Diamond giant De Beers Group has announced that Signet Jewelers, the world’s largest retailer of diamond jewelery, is joining the pilot of blockchain-based traceability platform, Tracr.

In late 2017, De Beers had announced a blockchain-based diamond traceability platform. Earlier this month, the company said that it has successfully conducted a pilot of its blockchain platform – Tracr, and tracked 100 high-value diamonds along the value chain.

Five leading diamond manufacturers – Diacore, Diarough, KGK Group, Rosy Blue NV and Venus Jewel – have been working with De Beers during the development of Tracr. Signet has become the first retailer to join the pilot programme.

“We are joining the Tracr pilot because we believe the project not only has strong potential to facilitate increased transparency and confidence within the industry, but it can also foster much-needed digital transformation,” Virginia C. Drosos, CEO, Signet Jewelers, said.

Tracr is a blockchain platform that creates a tamper-proof, immutable record of a diamond’s journey throughout the full value chain – from mine to cutter and polisher through to the jeweller. It is being developed by De Beers Group with support from BCG Digital Ventures and is expected to launch later this year.