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{{short description|International corporation specialising in diamonds}}{{Use South African English|date=May 2012}}{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}

factoids

Cecil Rhodes| dissolved = | location = London, England, UK| area_served = WorldwideDuncan Wanblad {{smallAl Cook {{small|(CEO)}}}}| products = Diamonds| services = Diamond mining, marketing, grading and jewelleryUS$6.08 billion {{small>(2018)}}Anglo American: Year end financial report for the year ending 31 December 2018, February 2018, Retrieved: 15 April 2019.| operating_income = Anglo American plc (85%), Government of Botswana (15%) }}| num_employees = {{circa}} 20,000| num_employees_year = | parent = | divisions = | subsid = | footnotes = weblink}}}}The De Beers Group is a South African-Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "De Beers S.A.". Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Sep. 2022,weblink Accessed 28 August 2023. British corporation that specializes in diamond mining, diamond exploitation, diamond retail, diamond inscription and grading services, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. The company is active in open-pit, underground, large-scale alluvial and coastal mining. It operates in 35 countries with mining taking place in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Canada. It also has an artisanal mining business, Gemfair, which operates in Sierra Leone.From its inception in 1888 until the start of the 21st century, De Beers controlled 80% to 85% of rough diamond distribution and was considered a monopoly.JOURNAL, Chang, So-Young, Heron, Amanda, Kwon, John, Maxwell, Geoff, Rocca, Lodovico, Tarajano, Orestes, Fall 2002, The Global Diamond Industry,weblink Chazen Web Journal of International Business, The Trustees of Columbia University, 2, 5 July 2016, As of 2000, the company's control of the world diamond supply decreased to 63%.WEB, Behrmann, Neil, Block, Robert, 13 July 2000, De Beers Said It Will Abandon Its Monopoly of Diamond Supply,weblink wsj.com, Wall Street Journal, 15 October 2023, The company was founded in 1888 by British businessman Cecil Rhodes, who was financed by the South African diamond magnate Alfred Beit and the London-based N M Rothschild & Sons bank.WEB, Exhibitions ‹ Rothschild Timeline :: The Rothschild Archive,weblink www.rothschildarchive.org, BOOK, Epstein, Edward Jay, The rise and fall of diamonds: the shattering of a brilliant illusion, 1982, Simon and Schuster, In 1926, Ernest Oppenheimer, a German immigrant to Britain and later South Africa who had earlier founded mining company Anglo American with American financier J. P. Morgan,NEWS,weblink Forbes, New Mining Target: Anglo American, 21 August 2006, 20 December 2017, 2 February 2012,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120202073717weblink">weblink dead, was elected to the board of De Beers.BOOK, Chilvers, Henry, The Story of De Beers, 1939, Cassell, 227, He built and consolidated the company's global monopoly over the diamond industry until his death in 1957. During this time, he was involved in a number of controversies, including price fixing and trust behaviour, and was accused of not releasing industrial diamonds for the U.S. war effort during World War II.BOOK,weblink Glitter & Greed, Janine P. Roberts, 0-9713942-9-6, The Disinformation Company, 2003, 27 November 2008, BOOK,weblink Ernest Oppenheimer and the Economic Development of Southern Africa, Theodor Emanuel Gregory, Arno Press, 1977, 27 November 2008, 9780405097904, In 2011, Anglo American took control of De Beers after buying the Oppenheimers' family stake of 40% for US$5.1 billion (£3.2 billion) and increasing its stake to 85%, ending the 80-year Oppenheimer control of the company.NEWS,weblinkweblink 12 January 2022, subscription, live, Anglo American buys Oppenheimer family stake in De Beers for $5.1 billion, The Telegraph, 10 October 2018, {{cbignore}}In May 2024, Anglo American announced its intention to spin off or sell De Beers.WEB, Bloomberg - Anglo Ditching De Beers Is Hard Blow for Troubled Diamond Market,weblink 2024-05-14, www.bloomberg.com, {{TOC limit|3}}

