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Focus on better understanding the consumer experience and supporting diamond equity
The De Beers Group of Companies today announced that it will run a programme to gain an enhanced understanding of consumer diamond re-selling activity and the associated consumer experience.
The programme, which will start in early September 2014 and run into the beginning of 2015, will operate in the US with a small number of retailers. It will generate better insight on the scale of consumer re-selling activity and, more specifically, the consumer experience from those who look to re-sell their diamonds, and its impact on the lasting value benefit of diamond ownership.
The programme will operate out of a new standalone entity, the International Institute of Diamond Valuation (IIDV), based in New York. In order to gain a fuller understanding of how the sector currently functions, IIDV will work directly with participating retailers to assess the effectiveness of existing approaches to re-selling and to explore how these could be developed and improved from the consumer stand point.
Tom Montgomery, Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, De Beers Group, said: “The practice of consumers looking to sell back their diamonds isn’t new. For the vast majority of people, a diamond is something they keep hold of forever and never look to sell. However, for reasons such as death, divorce or financial distress, some people will always look to re-sell their diamonds. Some retailers have expressed reservations, however, about how the current re-selling experience could impact consumers’ views on diamond equity in the long-term. We believe that the only way to gain a true understanding of diamond re-selling activity by consumers, is to run this small-scale programme to assess how re-selling has developed, how it might evolve and how it impacts upon consumer perceptions of diamonds.”
Please see www.iidv.org for further details.
Contact:
David Johnson
Tel +44 (0) 20 7430 3434
Lynette Gould
Tel +44 (0) 20 7430 3509
About The De Beers Group of Companies
De Beers is a member of the Anglo American group. Established in 1888,De Beers is the world’s leading diamond company with unrivalled expertise in the exploration, mining and marketing of diamonds. Together with its joint venture partners, De Beers employs more than 20,000 people (directly and as contractors) across the diamond pipeline, and is the world’s largest diamond producer by value, with mining operations in Botswana, Canada, Namibia and South Africa. As part of the company’s operating philosophy, the people of De Beers are committed to Living up to Diamonds by making a lasting contribution to the communities in which they live and work, and transforming natural resources into shared national wealth. For further information about De Beers visit www.debeersgroup.com