De Beers Launches Provenance Program

RAPAPORT... De Beers will allow its sightholders to disclose sourceinformation on diamonds they purchase from the company, after unveiling its "diamonds from DTC" program Monday. "We are proud of where our diamonds are discovered, how werecover them responsibly and the role our activities play in building thrivingcommunities," said De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver. "By enabling our customers toshare the source of origin of our diamonds, we hope to drive furthertransparency throughout the diamond-value chain." Beginning from the miner's third sight this year - whichruns from April 1 to 5 - customers can refer to stones purchased from DeBeers as "diamonds from DTC" across the value chain, down to the end-consumerlevel, De Beers said. In Canada, the term "diamonds from Diamond TradingCompany" will be used. Diamond Trading Company, or DTC, is the trading name ofthe De Beers Group Sightholder Sales (GSS) division, and is generallyrecognized within the industry, the company noted. The stones will link to the miner's dtc.com website, which provides origin andsustainability information on its mines, spread over Botswana, Canada, Namibia andSouth Africa. De Beers' sightholders have long been requesting to disclosethe provenance of the diamonds they purchase from the company. The miner bansits customers from using the De Beers name, as it reserves this solely for theuse of its own consumer brands, De Beers Jewellers and Forevermark. However, as the call for greater transparency in theindustry grew, De Beers' policy became a growing problem. The company finalizedthe decision after consulting with clients during its December 2018 sight. Image: Rough diamond parcels in a De Beers sight box (De Beers)