History

Foundation

File:CecilRhodes.jpg|thumb|Cecil RhodesCecil RhodesFile:1st Baron Rothschild.jpg|thumb|Nathan Rothschild, 1st Baron Rothschild, of the Rothschild familyRothschild familyFile:De Beers Consolidated Mines 1902.jpg|thumb|Preference sharePreference shareThe name 'De Beers' was derived from the two Dutch settlers, brothers Diederik Arnoldus de Beer (1825–1878) and Johannes Nicolaas de Beer (1830–1883), who owned a South African farm named Vooruitzicht (Dutch for "prospect" or "outlook") near Zandfontein in the Boshof District of Orange Free State. After they discovered diamonds on their land, the increasing demands of the British government forced them to sell their farm on 31 July 1871 to merchant Alfred Johnson Ebden (1820–1908) for £6,600. Vooruitzicht would become the site of the Big Hole and the De Beers mine, two successful diamond mines. Their name, which was given to one of the mines, subsequently became associated with the company.Famous people, Cape Town Diamond MuseumCecil Rhodes, the founder of the British South Africa Company, got his start by renting water pumps to miners during the diamond rush that started in 1869,BOOK, Jessup, Edward, Ernest Oppenheimer : a study in power, 1979, Collings, London, 0860360873, 23–24, BOOK, Wilson, A.N., Diamonds : from birth to eternity, 1982, Gemological Institute of America, Santa Monica, California, 0873110102, 135, when an 83.5 carat diamond called the 'Star of South Africa' was found at Hopetown near the Orange River in South Africa.BOOK, Roberts, Brian, The diamond magnates., 1972, Hamilton, London, 0241021774, 5, BOOK, Chilvers, Henry, The Story of De Beers, 1939, Cassell, 5, He invested the profits of this operation into buying up claims of small mining operators, with his operations soon expanding into a separate mining company. He soon secured funding from the Rothschild family, who would finance his business expansion.BOOK, The Rise and Fall of Diamonds,weblinkaccess-date=27 November 2008year=1982, Edward Jay Epstein, BOOK, The Economic Development of the British Overseas Empired, 0-415-35048-4year=2005, Taylor & FrancisBarney Barnato and Cecil Rhodes, by which time the company was the sole owner of all diamond mining operations in the country.MARTIN MEREDITHURL=HTTPS://BOOKS.GOOGLE.COM/BOOKS?ID=4T6XGAAACAAJPUBLISHER=SIMON & SCHUSTER, LIMITEDISBN=978-0-7432-8614-5, HTTPS://BOOKS.GOOGLE.COM/BOOKS?ID=IDRVZ9E9CZYC>TITLE=THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOHN HAYS HAMMOND YEAR=1974ISBN=0-405-05913-2ISBN=0-671-41289-2PUBLISHER=SIMON AND SCHUSTERAUTHOR=EDWARD JAY EPSTEIN, The agreement soon proved to be very successful – for example, during the trade slump of 1891–1892, supply was simply curtailed to maintain the price.HTTPS://BOOKS.GOOGLE.COM/BOOKS?ID=AARV3TFB3B0C>TITLE=THE DIAMOND RINGISBN=0-19-821775-7YEAR=1989, 27 November 2008, Rhodes was concerned about the break-up of the new monopoly, stating to shareholders in 1896 that the company's "only risk is the sudden discovery of new mines, which human nature will work recklessly to the detriment of us all".The Second Boer War proved to be a challenging time for the company. Kimberley was besieged as soon as war broke out, thereby threatening the company's valuable mines. Rhodes personally moved into the city at the onset of the siege in order to put political pressure on the British government to divert military resources towards relieving the siege rather than more strategic war objectives.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}} Despite being at odds with the military,BOOK, A Handbook of the Boer War With General Map of South Africa and 18 Sketch Maps and Plans,weblink Gale and Polden Ltd, London and Aldershot, 1910, 2 October 2008, Rhodes placed the full resources of the company at the disposal of the defenders, manufacturing shells, defences, an armoured train and a gun named Long Cecil in the company workshops.BOOK,weblink Besieged by the Boers; a diary of life and events in Kimberley during the siege (1900), Ashe, E. Oliver, Doubleday, Page & Co., New York, 1900,

