Elaine Lupton

Elaine Lupton
Diamond Academy
Diamond Trading Company

My name is Elaine Lupton, known to my friends and family as ‘Ellie’. I am the Team Leader of the London Diamond Academy reporting to the Senior Manager of Producer Value Proposition (PVP) 

As Team Leader of the London Academy, a job I enjoy hugely, I am responsible for a team of 13 qualified instructors who all have many years of rough and polished diamond valuation experience.

The primary role of all Academies is to provide tailored diamond related training and education to De Beers group Stakeholders. Last year instructors worked in China, Hong Kong, India, Canada, South Africa, Namibia and Botswana.

One of the highlights of my job is the opportunity to work with diverse cultures sharing a common goal. We share a set of values that are important to us and how we behave is as important as achieving our objectives.

There are four Diamond Trading Company Diamond Academies:  one in Kimberley, South Africa, one in Gaborone, Botswana, one in Windhoek, Namibia and one in London, England providing both internal and external training. We work together in a large remote team providing support and sharing best practice.

New recruits to the diamond departments undertake a seven month initial training programme in the Diamond Academy before they start working on the diamond floors. They will attend further training throughout their careers in order to become recognised DTC diamond experts.

There are nearly 12,000 different categories of diamonds that a new recruit must learn to recognise. The categories are based on size (carat), colour, clarity and shape (cut) - the globally recognised 4Cs method for valuing diamonds.

Increasingly we are providing diamond training for government officials, law enforcement officers, media as well as jewellers.

I have worked for the Diamond Trading Company for over 30 years and have enjoyed it enormously.  It truly is my second family!

I was employed as a rough diamond valuer in 1977 when most diamonds were graded by hand and entered a profession where 20 - 30 years experience was the norm.

Through out my career I have stayed with the rough diamonds working with different sizes, different mine productions and with increasingly sophisticated mechanical sorting equipment.

In the Academy I have the opportunity to share my passion for diamonds with others developing new generations of diamond experts. And it is always a pleasure to handle some of the world’s most valuable and exquisite gem stones.