The World Diamond Day, held for the first time on April 8 this year and championed by the Natural Diamond Council (NDC), generated 30 million social media impressions, but its creator Nicolas Chrétien interviewed by Rapaport believes that it is only "a first step" for the initiative.
"What I wanted to create was not another campaign," Rapaport quotes Chrétien as saying. "What I had in mind was something structural, one day each year when the entire industry pauses, aligns, and speaks with the same intention."
According to him, even though diamond and jewelry sectors possess "one of the most powerful global networks in existence" which includes miners, manufacturers, brands, retailers, designers, and a sizeable social media presence, it has never been activated in a unison.
In this context, the World Diamond Day provides a simple but powerful communication channel to celebrate natural diamonds "with clarity and genuine intention," Chrétien argues, and aims to change the industry’s marketing response from "largely reactive" to "purposeful."
"The response on April 8 was genuinely encouraging and revealing. It confirmed that unity within this industry is not just possible, but powerful. But I want to be honest: that first edition was exactly that. A first step," he noted.
"Looking ahead to World Diamond Day 2027, the initiative will move decisively toward consumers. Retailers and designers will engage their clients directly, not with a sales pitch, but with an invitation to celebrate their own stories, to reconnect with notions of love, continuity and meaning."
Chrétien is a founding member of the World Diamond Heritage Board (WDHB), an organization dedicated to preserving, promoting, and transmitting the cultural, emotional, and historical value of natural diamonds across generations.
Its upcoming initiatives include an establishment of the World Diamond Heritage List of 100 diamonds that have shaped human history, and achieving a formal recognition of natural diamonds as both a material and an intangible heritage of humanity with the Mission UNESCO 2028.
"In 5 to 10 years, I believe natural diamonds will reveal their full meaning and power in a way the industry has not yet imagined," Chrétien said. "People are beginning to hunger for what cannot be manufactured. For what is irreversibly real."
Theodor Lisovoy, Managing Editor, Rough&Polished
