From a lengthy career at the De Beers Group to playing a major role at CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation, Jonathan (Jonnie) Kendall is enjoying his diamond journey as much as ever today.
He took time out from his busy schedule to speak to Rough&Polished about his many roles at De Beers and the experiences he has had in the diamond trade.
In addition, Jonnie talks about the importance he attaches to the work of CIBJO and his role at the organization, and the steps he believes the global diamond trade needs to take to put diamonds back at the heart of consumers’ luxury product dreams.
Could you tell us about how you came to be involved in the diamond trade? Where did you start, and how did your path develop?
After university where I studied Business Management/Marketing I focused on marketing and spent the first decade working in classic FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) roles at Procter and Gamble and Unilever living in London, New York, and Geneva.
In 2000, with the new millennium, it felt like a good time to start afresh. I had always been interested in luxury products so I started to look into opportunities and realized the diamond industry was fascinating and jewellery/watches were driven by true craftspeople which was enticing to someone who had created many successful fragrance brands in the 1990s (another artisan led business).
Ultimately this led me to De Beers in London and a year of interviews with the Oppenheimer family and the board. They were extremely diligent in their reviews of my ability and appropriateness as they had never recruited a person to a senior role from outside the company. I joined as Head of Sales with the key objective to modernize their approach to clients and commercially reduce the rough diamond stock pile from $4 billion to $500 million by 2004.
Like so many in the industry at that time, I became infatuated with diamonds, the dream, the history, the people and the clients. I never looked back, and went from Head of Sales to Global Marketing Director to Senior Vice President of International Marketing and finally President of De Beers Diamond Services covering a whole range of functions including generic' diamond dream' marketing, synthetic detection equipment, Forevermark, the Institute of Diamonds, Best Practice Principles, training/education, and trade relations/sustainability/and communications.
When people ask me about my 24 years in the industry I always say I was lucky... it has been a great journey.
What is it about diamonds that led to your love of dealing in precious stones? What were your main areas of interest: rough or polished?
Precious stones have a beauty like nothing else. The wonder of natural diamonds and colored stones is there for everyone to see... physically there are few products that can compete with their allure.
I started on the rough diamond side of the business and then moved into the polished side which is quite a unique experience. I think both are wonderful but as an industry I would suggest we should focus more on the rough to market the dream. Rough diamonds can be incredibly beautiful and I believe many hardly need polishing as they are in their natural state of wonder. So my interest lies in both, although today most of my work is on the polished side with jewellery and watches.
Please tell us a little bit about your roles at De Beers. You must have been involved with some fascinating events at a time when De Beers was such a major player in the global diamond trade.
As I've explained, I was lucky to work across the De Beers organization from rough sales to polished marketing.
There were many fascinating events over the years. Within a few months of joining the company, there was the diamond heist at The Millenium Dome in London which was very exciting. Interestingly, it also brought some excellent diamond coverage in the global press as it emphasized the value of diamonds and the lengths people were prepared to go to get them. Never miss a good PR opportunity!
Then we had the 'bling' era (2000-2007) which was a superb time for the industry with the trend setters wearing diamonds like never before... rappers, footballers (think of the Beckhams), film stars, and so many others in the public eye. It was a golden age for the industry until the 2007/8 financial crash which was terrible for us all.
Large PR events were always a major driver of press coverage and we held some incredibly memorable shows in wonderful places such as Venice, Paris, The V&A (Victoria and Albert) museum in London, Mumbai, New York, and Milan. Hundreds of people from the industry, the press, and jewellery brands would be in attendance and they did so much good in bringing everyone together to experience the wonder of diamonds and to be passionate about our wonderful industry.
Yet the most memorable event I ever attended was in Gaborone, Botswana. It was at the height of the AIDS epidemic and De Beers worked with the Botswanan government to provide antiretroviral therapy medications. I was so proud that De Beers was at the forefront of commercial organizations in fighting the AIDS epidemic and we were doing everything possible to help. The event raised funds for the families affected by this terrible disease. At one point in the proceedings, a 50-strong choir of young people was brought on stage and sang beautifully to the audience. The choir was made up of recently orphaned children who had lost their parents to AIDS. It was one of the saddest and moving experiences of my life.
Due to De Beers’ London HQ, the British capital was at the heart of the global diamond trade for around a century. Clearly, it can’t recapture that former glory, but do you believe it still has a major role to play?
De Beers will always play a major role in the natural diamond industry. If the company continues to maintain its HQ in London, it’s fair to say it will play a global role. However, London and its role in the diamond industry is nothing today when compared to the past. In terms of rough, the future lies with producer countries’ capital cities and trading and manufacturing centers around the world.
Moving on to your work with CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation, could you tell us about how you came to be involved with this industry body.
CIBJO's role as an educator to the industry aligned to some aspects of my team's activities at De Beers. This led to cooperation between CIBJO and De Beers – especially on 'diamonds for good' activities and sustainability. I had always enjoyed the education and training side of the business which led to CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri and I working closely together.
What is it that attracted you to the work of CIBJO?
It is the only global jewellery trade organization that has always been of great interest to me as it’s an opportunity to meet and work with leaders across the whole industry.
Its strong affiliation with the UN is also a unique strength that is appealing and this endorsement for CIBJO gives it global credibility.
In addition, the people are truly important. I have always believed in only working with people I like, who are passionate about what they do, and have a positive attitude to life.
What are the roles that you play in CIBJO, and specifically as the head of the Marketing and Education Commission?
As Executive VP at CIBJO, I work very closely with Gaetano, supporting him where I can. His hard work and dedication are second to none.
As Head of the Marketing and Education Commission, we have focused primarily on providing training materials to the whole industry. These are available on the website and I'd encourage people in the industry to take a look and use them. I believe they are particularly beneficial for retail staff.
How would you characterize current conditions in the diamond market globally?
Challenging. I believe we need to do the following:
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Refocus on the diamond dream
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Bring a renewed level of excitement to the consumer in the areas of marketing and communications
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Create a differentiation between natural and lab-grown diamonds
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Work together across the industry
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Create a new sense of purpose and positivity
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Make natural diamonds special again and position them very much as a luxury product.
What are your interests outside of business/work?
Working in the industry is very much ' full on' so it is only very recently that I have started to have some time to enjoy other passions. Restoring classic cars is my number one hobby these days.
Abraham Dayan for Rough&Polished from Tel Aviv
