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Diamond dream as vibrant as ever - new De Beers CEO

AS I walked in to the office on July 1, everything felt very familiar, yet very different. I’ve made the same journey hundreds of times over the past 10 years, but on that Friday I was making it for the first time as CEO.

My experience is perhaps analogous to that of the diamond sector at the moment: the strong fundamentals remain the same, but the future presents challenges – both known and unknown.

My predecessor, Philippe Mellier, was known for saying that consumer demand for diamonds is our only source of value. As it was his guiding principle, so it will be mine.

And it’s encouraging to know that global consumer demand for diamonds remains strong. After all, let’s not forget that the three biggest ever years for consumer demand for diamond jewellery were the last three.

However, taking continued demand for granted would, I believe, be a mistake. And assuming that the factors that influenced demand yesterday will be the same as those that influence demand tomorrow is folly.

Consumer demand really is our only source of value – we must therefore all be unrelenting in stimulating it, in established markets, developing markets and emerging markets.

As those who led the industry in the past established the diamond dream, the responsibility now falls to us collectively to nurture it, grow it and share it around the world with consumers young and old.

And despite some recent assertions that millennials have a lower desire for diamonds than previous generations, it is clear from our research that the diamond dream remains as vibrant as ever – and millennials undoubtedly care profoundly for what diamonds symbolise.

However, we must appreciate that tomorrow’s consumers are not the same as yesterday’s and we must find new and different ways to engage them. We must embrace changing consumer trends and see them as an opportunity to grow.

But it is not only at the retail end of the industry that we need to focus our efforts. Whether it be stimulating demand, protecting product integrity or increasing production, investment is a key tool we have if we wish to play a decisive role in shaping our own future.

Yet even if we make all the right investments, no one should be in any doubt about the uncertain environment that we will continue to experience. We know that volatility isn’t a short-term phenomenon, but the new normal.

If anyone is still unsure of this, then we need look no further than the shifts in the global political landscape, the volatility of global exchange rates or the rapid changes in the outlooks of some of the world’s major economies. The recent events in the UK are just another example of them.

There will always be things we can’t predict, but we must learn to thrive in uncertainty.

And I firmly believe that we will thrive, whatever challenges we may face. After all, history has shown the diamond sector to be resilient.

Resilient in the face of financial crises. Resilient in the face of fluctuating demand. And resilient in the face of increasing competition from other luxury categories.

The reason it’s been so resilient is because the sector has worked in partnership to find solutions to the challenges it’s faced. Partnerships have secured our past successes. Partnerships are the cornerstone of the business. And partnerships will define our future.

De Beers holds a unique position with consumers, our rough diamond customers, governments, communities and retailers. And with each of these groups, we must recognise that it is not just what we do that matters, but also how we do it.

We must never lose sight of the fact that for the entire diamond pipeline to succeed, every individual part of the diamond pipeline needs to succeed.

With our customers, this means that together, as partners, we must be bolder and braver, broaden our horizons, and accept that solutions to the sector’s challenges may lie outside of it, such as in supply chain efficiencies and marketing strategies. We need to be open, to learn from others, and willing to change.

And of course, nowhere is partnership more important than in the countries in which we mine.

I have been privileged to see for myself the good that diamonds have done for communities and governments around the world where we operate.

They make positive contributions to countries around the world that have used their revenues wisely, to communities that surround operations and to the beneficiaries of the practical benefits of responsible mining and ethical sourcing.

I’ve seen with my own eyes that diamonds do good. But I think they can – and should – do better.

So while I’m just at the start of my journey as CEO, I’m already struck by the thought of what my successor will experience as they step into the role as CEO of De Beers.

I hope that they find an industry that has analysed its own challenges and opportunities and taken bold and innovate action to overcome the difficulties and grasp the opportunities.

I expect that they will find a sector that continues to benefit from consumers’ connections to the irresistible emotional symbolism of diamonds.

But I know that they will find a business that has worked tirelessly to strengthen the partnerships on which so many of us depend for success.

Because our partnerships work. But I want to help them work even better.

* Bruce Cleaver became CEO of De Beers Group on July 1. Prior to this, he has held a number of roles across De Beers and Anglo American. Opinions expressed are his own.


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