The Diamond Penny Begins to Drop

(idexonline.com) - In the grand scheme of the diamond industry, a year doesn’t seem like such a long time – after all, it takes millions of years, and now, expert drilling techniques to help remove diamonds from their earthen beds. However, things at the consumer end of the diamond pipeline seem to be shifting, and in a positive direction at that. Sometimes, imperceptible changes take place that help to change the way business is done, how a problem is approached or how a solution might be found. Sometimes, it’s hard to pinpoint the precise point at which something changes, when something clicks into place, when perhaps an opportunity appears that had not previously been presented. I think back to the Presidents’ Meeting in June of last year. The formation of the Diamond Producers Association (DPA) had recently been announced, and at the time, two of the most important figures in the diamond industry – Andrey Zharkov and Philippe Mellier, of ALROSA and De Beers, respectively – were outlining their companies’ position on a number of issues relating to the entirety of the diamond pipeline.