We need to create an inspiring vision for Natural Diamonds - David Kellie CEO, Natural Diamond Council

David Kellie, CEO of the Natural Diamond Council in an exclusive interview with Sumesh Wadhera, Chief Editor, The Art of Jewellery shared his valuable insights about the rebranding of DPA to NDC and various other initiatives. We at AOJ would like to share this exciting Q&A session with our readers.

- Sumesh Wadhera

AOJ: Recently there has been a rebranding, the Diamond Producers Association as a body is now called the Natural Diamond Council. So what was the idea or objective behind this change, could you please share your thoughts…

DAVID KELLIE: Yes, when I joined it was called the Diamond Producers Association back in December. I joined from really outside the industry, I had spent two years with the watches of Switzerland group in the US and before that I was 15 years with Ralph Lauren so I'm an unusual thing in this industry and someone who's come in from the outside. Obviously when you are coming from outside, my first task was really to just look at what we do, how we do it and are we speaking to consumers in the right way. With the support of the board and all of our leadership team, we came to the conclusion that we need to change. Although the mission hasn't changed but we really need to take a step forward in terms of how we present ourselves to a younger audience. The world of luxury has changed so much in the last decade, we have identified that we need to create an inspiring vision for natural diamonds and to do that with a younger audience than previously we've been speaking to, digital medium would play a major part in it. So considering all that, we came together on the path to say ok we need to present ourselves in a different way.

AOJ: Going forward, what are the various activities which are lined up from the Natural Diamond Council both in the B2B and B2C space?