Alex Popov

Chairman of the Organising Committee, CEO, Chairman​

Chairman of the Organising Committee of the Doha International Diamond & Gemstone Conference

Alex Popov is the Chairman of the Organising Committee of the Doha International Diamond & Gemstone Conference.

He is the founder and CEO of AP Diamond Consult. Until 2022, when the G7 and US sanctions were announced, his agency was active in luxury distribution and retail in the Russian Federation, CIS countries and the Baltic states. He is chairman of the Indo-Russian Jewellery Foundation. As an expert in Russian luxury distribution and retail, he frequently lectured on the topic. 

Until 2022, Alex was president of the Moscow Diamond Bourse, one of the world’s 30 diamond exchanges affiliated with the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB). He resigned from this role when the G7 and US sanctions were enacted. He is also a member of the World Diamond Council.  

Since the 1980s, Alex has worked in the diamond, gem and jewellery trade. During the late 1990s, he worked in Switzerland, serving Swiss watch brands’ diamond needs and establishing a successful jewellery distribution business. After the turn of the century, Mr Popov marketed baguette diamonds for luxury watch brands.

In 2005, Mr Popov established the first private Russian diamond and jewellery exchange. His work and relentless efforts ultimately led to the acceptance of the Moscow Diamond Bourse (MDB) as a member of the WFDB. He has consequently served as a board member, CEO, and vice president and was elected MDB president in 2008. He also held a seat on the Executive Committee of the WFDB. Within the MDB framework, Alex Popov actively promoted diamond and jewellery interests abroad and facilitated bilateral trade between Russia and India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, China, Belgium, and other nations. 

During the past years, he has been instrumental in organizing and coordinating various exclusive exhibitions. In April 2014, India: Jewels that Enchanted the World, the most comprehensive exhibition of Indian jewellery ever staged, opened to great fanfare in the State Museums of Moscow Kremlin. 

In 2015, Mr Popov founded Facets of Mankind - the World Diamond Museum, a unique, ambitious online project that aims to bring all worthy diamond collections to the consumer globally. 

In July 2018, the World Diamond Museum coordinated with Qatar Museums to host “Pearls: Treasures from the Seas and the Rivers,” an exhibition of 100 pieces of jewellery and other examples of pearl craftsmanship at the State Historical Museum in Moscow.

In September 2020, the World Diamond Museum published “Diamonds Across Time,” the World Diamond Museum’s first proprietary publication book in the series of Facets of Mankind publications. The book was unveiled during the Virtual 39th World Diamond Congress.