Taking their cue from companies such as De Beers, Richemont and Chanel, top diamond cutters and polishers have committed to shrinking their own carbon footprint, and becoming more sustainable businesses in the medium term.
By Samantha Conti on July 28, 2020
LONDON — With the front and back ends of the diamond pipeline looking to go greener, it was only a matter of time before the middlemen, the companies that purchase and transform rough diamonds into polished ones, decided to take a sustainable stand, too.
These buyers, cutters and polishers are not well known to anyone outside the industry, and they’re certainly not subject to the same sort of scrutiny over carbon footprints that a miner such as De Beers or a luxury group such as Compagnie Financiere Richemont or Chanel would be.
Yet they are attempting to change all the same, in the name of the environment, their own reputations — and future sales growth.
Earlier this week, nine De Beers sightholders, or preferred wholesale buyers who have first “sight” of the rocks the miner hauls out of the ground, committed to becoming carbon neutral in the medium term, and to work toward creating “a completely sustainable and ethical supply chain.”
D Navinchandra Gems; Dianco; Diamant Impex; Diarush; HVK International; Hari Darshan; H Dipak and Co; Yaelstar, and StarRays made their pledge during an online meeting organized by the independent adviser and consultant Gemdax, which works on behalf of the sightholders and represents them to De Beers.