

WDMF Chairman Alex Popov said that such meetings are essential to investigate how the WDM programme needs to be shaped, adapted and formatted to fit the conditions - economically and culturally - of those markets in which the WDM will be introduced.

"The most important outcome of this meeting was that, skipping the usual explanations about the need for generic diamond marketing and advertising programmes, we were we were able to cut right to the chase. I was very encouraged by the participants' openness to our arguments that Asia, and in particular the Chinese jewellery retail and consumer market, is the ideal 'laboratory' to test run and ultimately roll out the full-fledged programmes of the WDM. Therefore, the discussions were intense and very helpful," Popov said .

He added that the WDM is in advanced negotiations with a leading Chinese jewellery retailing group to introduce the ADD programme into its stores nationwide.

The WDM's global objective is to ensure the health and future growth of the diamond and jewellery industry in the luxury market sector. It is based on three fundamental principles: the education of the jewellery retailers about diamonds; confidence building among consumers with the WDM accreditation programme and the creation of a generic marketing programme to promote diamonds and diamond jewellery, based on the Authorized Diamond Dealer concept®.

The Authorized Diamond Dealer® concept is the cornerstone of the WDM programme. The international diamond business community, represented by the WFDB, will accredit jewellery 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 jewellery shops and outlets. Worldwide marketing campaigns will add to greater consumer confidence and enlarge the slice of diamonds in the luxury spending pie.

The World Diamond Mark Foundation is a not-for-profit foundation, incorporated in Hong Kong, SAR, China.