Chairman’s Message - Mr. Lawrence Ma

Founding President and Chairman, Diamond Federation of Hong Kong

Integrity & Quality Above All

Hong Kong is famously known as the ‘jewellery shopping paradise’ for its superior quality, trendy design and the value for money. It has won the favor of Mainland visitors and listed top on their shopping list. They have full confidence in genuineness of the diamond jewellery purchased in Hong Kong. This high level of integrity and in protecting consumer interests have been the mission of the DFHK, which no doubt left an indelible footprint along the development scene over the years.

Striving to Assert ‘Natural’ Supremacy

A ‘diamond’ on its own implies its natural origin and identity. Diamonds are natural diamonds which were formed billions of years ago thus their possession of precious and rareness values. Natural diamond symbolizes authenticity while incorporates emotional and eternity sentiments. Consumer protection is of paramount importance, to this end, our veteran diamantaires in the past two decades have laid the foundations of integrity and transparency for our diamond industry, making Hong Kong an ideal destination for diamond shoppers.

To enhance the confidence of consumers in natural diamonds, professional appraisal is essential Hence in 2009, DFHK joint ventured with the National Gemstone Testing Center (NGTC) in Beijing to form the NGTC(HK). It provides timely and world-class grading and laboratory services to the industry in Hong Kong, and facilitated a common standard between Hong Kong and the Mainland.

Targeting to sustain Hong Kong's position as a major quality diamond trading hub and with the readiness of the retailers to further strengthen the integrity management and quality assurance schemes, DFHK launched the 'Natural Diamond Quality Assurance' (NDQA) Mark Scheme in 2015. The NDQA Mark Scheme incorporates 'natural diamond promotion' and 'quality assurance', this is an extension of the DFHK’s Integrity Pledge Scheme launched since 1970s, and is DFHK’s continuous effort in nurturing the love for natural diamonds among the consumers. Participants must observe the terms of the scheme with full adherence to HKSAR's Trade Descriptions Ordinance, and commit to "Only sell natural diamonds and no lab-grown ones in their shops”. To ensure consistency in execution, random checks are carried out on participating shops.

I am glad to see that the whole diamond industry stood united to build Hong Kong as a diamond brand with the implementation of the Integrity Pledge Scheme and the NDQA Mark Scheme. These two schemes have strengthened the world's confidence in the diamonds from Hong Kong,

Challenges and New Opportunities

In the past two decades, there were enormous challenges like, Y2K bug in 2000, the SARS in 2003, the Financial Crisis in 2008 and H1N1 Pandemic in 2009 and a tumble in the number of Mainland visitors since June 2019. None of these deterred the diamantaires in the city from making headway, because we were fortunate to ride on the high tides of the enormous growth of the Mainland.  Captivating every opportunity in different stages of its evolution, making Hong Kong a major diamond hub in Asia and China as one of the world's most vibrant jewellery market and jewellery manufacturing base..

Since last year, the diamond industry has been facing unprecedented circumstances due to the lingering global political instability, Sino-US trade wars and the Covid-19 pandemic.  Diamonds are luxury goods, and usually sales and consumer desire are weakened in times of economic downturn, we should put in the best to promote natural diamonds while making sure that the consumers understood the authentic value and significance of diamonds. some feel that these will only be a short-term shock, whereas many believe that it is a paradigm shift.  I believe that Hong Kong people here have been united in upholding industry integrity and embracing the "Lion Rock” spirit- the 'can do' attitude.

New and innovative strategies are paramount for us to survive the crisis.  Our pragmatic, resilient and innovative attitudes have a quality that allowed us to ride out crisis one after another yet emerged to become stronger.  Every time we meet a challenge, we turn it into an opportunity, capitalizing on Hong Kong's unique advantages. Hong Kong diamantaires are most grateful with the Mainland as the hinterland to provide adequate and comparatively affordable resources and a huge domestic market. The Greater Bay Area development which comes with lots of opportunities and will be the new winners for the industry.

The DFHK past chairmen and myself have full confidence in the future of Hong Kong’s diamond industry which is famed for its inclusivity amid diversity. We should stay unruffled and vigilant. We have set as a priority this year to build a Hong Kong as a trustworthy brand and to strengthen consumer confidence through marketing the authentic beauty of diamond jewellery. When consumer confidence picks up again, the diamond industry shall regain its strength and move on. Hong Kong will become "The Natural Destination for Natural Diamond”