The diamond industry is one that is controlled by very few players. Unlike gold and other precious metals, diamond is not a traded as a commodity but as a retail product. This fact has made the price of diamonds less fickle and less susceptible to economic forces.
Currently, Antwerp and New York remain the two largest diamond markets in the world. The former is known as the “world diamond capital” as it handles 80% of all rough diamonds and 50% of all cut diamonds. On the other hand, New York is where around 80% of the world’s diamonds are sold, most through auctions. The rise of these two cities as major diamond centers is closely related to the ascent of one company: De Beers.
Since its founding in 1888, De Beers has been the world’s largest diamond miner and holds the most dominant position in the industry. De Beers has always maintained a tight relationship with the city of Antwerp. In fact, the blossoming of the Belgian city as the world’s diamond center is greatly attributed to De Beers. After all, it was De Beers that introduced to Antwerp many technologies in the diamond industry including modern diamond cutters. A number of subsidiaries of the De Beers group of companies have also been established in Antwerp.
De Beers, with its extensive marketing efforts — which included multimedia advertising and product placement — is also credited as almost single-handedly reviving the American diamond industry, making New York along with other cities in the United States a major diamond market. Through the years, De Beers’s marketing efforts have successfully associated diamonds with a sophisticated and glamorous lifestyles, celebrities and royalties. The company is also responsible for making the slogan “a diamond is forever” famous and almost universally acknowledged.
Economic and geopolitical changes in recent years have contributed to the formation of new diamond centers. Nonetheless, De Beers’s hold of the dominant position in the industry is likely to remain for more years to come.
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