News from our businesses and markets
LONDON, (27.02.2014) De Beers Forevermark, the diamond brand from the De Beers group of companies, today announced a strong year of growth, driven predominantly by continued consumer demand in core markets, China, U.S., India and Japan. Stephen Lussier, De Beers Forevermark CEO commented, “The brand has performed exceptionally well in the last year. We are now fully established as a globally recognised brand with presence in over 1,300 retail outlets across 12 major markets.”
Expansion has progressed rapidly since the brand launched in 2008. In the last year alone, the number of stores selling De Beers Forevermark diamonds has increased by almost 40%. De Beers Forevermark’s licensee program also saw launches in Australia, Brunei, Kuwait and producer country, Namibia in 2013.
The De Beers Forevermark Diamond Institute, the very centre of the business had an extremely successful year. Jonathan Kendall, President of De Beers Forevermark Diamond Institute remarked, “We are defining quality and integrity in the diamond industry. Our technological excellence, diamond knowledge and expertise are unrivalled in the industry and demand for our services is increasing every year.” De Beers Forevermark recently announced that a second inscription and grading facility will open in early 2015 in Surat, India to meet the continued demand.
Since 2009, grading and inscription numbers have increased by 666% and 426% respectively. More than 870,000 diamonds have now been inscribed with a De Beers Forevermark unique inscription number and icon.
Stephen Lussier attributes De Beers Forevermark’s ongoing success to the strength of the brand positioning. “Our promise, underpinned by the individual inscription on every De Beers Forevermark diamond sets us apart. With De Beers Forevermark you get a beautiful diamond of exceptional quality from a brand with strong integrity values. These are assurances which we know today’s consumers are looking for.”
The second half of 2013 saw the launch of De Beers Forevermark’s fourth design collection, Cornerstones™ which helped to drive significant sales for De Beers Forevermark partners during the key end of year sales period and will continue to do so throughout 2014.
In addition, the exceptional qualities of De Beers Forevermark diamonds have inspired more stunning jewellery creations around the world including House of Waris founded by actor and designer Waris Ahluwalia, who debuted his first De Beers Forevermark collection in the U.S. that was inspired by a visit to Southern Africa to witness the journey of a De Beers Forevermark diamond. Authorized Forevermark Jeweller Chow Tai Fook also introduced the latest De Beers Forevermark Swan Bridal Collection in Greater China. Since the exclusive collection launched in 2011, the product range has quadrupled and sales have more than doubled year on year.
De Beers Forevermark diamonds also made a big impact on the red carpet worn by some of the world’s biggest names including Michelle Obama, Ziyi Zhang, Norah Jones, Jessica Chastain and Jennifer Garner, amongst others in the past year.
De Beers Forevermark has ambitious plans for 2014 and beyond, Lussier summarises, “We are excited about the year ahead; increasing distribution in our core markets and expanding into new markets remain our priorities. We are in very strong position to realise our goal to become the world’s leading diamond brand.”
-ENDS-
For further information about De Beers Forevermark please contact:
Liz Robson
Tel: +44 (0) 207 430 3744
Or please visit Forevermark.com.
Notes to Editors:
ABOUT DE BEERS FOREVERMARK
Every De Beers Forevermark diamond is inscribed with a promise; a promise that it is beautiful, rare and responsibly sourced. Less than one per cent of the world’s diamonds are eligible to become a De Beers Forevermark diamond and be inscribed with the De Beers Forevermark icon and individual number. De Beers Forevermark is a diamond brand from the De Beers group of companies and as such, benefits from over 125 years of diamond expertise. De Beers Forevermark diamonds are carefully selected and come from sources committed to high standards; are beautifully crafted by a select group of Diamantaires; and are exclusively available from select jewellers.
DE BEERS FOREVERMARK INSCRIPTION & GRADING
Invisible to the naked eye, the inscription is made using bespoke technology from the De Beers group. It is also recorded on the personalised De Beers Forevermark identification card which comes with each and every De Beers Forevermark diamond. The actual size of the inscription found on De Beers Forevermark diamonds is only 1/20th of a micron deep and can only be seen using a special De Beers Forevermark viewer which can be found in Authorised De Beers Forevermark Jewellers. It is confirmed by leading gemmological institutes that the De Beers Forevermark inscription does not affect the internal quality of a diamond in any way.
Authorised De Beers Forevermark Jewellers are able to provide a De Beers Forevermark Diamond Grading Report. It is an accurate blueprint of the qualities - cut, colour, clarity and caratage of each De Beers Forevermark diamond. The De Beers Forevermark Diamond Grading Report also features the individual identification number inscribed on the diamond and a specifically designed security hologram, providing reassurance that the De Beers Forevermark Diamond Grading Report is valid and genuine. For more information and to find your nearest De Beers Forevermark Jeweller offering De Beers Forevermark Grading Reports go to www.forevermark.com