Chinese demand has slumped as competition from lab-grown alternatives has increased
Diamonds at the Aurostar diamond processing plant in Gaborone, Botswana, where the country has partnered with the London-based diamond giant De Beers for decades. Photograph: Joao Silva/The New York TimesDe Beers Group has amassed its biggest stockpile of diamonds since the 2008 financial crisis, laying bare the group’s challenge in reviving demand for jewels long seen as the pinnacle of luxury.
The prolonged decline in demand that began with the Covid pandemic has forced De Beers to take measures to curb supply of the precious stones. It has cut production from its mines by about 20 per cent from last year’s levels and reduced prices at its most recent auction this month. Its biggest rival, Russia’s Alrosa, was hit by sanctions imposed on Russian diamonds by the G7 nations this year following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
In an effort to boost sales, De Beers launched a marketing push in October focused on “natural diamonds”, echoing its famous advertising campaigns of the second half of the 20th century. “As we go independent, we have the freedom to focus on marketing as hard as we focused on mining,” he said. “This feels to me like the right time to be driving marketing and getting behind our brands and retail, even as we cut the capital and the spend on the mining side.”
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