Oppenheimer control

In 1898, diamonds were discovered on farms near Pretoria, Transvaal. One led to the discovery of the Premier Mine. The Premier Mine was registered in 1902 and the Cullinan Diamond, the largest rough diamond ever discovered, was found there in 1905.BOOK, Levinson, Olga, Diamonds in the desert : the story of August Stauch and his times, 1983, Tafelberg, Cape Town, 0624019217, 3, 1st, (The Premier Mine was renamed the Cullinan Mine in 2003). However, its owner refused to join theNEWS,weblink Factbox: De Beers past and present, 4 November 2011, Reuters, 2017-07-30, De Beers cartel.BOOK,weblink Tom Zoellner, 2007, Macmillan, 978-0-312-33970-8, 27 November 2008, The Heartless Stone: A Journey Through the World of Diamonds, Deceit, and Desire, Instead, the mine started selling to a pair of independent dealers named Bernard and Ernest Oppenheimer, thereby weakening the De Beers stronghold. Francis Oats, who became Chairman of De Beers in 1908, was dismissive of the threats from the Premier Mine and the finds in German South West Africa.{{citation However, production soon equalled all of the De Beers mines combined. Ernest Oppenheimer was appointed the local agent for the powerful London Syndicate, rising to the position of mayor of Kimberley within 10 years. He understood the core principle that underpinned De Beers's success, stating in 1910 that "common sense tells us that the only way to increase the value of diamonds is to make them scarce, that is to reduce production".During World War I, the Premier mine was finally absorbed into De Beers. When Rhodes died in 1902, De Beers controlled 90% of the world's diamond production. Ernest Oppenheimer took over the chairmanship of the company in 1929,BOOK, Chilvers, Henry, The Story of De Beers, 1939, Cassell, 310, after buying shares and being appointed to the board in 1926.BOOK,weblink De Beers S.A., 28 November 2023, Encyclopædia Britannica, BOOK, Corbett, Ali, Diamond Beaches: A History of Oranjemund, 2002, Namdeb Diamond Corporation, 0620282886, 14, Second, Oppenheimer was very concerned about the discovery of diamonds in 1908 in German South West Africa, fearing that the increased supply would swamp the market and force prices down. Former CIA chief Admiral Stansfield Turner claimed that De Beers restricted US access to industrial diamonds needed for the country's war effort during World War II.BOOK,weblink Janine P. Roberts, Glitter & Greed: The Secret World of the Diamond Empire, 115–21, 0-9713942-9-6, The Disinformation Company, 2003, During the early 1930s, the company conducted experimental work which in large part pioneered the use of diamond drills. This was highly preferable to more expensive and rarer carbons previously in use.JOURNAL, Oppenheimer, Ernest, 1947, The Discovery of Gold in the Orange Free State and Its Economic Effects,weblink African Affairs, 46, 185, 220–223, 10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a093590, 718071, 0001-9909, The Free State Gold Rush was made possible in part due to this innovation, as the fields required deep drilling to reach gold-bearing reefs.In May 1955, Ernest Oppenheimer opened the new headquarters which combined the operations of Anglo American and the De Beers group.BOOK, Kanfer, Stefan, The Last Empire: De Beers, Diamonds, and the World, 1993, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 265, 978-0-374-15207-9,weblink After Ernest died in November 1957, operation of Anglo and De Beers were passed on to his son, Harry Oppenheimer.BOOK, Kanfer, Stefan, The Last Empire: De Beers, Diamonds, and the World, 1993, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 267–68, 978-0-374-15207-9,weblink Under Harry, the company expanded to several different countries around the globe, including Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Portugal, Zambia, and Tanzania.BOOK, Kanfer, Stefan, The Last Empire: De Beers, Diamonds, and the World, 1993, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 291–92, 978-0-374-15207-9,weblink In South Africa, Harry opposed apartheid, arguing that it hindered economic growth.BOOK, Kanfer, Stefan, The Last Empire: De Beers, Diamonds, and the World, 1993, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 284, 978-0-374-15207-9,weblink Despite this, De Beers has been criticized for profiting from the system during the apartheid period. By 1973, Anglo and De Beers accounted for 10 percent of South Africa's gross national product and 30 percent of the country's exports.BOOK, Kanfer, Stefan, The Last Empire: De Beers, Diamonds, and the World, 1993, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 316, 978-0-374-15207-9,weblink Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, De Beers attempted to secretly enter the United States' diamond market, being forced to divest its American assets in 1975 to avoid the risk of violating anti-trust laws.BOOK, Kanfer, Stefan, The Last Empire: De Beers, Diamonds, and the World, 1993, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 318, 978-0-374-15207-9,weblink Harry Oppenheimer stepped down as the chairman and director of Anglo-American and De Beers in December 1982.BOOK, Kanfer, Stefan, The Last Empire: De Beers, Diamonds, and the World, 1993, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 346, 978-0-374-15207-9,weblink

