De Beers steps up

The impact includes buyers viewing how sustainably the diamonds are extracted in terms of the climate change objectives and the work being done to empower women, the youth, and similar groups.

Botswana, which produces approximately two-thirds of De Beers’ annual output, is the poster child of the diamonds for development campaign that has run for years as a counter to the blood and conflict diamonds.

De Beers is counting on the diamonds for development argument winning against a market which is increasingly sceptical about ethical diamonds, as seen in The New York Times’ article. Diamonds remain inextricably linked to Botswana’s post-Independence economic miracle and have moulded the country’s image as being amongst the precious few to escape the resource curse.

While the Code of Conduct initiative has been in the works for more than a year, De Beers is trialling it at scale now, piloting it with a few of its sightholders, the exclusive list of buyers who hold the rights to De Beers’ production.

The timing of the initiative is not without foresight. The upcoming period between Thanksgiving in the United States (November) and the Chinese New Year ( January), is traditionally the peak selling period for De Beers, where the bulk of the group’s marketing budget is spent.

Testing both Tracr and the Code of Origin during this period will provide De Beers with keen insights on how to move forward differentiating itself from its rivals.

“We have put some quantities in at the moment and we are following them through the pipeline, to see the pipeline’s integrity,” Rowley said.

“If you are going to put claims of origin and sourcing, you have to prove that.

“We have been going through this with our different sightholders and through to the retailers.

“That has been very positive and we are seeing a lot of learnings and how it can operate.”

At some point, De Beers intends to imprint a ‘Trustmark’ right into the diamond that would enable buyers to tap into the Code of Origin story and ensure not only ethical sourcing but the impact the gemstone has made in the community from which it was dug up.

“Increasingly, consumers are looking to be inspired and express themselves with the brands they buy,” says Otsile Mabeo, vice president, Corporate Affairs at De Beers Global Sightholder Sales.

“As a country and a region, we have a positive story to tell about the diamonds that come from here and that’s the story that we believe the consumer wants to buy into.

“All in all, the story of natural diamonds must be a very positive one.”

For Botswana, the Code of Origin presents an opportunity to take the lead in the global rough diamond story, at a time when the industry is in turmoil, not only as a producer but also as the pinnacle of prudent policymaking and ethical extraction.