De Beers to Make Changes to Sightholder System

(IDEX Online News) – De Beers is making the biggest change to the way it sells diamonds in more than a decade, aiming to direct more goods to its most successful customers.

"The world’s biggest diamond producer plans to jettison a process that allocates gems to buyers in proportion to their business plans," reports Bloomberg News. "It will instead emphasize buyers’ track record in making purchases at previous sales events."

“The new system encourages supply to be redistributed toward stronger-performing companies,” said Anish Aggarwal, a partner at Antwerp-based industry consulting firm Gemdax. “The more a sightholder buys from De Beers today, the more it will receive in the future.”

In addition to making the sightholder application process simpler, De Beers will change the criteria it demands from its customers, increasing the focus on financial strength and transparency. CEO Philippe Mellier told sightholders at the first sight of the year in Botswana last month that the firm had been consulting with its clients and would make changes to the system which will start next year.

“This is the biggest change in De Beers’ strategy since Supplier of Choice in 2000,” said Aggarwal. “This new system shows a switch toward a strategy that is more tightly focused on driving direct shareholder returns.”

Varda Shine, former Executive Vice President of Global Sightholder Sales, said last year that the company wanted customers who added value to diamonds, rather than buyers who speculated on rising prices and simply traded their sights.