Who is only a little bit familiar with diamonds and diamond industry would surely find the name De Beers more than familiar. We wouldn’t go too far if we would say that De Beers company has been and probably still is the richest and biggest companies in the world. With a total control over the world’s all diamonds we can surely understand why. It’s among the very few companies in the world with total controlling of every single action and operation regarding diamonds. From 2001 De Beers has decided to enter retail business wearing its own name. Of course Dubai was very happy to welcome the first two stores of De Beers company which were established in the sheikhdom.
Founded by the world famous British Cecil Rhodes, to whom the South African diamond industry can be thanked, the De Beers Corporation under the name De Beers Consolidated Mines has been established. From the beginning Rhodes had a strong financial backing from the Rothschild family who this way funded the first diamond works and the first establishments targeting solely the mining of diamonds. De Beers then did its best to buy up all diamonds, which were mined in the world. It has kept its total monopoly in diamonds until 2000. The huge corporation is also owning the Diamond Trace Centre which is the only body through which diamonds could be sold anywhere in the world. It is responsible for sorting and evaluating all diamonds coming from the mines of De Beers. From 2000, the De Beers has decided to give up on its monopoly and changed strategy. Today De Beers controls roughly the world’s 40% of total diamonds by which it has stayed the biggest ever diamond miner and trader on Earth. It was also De Beers who worked out the currently used diamond classification tables and rules. De Beers is has its mines in Namibia, Botswana, South Africa and the latest which opened in Canada. Due to differences with the United States Government to this day, De Beers was refused to have any activity in the United States, but this situation has changed with the opening of the first De Beers Jewellery in New York in 2002. The Oppenheimer family who are represented as the biggest shareholders in De Beers from 1927 owns the huge company today. The huge company has several different subsidiaries on all aspects on diamond trading. The DTC has currently three main offices, one in London, the second in the league of European trading centres of Diamonds and one in Antwerp which is the world’s centre of all diamond trading. De Beers Corporation takes the Kimberley process, which was established in 1999 in order to prevent any blood diamonds to enter the international diamond market. This is among one reason why it only deals with exclusively its own diamonds today. De Beers sells both rough and polished and cut diamonds to the world market.
In 2001, De Beers decided to go into retail, made a joint venture with the French luxury product seller LV-Moet Hennessy, and opened its first retail stores under the name of De Beers Diamond Jewellery Company. The company has several stores all around the world, two of which are located in Dubai (out of the total 3 stores in the Middle East!) The De Beers Jewellery store in Dubai can be found in the Dubai Mall and in the Mall of the Emirates. They deal both with the selling of all sorts of beautiful diamond jewellery and also with loose diamonds.
You can be sure that the diamonds of De Beers are coming from the very best De Beers mines in the world. Of course De Beers offers its diamonds with the international certificate in Dubai. By far, the largest shop of De Beers Jewellery can be seen and visited in the Dubai Mall.
