Impact

We have a Transformation Agenda 

1. Creating economic Fairness throughout the value chain.

The industry today is unfair and complex.

From the moment of excavation, the traditional diamond supply chain is complex. Typically, a rough diamond changes hands 25 to 100 times without adding value, creating needless obscurity, and preventing transparency and traceability. This complex and crowded value chain prohibits miners and local governments from knowing the true value of their natural resources, meaning the communities are denied money that could be invested in infrastructure, health, and education.

It doesn’t have to be like this,
Doing business ethically is at the core of our ecosystem.

We vertically integrated the entire supply chain, eliminating all the extra intermediaries, and take full responsibility for the journey from rough to polished diamond.

The industry today is opaque.

The lack of transparency characterizing today’s diamond industry makes it nearly impossible to enforce good supply chain due diligence because a company can’t readily identify, prevent or mitigate risks relating to financing conflict, serious human rights abuses, bribery, money-laundering, tax evasion, and encroachment of the environment associated with their supply chains. On top of the absence of transparency, the industry also lacks the will to take accountability for its actions.

We do it differently and take accountability and transparency by heart. 

We consider ourselves a vessel for transformation, a technological infrastructure to transform minerals for the benefit of the countries of origin. We ensure miners and governments get a complete insight into the post-production retail value of their resources and reap the financial benefits. Accountability and transparency are the core of our ecosystem, the collection, and aggregation of evidence-based data throughout our supply chain.

2 We are committed to empowering individuals throughout the value chain.

The industry today is based on modern slavery in the mining stage. 

Diamonds are present in approximately 35 countries worldwide, where millions of people work to mine these rare and precious stones. Although 90% of all gem-quality diamonds are mined industrially by big conglomerates, many miners face difficult circumstances, including low wages, excessive overtime, and issues with health and safety. In some cases, international mining companies and governments have also abused the rights of local inhabitants when clearing land for exploration and mining, which has particularly affected Indigenous peoples.

We are working to transform this system.  

The mine must also show us their due diligence process and how they put this into practice efficiently. We work only in countries and mines that adhere to our due diligence standards, benchmarking ourselves against the data from international organizations, such as the World Bank. We work in countries that are democratic with robust governance systems in place.

We choose to employ ethical craftsmanship in Antwerp and the country of origin. 

Once the rough diamonds are mined, the gems are produced as cheaply and quickly as possible. 95% of all diamonds are manufactured in low-wage countries, such as India and China, where workers are subject to long hours in poor conditions. We choose a different approach. Instead, we brought the craftmanship of manufacturing back to Antwerp, a choice that is expensive but worth paying for due to its quality. Next, we also bring the manufacturing back to the country of origin, meaning these countries are excavating the diamonds and participating in transforming their minerals.  Ethical business is the core of our ecosystem.

3. We believe in regenerating the natural world.

There is no denying that the diamond industry impacts the environment. Mining activities can contribute to the degeneration of the land due to large areas of land use, deforestation, pollution, water use, and GHG emissions.

We do things differently; we actively work on restoring ecosystems and biodiversity around our value chain.

Although we are not miners ourselves, we deliberately choose to only work with mines that work on reducing their impact, not just on paper but in practice. A few mines really put in the effort to recycle and reuse their wastewater, reducing their GHG emissions… For example, the Karowe mine in Botswana is operated by the Canadian company Lucara Diamond Corp.