De Beers’ Forevermark Rejects Zimbabwean Marange Field Diamonds
11/15/2011 5:06:40 AM Shira
De Beers has announced that its retail arm, Forevermark, will not sell diamonds from Zimbabwe’s Marange diamond field, despite the approval the mine has received to export diamonds from the Kimberley Process (after sales were banned in 2009). De Beers initially entered in Zimbabwe in 1993 and left in 2006. Forevermark currently obtains the majority of its diamonds from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, and Canada.
“The Forevermark carries a guarantee that the diamonds used for our products have contributed positively to communities, the environment and supply chains along the way,” said Stephen Lussier, the CEO of Forevermark.
Lussier has commented that Marange diamonds do not meet the company’s expectations because they are generally too low in quality for his brand. Lussier has also said the less than 1% of the world’s diamonds are eligible to receive the Forevermark brand. Forevermark diamonds bear the company icon and a unique identification number.
Forevermark is also set to make its South African debut shortly, in parternship with the jewelry manufacturer and diamond distributor Caracto.
“Forevermark has achieved outstanding success in its existing markets such as China, Hong Kong, Japan and India, and we believe the brand will be just as successful in South Africa” said Lussier.
After buying out the Oppenheimer family’s 40% share of De Beers, Anglo American recently announced that it would be taking over all of De Beers operations. The Forevermark brand has been expanding its global reach in recent years, entering markets such as China, Japan, India, and the US. De Beers has significantly shifted its focus to emerging markets in recent years—in particular, China. China is predicted to become the second largest diamond market in the world in the coming years.
“The Chinese are very focused on luxury goods. An upper-middle-class Chinese consumer will spend about six times as much as his or her Western counterpart on acquiring luxury goods, which makes this a very exciting market for De Beers and Forevermark,” said Lussier.
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