De Beers Gets Into the Lab Business
So the big news in the De Beers Group’s latest release on the Forevermark is it will be starting a lab.
Yes, a lab. Just like GIA, and IGI, and all the others …. (There had been buzz on this; see here.)
The plan is to have two grading labs, one based in Antwerp, the other in the company’s research facility in Maidenhead.
Is this competition for GIA and company? Well, Ellie Goss, head of global public relations for De Beers Group marketing, notes that, while the other labs view grading as a business in itself, the grading here is only a feature to back up the Forevermark. In addition, the lab will only grade Forevermark diamonds (which have to be 18 points, J, SI2, "good" cut, and above).
Here are more details, thanks to Goss:
- The company has hired a group of gemologists for the lab with over “600 years total” of experience. No names yet.
- “The certificates are meant to be something that consumers will keep and cherish, not just file away with insurance documents,” Goss says.
- Regarding the always thorny issue of cut grading, Goss says that De Beers will first use the GIA’s system, then possibly evolve its own.
- The Forevermark’s business model has changed. While in the past, De Beers charged diamantaires to get their diamonds “marked,” now retailers that will install Forevermark boutiques in their stores and then pay a royalty to De Beers. “The reason for this is we found most of the profits were at the retail end, so it makes sense that’s where we charged the royalty,” Goss says.
- The Forevermark will now take up virtually all of De Beers Group’s marketing budget, except in America, where it’s “business as usual,” Goss says.
Thank you, Ellie. The other big issue here is that labs are meant to give independent opinions. But the Forevermark lab will grade diamonds supplied by its business partners, which certainly leaves it open to being compromised. Goss says that, “De Beers has a reputation and won’t do anything to damage that.” And certainly some would argue that Tiffany has been grading its own diamonds for years.
Forevermark is currently being offered in Hong Kong, China, Japan, Taiwan and India. There is more info on what the Forevermark stands for here.
Mike commented:
Doing something and relying on it being legal, Does not make it
ethical. What would Tiffany think or do, if the GIA had to start
selling Diamonds to the consumer tomorrow. They would probably find
it a gross violation of trust and ethics BUT it's OK for them to do
it.
Mall Jewelry Boy commented:
Tiffany grades their own stones in their own gem lab. Supposedly
they can pull it off because they are "regularly certified by
independent quality system auditors from the International
Organization for Standardization", and (after examinations,
third-party lab reports, and such) they will give a refund or
provide a higher quality diamond if the grading is proved
inaccurate.
Roy Cohen commented:
I find it difficult to believe that DeBeers, a company whose name
is synonymous with diamonds, would be considering grading its own
diamonds and selling such. Such practice has long been considered a
conflict of interest by all in the diamond industry. Diamonds need
to be graded by independent laboratories in order to avoid a
situation where the seller can preferentially grade his or her own
goods. Even though DeBeers would undoubtedly be doing things
correctly and above board, they would be setting a very dangerous
precedent. As leaders in the diamond industry and as one of the
gatekeepers protecting consumer confidence, there is more likely a
misunderstanding of what their intentions are. Diamond Grading Lab
Ownership WFDB Newsletter, Edition 1 March 2003 At the meeting, a
question was tabled whether a diamantaire can operate as partial or
sole owner of a diamond-grading laboratory. After discussing this
issue at length, the Executive Committee felt that, while it
certainly is not illegal, such a situation represents a strong
conflict of interest and borders on what could be considered an
unethical practice. The Executive Committee urged member bourses to
dissuade their members from allowing themselves to attain such
positions.
Mike commented:
It very unfortunate that a company which is only now starting to
clean up its image, has once again dropped the ball.
