De Beers diamonds have been a prized possession for many years. Ever since the brand was launched, diamonds have been their sole focus. Their mission is to provide each and everyone with the most beautiful and brilliant stone they can find!
100 years to launch a brand
From the beginning, De Beers was all about diamonds. It took them over 100 years before they started producing jewelry, as their sole efforts were spent on diamonds. In 2017, they mined 33.5 million-carats of diamonds! This is a 22% jump from the year before. De Beers’ first purpose is to turn diamond dreams into lasting realities. They do this by following their values of being passionate, pulling it together, building trust, showing they care and shaping the future alongside their clients, the market’s needs and evolution. They work to do all these things in an ethical and sustainable manner.
The 4C’s diamond grading system
Constantly trying to better the diamond market, in 1939, De Beers created the industry’s first diamond grading system, adopted by the GIA called: the 4Cs. This grading system takes into consideration the carat, the color, the clarity and the cut of the stone. Internationally, all reputable labs use this system when grading diamonds, as does De Beers when choosing stones for their Forevermark brand of diamonds.
Forevermark diamond’s selection
Forevermark has a rigorous selection process, with less than 1% of the world’s diamonds being selected. This process takes place at the Forevermark Diamond Institute, where they claim they go beyond just the 4 C’s, as they are looking for brilliance and beauty. The diamonds aren’t just graded after they’ve been cut and polished, but De Beers starts by looking at the rough. If the rough is not of superior quality, it isn’t even considered. Once the stone is cut and polished, they are looking for a polish that leads to the best brilliance. Cut is also very important as they want the best symmetry and durability. In regards to the specific 4 C’s, De Beers only chooses stones from 0.14-carats and up, D-L color, FL to SI2 clarity, and cuts of only Excellent and Very Good. Each Forevermark diamond is engraved with its unique identification number and the Forevermark icon. Each client will receive an Identification Card with the diamond’s details and some stones will come with a grading Report.
De Beers’ mines and practices
De Beers mines for diamonds in Botswana, Canada, South Africa and Namibia. Some of their mines include, Jwaneng, Orapa, Letlhakane and Damtshaa in Botswana; Snap Lake and Victor in Canada; offshore and coastal mines in Namibia and Kimberley, Venetia and Voorspoed in South Africa. They state that they have a goal of sustainable development, in regards to mining and diamonds. They seek to understand and take responsibility for economic, social and environmental implications that can take place down the road.
The De Beers’ Best Practice Principles (BBP) requires that all laws are complied with and that there is no corruptions or money-laundering taking place. The BBP applies to all of the De Beers Group of Companies and Sightholders. They monitor healthy, safety, labor and environmental standards. The compliance of the BBP is verified by a third party organization, the Société Générale de Surveillance, each year. The entire De Beers conglomerate is based around diamonds. From the very beginning, they put much care and time into ensuring they were producing and purchasing beautiful and sustainable diamonds. These diamonds are of the highest quality and you can be confident in your purchase of a De Beers diamond.
De Beers is going digital
Amongst most of the institutional jewelry brands you can find on the Place Vendome, De Beers is one of the rare to have heavily invested in digital. Understanding the potential and the opportunities mainly in Asia, the executive team leaded by their French CEO, François Delage, have established and well thought about marketing and global strategies going that way. E-commerce, WeChat, digital UX as in User Experience online, so on and so forth… place De Beers far ahead in terms of digital marketing. Considering the climax due to the COVID-19, De Beers may be in good position to fight the upcoming recession.
