One of the world’s most exclusive jewellery sellers says it is prepared to cut more deals with diamond mines in exchange for preferential access to the precious stones, reports the FT.
Tiffany & Co told the Financial Times it would repeat a deal it make this year to lend $50 million to a mine in Sierra Leone in exchange for the right to buy its rough diamonds.
The rather unusual move on the part of a diamond retailer to get directly involved in diamond mining is due to the high price of diamonds, along with forecasts that the supply of diamonds will fall due to a lack of large new mines, paired with rising demand from wealthy consumers.
International Times reported last week that diamond producer De Beers expects global demand growth for rough diamonds to set a new record this year on the exceptionally strong performance of its key US market and robust demand in China and India, the head of the company’s distribution arm said.
Image of the Tiffany & Co store in Brisbane is by Peffry on Wikimedia Commons