21st-century changes {{Anchor |Diamond monopoly }}

File:Vladimir Putin in South Africa 5-6 September 2006-16.jpg|thumb|right|Russian president Vladimir Putin meeting former De Beers chairman Nicky OppenheimerNicky OppenheimerDuring the 20th century, De Beers used several methods to leverage its dominant position to influence the international diamond market.WEB,weblink De Beers and Beyond:The History of the International Diamond Cartel, New York University, Tobias Kretschmer, 15 October 2003, 25 November 2008, First, it attempted to convince independent producers to join its single channel monopoly. When that did not work, it flooded the market with diamonds similar to those of producers who refused to join in, depressing their price and undermining return for the resistant. It also purchased and stockpiled diamonds produced by other manufacturers as well as surplus diamonds in order to control prices by limiting supply. Finally, it bought diamonds when prices fell considerably naturally, to constrict supply and drive their value back up, such as during the Great Depression.William Boyes; Michael Melvin (1 January 2012). Microeconomics. Cengage Learning. pp. 219–. {{ISBN|1-133-71216-9}}.In 2000, the De Beers business model changedBOOK,weblink Economics: Principles, Problems, and Policies, 456, Campbell R. McConnell, Stanley L. Brue, McGraw-Hill Professional, 2005, 26 November 2008, 978-0-07-281935-9, because of factors such as the decision by producers in Canada and Australia to distribute diamonds outside the De Beers channel,BOOK,weblink Capstone, Jane S. Lopus, National Council on Economic Education, 25 November 2008, 61, 1-56183-516-1, 2003, as well as increasingly negative publicity surrounding blood diamonds, which forced De Beers to protect its image by limiting sales to its own mined products.NEWS,weblink Betting on De Beers, The Economist, 12 November 2011, The combination of a more fragmented and thus more competitive diamond market, increased transparency, and greater liquidity,NEWS,weblink A diamond heist in Cannes, The Economist, 3 August 2013, 2 April 2014, caused De Beers's market share of rough diamonds to fall from as high as 90% in the 1980s to 29.5% in 2019.WEB, De Beers Analyst and Investor Seminar 2014,weblink angloamerican.com, Anglo American, Slide 13, {{third-party inline|date=October 2022}}Seeing these developing trends, the Oppenheimer family announced in November 2011 its intention to sell its entire 40% stake in De Beers to Anglo American plc, thereby increasing Anglo American's ownership of the company to 85% (with the remaining 15% owned by the Government of the Republic of Botswana).NEWS,weblink Oppenheimers leave the diamond race with $5bn sale, Mail and Guardian, 4 November 2011, 5 November 2011, AFP, The transaction was worth £3.2 billion (US$5.1 billion) in cash and ended the Oppenheimer dynasty's 80-year ownership of De Beers.NEWS,weblink Anglo American gains controlling stake in De Beers, The Guardian, 4 November 2011, NEWS,weblink Anglo American Ends Oppenheimers' De Beers Dynasty With $5.1 Billion Deal, 4 November 2011, Bloomberg, In 2020, the De Beers Company released a statement of a values change, promising the world that it is committed to not using slave labor within the company.WEB, 21 June 2021, DE BEERS PLC MODERN SLAVERY ACT STATEMENT,weblink 30 November 2023, DeBeers,

Marketing

{{see also|Diamonds as an investment}}De Beers successfully advertised diamonds to manipulate consumer demand. One of the most effective marketing strategies has been the marketing of diamonds as a symbol of love and commitment. Copywriter Frances Gerety (1916–1999) working for N. W. Ayer & Son coined the famous advertising slogan, 'A Diamond is Forever', in 1947.BOOK,weblink 65–66, Cinderella Dreams: The Allure of the Lavish Wedding, Cele Otnes, Elizabeth Hafkin Pleck, University of California Press, 2003, 0-520-23661-0, In 2000, Advertising Age magazine named 'A Diamond is Forever' the best advertising slogan of the 20th century.WEB,weblink 'A Diamond Is Forever': How Four Words Changed an Industry, Voanews.com, 27 August 2014, 28 August 2014, The slogan may have inspired the James Bond book, film and song title Diamonds Are Forever.Other successful campaigns include the 'eternity ring' (meant as a symbol of continuing affection and appreciation),NEWS, Have you ever tried to sell a Diamond?, Edward Jay Epstein, The Atlantic Monthly, February 1982,weblink 2 November 2010, the 'trilogy ring' (meant to represent the past, present, and future of a relationship) and the 'right hand ring' (meant to be bought and worn by women as a symbol of independence).NEWS, In a show of power, women raise a glittery right hand, Jessica Michault, The New York Times, 28 February 2005,weblink 2 November 2010, De Beers ran television advertisements featuring silhouettes of people wearing diamonds, set to the music of 'Palladio' by Karl Jenkins. The campaign, titled "Shadows and Lights" first ran in the first quarter of 1993. The song would later inspire a compilation album, Diamond Music, released in 1996, which features the 'Palladio' suite. A 2010 commercial for Verizon Wireless parodied the De Beers spots.WEB,weblink AdFreak: Verizon does Big Red, De Beers ad parodies, Adweek.blogs.com, 17 July 2010, In May 2018, De Beers introduced a new brand called "Lightbox" that are made with synthetic diamonds. The synthetic stones start at $200 for a quarter carat to $800 for full carat diamond. The new lab-grown diamond retail for about one-tenth the cost of naturally occurring diamonds. The new brand began selling in September 2018 and are produced in Gresham, Oregon, a $94 million facility using the region's cheap electricity, which opened in 2018 with the capacity for 500,000 rough carats of diamonds per year.WEB, New details, renderings of $94M diamond plant emerge after groundbreaking in Gresham (Photos), John Bell, Portland Business Journal, 29 June 2018, 31 July 2020,weblink WEB, Synthetic diamond factory set to move into Gresham this summer, Stewart, Hailey, Pamplin Media, 13 June 2018, 31 July 2020,weblink NEWS, Kottasová, Ivana,weblink De Beers admits defeat over man-made diamonds, CNN, Time Warner, 2018-05-29, 2018-05-30,

