De Beers has been differentiating its lab-grown diamond brand, Lightbox, by positioning it as an affordable, fashion-focused product.
Group spokesperson David Johnson told Rough & Polished that this is in contrast to how De Beers promotes natural diamonds, with a focus on their rarity and emotional value, with a long-term strategy to redirect lab-grown diamonds towards industrial applications.
To attract younger consumers, De Beers’ Origins Strategy prioritises sustainability, ethical sourcing, and partnerships with retailers and governments.
This strategy is supported by blockchain technology for supply chain transparency.
The company faces challenges including competition from lab-grown diamonds and economic volatility, which it addresses through agile operations and marketing innovations.
Additionally, De Beers is working to mitigate disruptions during the underground transition at the Venetia Mine and reports progress in exploring kimberlites in Angola.
Meanwhile, the Diamond Group is advancing its carbon neutrality goals through a comprehensive approach.
This includes electrifying mining fleets and transitioning to 100% renewable energy for key operations, such as the Venetia Mine, by 2026.
The company is also collaborating with suppliers to reduce emissions.
Below are excerpts from the interview.
What specific initiatives is De Beers undertaking to achieve its goal of carbon neutrality, and by what timeline?
We continue to make progress on reducing greenhouse gas emissions across our business, with our emissions reduction strategy across all three emission scopes focused on the following:
Scope 1: The largest source of Scope 1 emissions is our mine transport fleet, so we’re exploring transitioning these vehicles to electrification. We have been trialling the use of electric vehicles at Debswana, powered by solar energy, to gain a deeper understanding of how they can effectively be used in a mining context.
Scope 2: We are focused on identifying renewable energy solutions to meet the energy needs of our operations, with strong progress already underway in South Africa where we’re working with Envusa Energy (a JV between EDF Renewables and Anglo American) to access renewable energy supply from new solar and wind energy infrastructure currently under construction. From 2026, we are aiming for 100% of Venetia's electricity needs to be met by renewables. We're also working to develop wind farms in Namibia to help power our operations there and in Botswana, we are also working to progress the development of new renewable energy infrastructure in collaboration with the relevant regulatory authorities.
Scope 3: Our priority is to work with our supply chain partners to establish baselines and develop mutual targets and solutions to reduce emissions. This includes establishing commitments with key suppliers to work together on developing aligned emission reduction roadmaps, with more than 15 of these agreements having been signed. We have also made it a mandatory requirement for our Sightholder customers to report on their carbon footprint via the BPPs so that we can monitor progress.
How does De Beers differentiate its lab-grown diamond brand (Lightbox) from its natural diamonds, and what is its long-term strategy for this market?
LGDs and natural diamonds are different products – they have different origins, they have different emotional and financial value and they have different growth processes which mean they can be quickly and reliably distinguished from each other.
Lightbox emphasises this fact in its commercial approach and has always been focused on marketing LGDs as fun, fashionable and accessibly priced jewellery for lighter moments with transparent, linear pricing. This is in contrast to how De Beers Group promotes natural diamonds, with a focus on their rarity, uniqueness, timelessness, emotional resonance and enduring value.
De Beers Group’s long-term strategy for LGDs is to focus on the opportunities in the high-tech and industrial sector. We believe this is where the commercial opportunities lie.
How is De Beers adapting its historic marketing strategies to appeal to younger generations prioritising sustainability and ethical consumption?
We announced our Origins Strategy in mid-2024, with one of the pillars of the strategy being to reset downstream and evolve the approach to marketing for a new generation of consumers. This will involve growing desire for natural diamonds through the reinvigoration of category marketing, embracing new approaches that maximise reach and impact.
We have made great progress already through collaborations with leading retailers in key diamond consuming countries, and as part of our new agreements with the Government of Botswana, we have also agreed to work with our partners in Government on collaborative approaches to marketing diamonds from Botswana.
However, we have more exciting announcements regarding our marketing plans at the forthcoming JCK Show, so watch this space.
What challenges does De Beers face in maintaining brand loyalty amid rising competition from lab-grown diamonds and alternative luxury goods?
Natural diamonds compete with a range of other products and experiences in the luxury and jewellery sectors. With our Origins strategy, we are focused on reinvigorating category marketing for natural diamonds. We aim to achieve this through a multifaceted approach, including collaborations with leading retailers in key consumer countries, thereby amplifying the reach of our messages and increasing the number of consumer touchpoints for marketing. We are also increasing our investments in marketing, developing new compelling campaigns, targeting our promotional activity to suit particular geographies, and seeking ways to work with other industry stakeholders on increasing natural diamonds' share of voice. Moreover, we are also focused on making it easier for consumers to know when they are purchasing a diamond sourced from De Beers, and growing consumer desire for the diamonds we supply. We look forward to communicating more at this year's JCK Show.
The key point is that natural diamonds have an amazing story to tell and continue to enjoy very high levels of desirability in key markets – the challenge for those in the industry is to unlock the value of consumer desire through engaging and compelling marketing communications.
How effective has blockchain technology been in increasing transparency across De Beers’ diamond supply chain?
We have made great progress in the field of blockchain-backed traceability for diamonds, which is a very challenging field technically because a diamond changes its form as it moves through the value chain, and due to the traditional approaches in the industry of sorting diamonds by physical characteristics rather than point of origin.
Further to our announcement in October 2024, we now provide data on the country of origin for all De Beers-sourced rough diamonds above 1 carat (equivalent to approximately 0.5 carats and above in polished form) that are newly registered on the Tracr platform. While we have long had systems in place to support transparency within our internal value chain, the registration of country of origin data for these diamonds before they are sold as rough is playing a key role in supporting the traceability of diamonds sourced from De Beers as they are sold to customers and move onwards through the supply chain.
How is the company navigating global economic volatility (e.g., tariffs, inflation and geopolitical tensions) affecting diamond demand?
The diamond industry has faced a very broad range of challenges over its long history, and while there have been several challenges converging in recent years, the sector has proven its resilience many times over and will do so again.
We recognise that we live in an unpredictable world, so it’s vital that we work in ways that enable us to be resilient regardless of the challenges we may face. This means we need to be flexible, agile and adaptable, we must recognise the importance of having lean and streamlined businesses, and we must work collaboratively with other industry stakeholders. This is exactly the approach we are taking with our Origins strategy.
With the Venetia mine transitioning to underground operations by 2027, how is De Beers mitigating disruptions to local employment and supply chains?
Venetia Mine has optimised its structure and cost base to support the De Beers Group Origins strategy and effectively meet the demands of the underground mining phase. The optimisation process has formed a key part of Venetia’s strategic approach and has been integral to the operation’s long-term plan to progress from the construction phase of the underground mine to full-scale operations.
What motivated your decision to stop releasing monthly sightholder sales figures?
Our focus is on providing quarterly updates on rough diamond sales to align with our broader quarterly production reporting and provide a more comprehensive overview of performance at key quarterly periods.
What progress have you made in Angola following the identification of eight high-potential kimberlite targets?
We continue to make good progress with our exploration activities in Angola, with one key recent milestone being 100% completion of all the airborne geophysical surveys.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief, Rough&Polished