Operations

(File:De Beers Mine shaft.png|thumb|De Beers Mine shaft)(File:Premier Mine shaft.png|thumb|Premier Mine shaft)File:Snap Lake Diamond Mine.jpg|thumb|right|The De Beers Snap Lake MineSnap Lake MineMining in Botswana takes place through the mining company Debswana,WEB,weblink Debswana, The De Beers Group, 12 August 2009, 17 July 2010,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20100628113734weblink">weblink 28 June 2010, dead, a 50–50 joint venture with the Government of the Republic of Botswana. It operates four mines – Jwaneng, Orapa, Letlhakane and Damtshaa, though Damtshaa was put on care and maintenance in 2015.WEB,weblink Debswana to Place Damtshaa Mine on Care and Maintenance, minelistings.com, en, 2017-10-09, In Namibia, mining is carried out through Namdeb Holdings,WEB,weblink Namdeb, The De Beers Group, 17 July 2010,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20100225080248weblink">weblink 25 February 2010, dead, a 50–50 joint venture with the Government of the Republic of Namibia. Namdeb Holdings is made up of Debmarine Namibia (covering offshore mining) and Namdeb Diamond Corporation (land-based coastal mining). For offshore mining, motor vessels are used, including the 12,000-tonne, 113-metre-long SS Nujoma, built at a cost of $157 million and named after Sam Nujoma, Namibia's founding president. This vessel, the world's most advanced diamond exploration and sampling vessel, began full operations in June 2017.WEB, DeMarco, Anthony, De Beers Launches World's Largest And Most Advanced Diamonds Exploration Ship,weblink 2024-05-02, Forbes, en, De Beers Consolidated Mines is responsible for the De Beers mining in South Africa.WEB,weblink De Beers Consolidated Mines, The De Beers Group, 17 July 2010,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20100628113834weblink">weblink 28 June 2010, dead, It is 74% owned by De Beers and 26% by a broad-based black economic empowerment partner, Ponahalo Investments. There are two mines – Venetia and Voorspoed.In 2008, De Beers began production at the Snap Lake mine in the Northwest Territories, Canada;WEB,weblink Mining: Snap Lake Mine, De Beers Canada, 17 July 2010, this was the first De Beers mine outside Africa and was Canada's first completely underground diamond mine.WEB, Where we operate,weblink debeersgroup.com, The De Beers Group of Companies, 22 December 2014, 21 December 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20141221045006weblink">weblink dead, However, production was suspended when the mine was put on care and maintenance in 2015.WEB,weblink Time To Focus on Diamond Basics, The Mining Journal (trade magazine), The Mining Journal, 13 December 2015, Zimnisky, Paul, 16 December 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20151222151133weblink">weblink 22 December 2015, dead, De Beers opened the Victor mine in Ontario, Canada, the same year, a day after Snap Lake.WEB,weblink De Beers Canada, The De Beers Group, 17 July 2010,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20101222130406weblink">weblink 22 December 2010, dead, This was followed by the opening of the company's third mine in Canada, Gahcho Kue, in September 2016.NEWS,weblink N.W.T.'s Gahcho Kué diamond mine marks grand opening today, CBC News, 2016-11-16, Trading of rough diamonds takes place through two channels – De Beers Global Sightholder SalesWEB,weblink Global Sightholder Sales, debeerssightholder.com, (GSS) and De Beers Auction Sales.WEB,weblink De Beers Auction Sales, debeersauctionsales.com, GSS sells about 90% of De Beers's rough diamonds, by value, and features wholly owned and joint venture operations in South Africa (De Beers Sightholder Sales South Africa), Botswana (DTCB), and Namibia (NDTC). They sort, value and sell 33% (2013) of the world's rough diamonds by value.There are two main types of customers for rough diamonds – Sightholders and Accredited Buyers. Sightholders have a term contract. Accredited Buyers (a customer type introduced in 2014–15) have a more ad hoc arrangement. De Beers also sells about 10% of its rough diamonds through online auction sales. The company pioneered the approach in 2008 when it broke with 44 years of direct sales to hold the diamond industry's first online international auction sale. It is now the world's leader in this kind of auction sale.De Beers employs more than 30,000 people around the globe on five continents, with more than 17,000 employees in Africa. Almost 8,000 people are employed in Botswana, around 6,200 in South Africa, nearly 2,900 in Namibia, some 1,260 in Canada and about 320 in exploration.In February 2020, De Beers reported its worst set of earnings since the company was bought by miner Anglo American in 2012.WEB,weblinkweblink 10 December 2022, subscription, live, De Beers posts lowest earnings under Anglo American control, Sanderson, Henry, 2020-02-20, www.ft.com, 2020-03-19,

Business structure and brands

On 4 November 2011, Anglo American plc and CHL Holdings announced their agreement for Anglo American to acquire an incremental interest in De Beers, increasing Anglo American's 45% shareholding in the world's leading diamond company to 85%. De Beers plc was originally incorporated as De Beers Société Anonyme in 2000 in Luxembourg. Following the closure of this office, the company was reclassified as De Beers plc in 2017, with its head office now in Jersey. It is made up of two shareholdings: Anglo American plc has an 85% shareholding and the Government of the Republic of Botswana owns 15% directly. De Beers plc is the holding company of The De Beers Group of Companies.WEB,weblink The De Beers Group of Companies, De Beers Group, 4 December 2014, 3 December 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20141203040248weblink">weblink dead, It is involved in many parts of the diamond value chain, from mining to sales, and is made up of a series of joint ventures and wholly owned operations.The joint ventures are:

• Debmarine Namibia
• DebswanaWEB,weblink Debswana &124; Home, 2015-01-23, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150104070535weblink">weblink 4 January 2015,
• DTCBWEB,weblink Diamond Trading Company Botswana - DTCB, dtcbotswana.com,
• NamdebWEB,weblink Namdeb Diamond Corporation - On Diamonds We Build. Diamond Mining Company Namibia, namdeb.com,
• NDTC

The wholly owned operations are in southern Africa and Canada. Also wholly owned are Forevermark, De Beers Jewellers,WEB,weblink De Beers Group takes full ownership of De Beers Diamond Jewellers, www.debeersgroup.com, 2017-10-12, 10 July 2017,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20170710161429weblink">weblink dead, the International Institute of Diamond Valuation, De Beers Ventures, the International Institute of Diamond Grading & Research and Element Six (Umicore has a 40% stake in Element Six's abrasives division).

Forevermark

Forevermark was launched in 2008 as one of the two diamond brands from The De Beers Group of Companies. According to the company website, "Each Forevermark diamond is inscribed with a promise: that it is beautiful, rare and responsibly sourced." Forevermark diamonds are inscribed with an icon and unique identification number, albeit invisibly to the naked eye: the Forevermark inscription is {{frac|1|20}}th of a micron deep. This inscription helps distinguish Forevermark diamonds from other natural diamonds though, similarly to when distinguishing natural diamonds from synthetic diamonds, it requires specialist detection equipment to view. The inscription also helps maintain scarcity: the Forevermark website boasts that only a tiny percentage of diamonds qualify for the Forevermark brand.WEB,weblink Our Brands, De Beers Group, 16 January 2015, 6 February 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150206055833weblink">weblink dead,

De Beers Jewellers

De Beers Diamond Jewellers (DBDJ) was established in 2001 as a 50:50 joint venture between The De Beers Group of Companies and LVMH, the French luxury goods company. The first De Beers boutique opened in 2002 on London's Old Bond Street as the brand's flagship store. Since then, stores have opened in various cities around the world. In March 2017, The De Beers Group of Companies acquired LVMH's 50% shareholding in DBDJ and new name De Beers Jewellers was unveiled.WEB,weblink De Beers Group takes full ownership of De Beers Diamond Jewellers, De Beers Group, 2017-07-12, 10 July 2017,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20170710161429weblink">weblink dead, De Beers VenturesDe Beers Ventures was established by De Beers Group in June 2017 to consider minority stake investments in start-ups and growth companies that could be of benefit to De Beers Group or the broader diamond sector.WEB,weblink De Beers Will Invest in Start-Ups, www.jckonline.com, 22 June 2017, en-US, 2017-10-02, WEB,weblink Diamonds.net – De Beers to Invest in Diamond Start-Ups, 22 June 2017, 2017-10-02, The International Institute of Diamond Grading & ResearchThe International Institute of Diamond Grading & Research (IIDGR) was set up by De Beers in 2008, with the aim of providing a range of services and equipment in the field of diamond verification. It is based in London, Antwerp and, from 2015, in Surat, India. The IIDGR works only on diamonds that meet the requirements of the United Nations' World Diamond Council Kimberley Process.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}}

Blood diamonds and the Kimberley Process

In 1999, a campaign by Global Witness to highlight the role of diamonds in international conflicts led to a review by the United Nations. The initial focus of the UN's investigation was on Jonas Savimbi's UNITA movement in Angola, which was found to have bartered uncut diamonds for weaponry despite international economic and diplomatic sanctions being in effect through United Nations Security Council Resolution 1173.WEB,weblink Targeting 'conflict diamonds' in Africa: Security Council seeks to enforce sanctions against rebels, arms suppliers, UN, Michael Fleshman, January 2001, WEB,weblink Final Report of the UN Panel of Experts ("The "Fowler Report"), Global Policy Forum, 10 March 2000, 20 March 2010, In 1999, De Beers Group stopped all outside buying of diamonds in order to guarantee the conflict-free status of their diamonds effective from 26 March 2000.NEWS,weblink De Beers: Come Clean to Be Clean, Mail and Guardian via Global Policy Forum, 24 March 2000, 21 March 2010, De Beers Group De Beers Report to Stakeholders 2005/6 – Ethics, "Conflict and Instability" {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071023191248weblink |date=23 October 2007 }} De Beers Group. Retrieved 11 February 2007.WEB,weblink FAQs, The De Beers Group, 17 July 2010,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20100702022520weblink">weblink 2 July 2010, dead, In December 2000, following the recommendations of the Fowler Report, the UN adopted the landmark General Assembly Resolution A/RES/55/56WEB,weblink Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, 18 May 2004, 25 November 2008, UN,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20081206051610weblink">weblink 6 December 2008, dead, supporting the creation of an international certification scheme for rough diamonds. By November 2002, negotiations between governments, the international diamond industry, led by De Beers, and civil society organisations resulted in the creation of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), which sets out the requirements for controlling rough diamond production and trade and became effective in 2003.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}}De Beers states that 100% of the diamonds it now sells are conflict-free and that all De Beers diamonds are purchased in compliance with national law, the Kimberley Process Certification SchemeWEB,weblink The Kimberley Process (KP), kimberleyprocess.com, and its own Diamond Best Practice Principles.Best Practice Principles – The De Beers Group {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091225085651weblink |date=25 December 2009 }} The Kimberley process has helped restore the reputation of the industry, as well as eliminating sources of excess supply.NEWS,weblink Diamonds are Forever in Botswana, 15 March 2010, 8 August 2008, Joe Nocera, The New York Times, Joe Nocera, In 2018, De Beers used blockchain technology to successfully track 100 high-value diamonds.NEWS,weblink De Beers tracks diamonds through supply chain using blockchain, Reuters, 10 May 2018, 26 September 2018, The diamonds were tracked through the manufacturing process from the mine to the retailer in order to ensure their quality and conflict-free status.NEWS, Biesheuvel, Thomas, De Beers Tracks First Gems From Mine to Shop Using Blockchain,weblink Bloomberg, 10 May 2018, In 2019, they launched their own end-to-end traceability platform called Tracr to enable all diamonds to be identified and traced as they move from the mine to the store. Signet and the Russian-based Alrosa are using the technology.WEB, Laura McCreddie-Doak, Can lab-grown diamonds replace the real thing?,weblink 2020-10-04, CNN, 28 September 2020, en,

Corporate affairs

File:17 Charterhouse Street 2.jpg|thumb|Headquarters at 17 Charterhouse StreetCharterhouse StreetIn August 2017, De Beers partnered with the Stanford Graduate School of Business to accelerate business ventures to market in Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa.WEB, Jackson, Tom, Stanford, De Beers launch $3m African entrepreneurs initiative,weblink Disrupt Africa, 21 August 2017, As part of two programs, the partnership is set to help teach early entrepreneurs how to commercialize their business ideas.WEB,weblink Stanford Seed partners with De Beers Group in a $3m deal to expand its programs into Southern Africa, 17 August 2017, 6 November 2018, 7 November 2018,weblink dead, The partnership is a three-year, $3 million deal.WEB,weblink De Beers partners with Stanford Graduate School of Business to empower youth and entrepreneurs in southern Africa, 6 November 2018, In September 2017, De Beers partnered with UN Women to help the advancement of women within the company and the countries it operates in.WEB, De Beers partners with UN to empower women in its diamond producing countries,weblink www.mining.com, In 2018, the two entities launched a program to support 500 women micro-entrepreneurs in Blouberg and Musina communities, near De Beers's Venetia diamond mine.WEB,weblink De Beers, UN Women to support women micro-entrepreneurs in South Africa, 6 November 2018, In May 2018, De Beers's group company Element Six launched a lab-grown diamond brand to sell jewellery directly to consumers.WEB, McCoy, Kevin, De Beers Group plans sales of laboratory-grown diamonds to US consumers,weblink CNBC, en, 30 May 2018,

Former operations

International Institute of Diamond ValuationThe International Institute of Diamond Valuation (IIDV) was launched by De Beers Group in March 2016. Operating in partnership with diamond jewellery retailers, it provided a reselling service for all diamonds, regardless of value.NEWS,weblink Send your unloved stones to De Beers' used diamond market, 2016-03-16, New York Post, 2017-10-02, en-US, NEWS,weblink What De Beers thinks of selling granny's diamonds, McKay, David, 2016-04-15, Miningmx, 2017-10-02, en-US, WEB,weblink De Beers Launches Limited Third Party Rough Diamond Selling Service, www.idexonline.com, 2017-10-02, In April 2019, De Beers closed its IIDV division.WEB, Mierovich, Leah, De Beers Closes Diamond-Reselling Unit, 4 April 2019,weblink

Legal issues

Sherman Antitrust Act

During World War II, Ernest Oppenheimer attempted to negotiate a way around the Sherman Antitrust Act by proposing that De Beers register a US branch of the Diamond Syndicate Incorporated. In this way, his company could provide the US with the industrial diamonds it desperately sought for the war effort in return for immunity from prosecution after the war; however his proposal was rejected by the US Justice Department when it was discovered that De Beers had no intention of stockpiling any industrial diamonds in the US. In 1945, the Justice Department finally filed an antitrust case against De Beers, but the case was dismissed as the company had no presence on US soil.BOOK,weblink The Rise and Fall of Diamonds (The Diamond Invention), Simon & Schuster, 1982, 18, Edward J Epstein,

Relocation of indigenous San people in Botswana

In Botswana, a long dispute has existed between the interests of the mining company, De Beers, and the San (Bushman) tribe. The San have been facing threats of forcible relocation since 1980s, when the diamond resources were discovered.WEB,weblink Bushmen, Survival International, 17 July 2010, A campaign was fought in an attempt to bring an end to what the indigenous rights organisation, Survival International, considers to be a genocide of a tribe that has been living in those lands for tens of thousands of years.NEWS,weblinkweblink 12 January 2022, subscription, live, De Beers battles with Survival, The Telegraph, 17 July 2005, 23 July 2009, London, {{cbignore}}NEWS,weblink Bushmen 'moved for diamonds', BBC News, 24 February 2003, 23 July 2009, Alastair, Leithead, WEB,weblink Botswana diamonds lose their sparkle, Mail and Guardian, 8 July 2005, 23 July 2009, Several international fashion models, including Iman, Lily Cole and Erin O'Connor, who were previously involved with advertising for the companies' diamonds, supported the campaign.NEWS,weblink Kalahari Bushmen win ancestral land case, The Independent, 14 December 2006, 23 July 2009, London, De Beers sold its mine in Botswana to Gem Diamonds in 2007.

Industrial diamonds

In 2004, De Beers pled guilty and paid a US$10 million fine to the United States Department of Justice to settle a 1994 charge that De Beers had colluded with General Electric to fix the price of industrial diamonds.NEWS,weblink De Beers pleads guilty in price fixing case, NBC News, Associated Press, 13 July 2004, NEWS,weblink DeBeers Pleads to Price-Fixing: Firm Pays $10 million, Can Fully Reenter U.S., The Washington Post, Margaret Webb Pressler, 14 July 2004, 26 November 2008, In 2008, De Beers agreed to pay a US$295 million class-action settlement after accusations of price fixing.NEWS,weblink De Beers to pay $295m in price-fixing settlement, Mail and Guardian, Sherilee Bridge, 4 September 2018, The company appealed against the decision but ended up paying the settlement in 2013.WEB, Matarese, John, DeBeers Diamond settlement check is in the mail,weblink WCPO, Cincinnati,weblink 2018-09-04,

European Commission

In February 2006, De Beers entered into legally binding commitments with the European Commission to cease purchasing rough diamonds from Russian mining company Alrosa as of the end of 2008 in order to ensure competition between the two companies.Alrosa Purchasing Commitments – The De Beers Group {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090621004947weblink |date=21 June 2009 }}

South Africa's rough diamond trade

In 2014, the Leverhulme Centre for the Study of Value, based at the University of Manchester, published a report authored by Sarah Bracking and Khadija Sharife, identifying over US$3.3 billion in price fixing within the South African rough diamond trade from 2004 to 2012, leading to an estimated deficit in tax paid of ZAR 1 billion per year. The report found significant evidence of profit shifting through volume and value manipulation.Sarah Bracking and Khadija Sharifeweblink A further version of this was later published as Khadija Sharife & Sarah Bracking (2016) Diamond pricing and valuation in South Africa’s extractive political economy, Review of African Political Economy, 43:150, 556-575, DOI: 10.1080/03056244.2016.1177504. The original report is also available at lcsv-wp4-bracking-sharife-revised-16062014.pdf (manchester.ac.uk) (30th January 2022) Sharife simultaneously published an articleKhadija Sharife, 100 Reportersweblink disclosing the political system that cultivated revenue leakage, including the donation of De Beers staff to the State Diamond Trader (SDT). The report, like the article, utilised aggregated data produced by the Kimberley Process (KP) certificates of import-exports, relying on figures listed by the diamond companies themselves, in which De Beers was the dominant player. The South African Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) disclosed that De Beers did not authorise them to publish figures involving values, sales, pricing and other data, preventing transparency of the industry.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}}

See also

• Blood diamond
• Canadian diamonds
• De Beers Diamond Oval
• Julian Ogilvie Thompson
• List of diamonds
• List of synthetic diamond manufacturers
• Peace in Africa (ship), diamond mining dredge
• Synthetic diamond
• The Case of the Disappearing Diamonds (TV documentary)

Notes

{{Reflist|30em}}

References

• NEWS, Epstein, Edward Jay, February 1982, Have You Ever Tried to Sell a Diamond?,weblink The Atlantic Monthly, 2 November 2010,
• BOOK, Epstein, Edward J., 1982, Chapter 18: The American Conspiracy,weblink The Diamond Invention: The Rise and Fall of Diamonds,weblink New York, Simon & Schuster, 9780671412890, 959300264,
• BOOK, Rotberg, Robert I., Miles F. Shore, 1988, The Founder: Cecil Rhodes and the Pursuit of Power, Oxford; New York, Oxford University Press, 9780195049688, 17732194,

External links

{{commons category|De Beers}}

• De Beers Group
• De Beers Jewellers

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