How De Beers is bringing ethics and traceability to artisanal diamond sourcing

In our interview, Walpole speaks with Sandrine Conseiller, CEO of Brands and Diamond Desirability at De Beers Group about GemFair, the house's initiative connecting artisanal miners to global markets

Walpole: What is GemFair?

Sandrine Conseiller: GemFair is a De Beers initiative that exists to shape the future of artisanal diamond mining. At De Beers, we do not own or operate artisanal mines ourselves, but GemFair is part of 'Building Forever', our sustainability framework. This framework guides our efforts to ensure that diamonds create enduring value for the communities and environments where they are found.

When we launched GemFair in 2018, our aim was simple: to build a fair and transparent pathway for artisanal miners to access international markets. By preserving the skill and heritage of artisanal mining and combining it with innovative traceability technology and rigorous ethical standards, GemFair is transforming artisanal diamond mining into a trusted, traceable, and ethical source of natural diamonds.

The programme offers participating miners with practical training in diamond valuation, safer working practices, environmental stewardship, and support to restore old mine sites for productive agricultural land in their communities. In return for adhering to GemFair’s Assurance Programme, which is audited by a third-party, the miners can sell their diamonds through GemFair, with the guarantee of receiving fair market value.

I’m enormously inspired by the tangible impact we’ve seen in a relatively short time. GemFair has grown from 14 mine sites to more than 500, supporting over 7,000 jobs, and since 2020, the programme has supported communities to reclaim 21 abandoned mine pits and return them to agricultural use. In 2024, De Beers marked a significant milestone when it purchased its 10,000th diamond through GemFair, and now over 20,000 diamonds have entered the market via GemFair since it launched.

January 2026 was another milestone for us: seeing GemFair diamonds featured in a jewellery collaboration with De Beers London [the Riverborn Collection, pictured in the gallery below], showing how diamonds do good for the countries, communities, and ecosystems beyond where we operate directly.

What exactly do you mean by ethically sourced diamonds?

The UN's Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD’s Due Diligence for Responsible Sourcing both offer a good baseline for how to define responsible sourcing as a whole, covering human rights, conflict financing and other conditions to enable responsible supply chains for diamonds and other minerals.

GemFair has developed a third-party audited ASM Assurance Programme, which is based on the OECD’s Due Diligence Guidance and De Beer’s Best Practice Principles (BPPs are De Beers Group’s framework standards for our value chain related to ethical conduct, working conditions, leadership, inclusion and more). The GemFair Assurance Programme is tailored to set realistic mining standards that address the practical realities of artisanal mining on the ground.

How is this determined?

The GemFair Assurance Programme follows internationally recognised standards, incorporating our Best Practice Principles (BPPs) and the OECD Guidance. The Assurance Programme is designed within a context that supports independent artisanal miners, and all GemFair mines are assessed through a combination of assessments using first, second and third-party mechanisms. This all helps to support high ethical and responsible sourcing standards.

Why is GemFair important to De Beers and the company’s sustainability goals?

GemFair affirms our commitment to elevating standards and supporting ethical business beyond our own operations. De Beers does not own or operate mines in Sierra Leone, but we see the formalisation of the artisanal and small-scale mining sector as an industry-wide challenge in which we can play a key role in driving progress.

According to the World Bank, 41mn people are employed in artisanal and small-scale mining across the globe, and the Diamond Development Initiative estimates that approximately 1.5mn people rely either directly or indirectly on the artisanal diamond mining sector. We know that artisanal diamond mining accounts for approximately 10% of the global diamond market supply by value (according to the Diamond Development Initiative), and so it’s significant from a socioeconomic perspective. 

GemFair is part of our sustainability framework, 'Building Forever'. 'Building Forever' is how we translate rarity into responsibility – aiming to help create lasting impact that endures beyond diamonds for the countries, communities and ecosystems that make our business possible.

De Beers London is the luxury jewellery workshop for De Beers. How did the collection with GemFair come about?

In 2024, six years after launching the GemFair programme, we were celebrating the milestone of sourcing our 10,000th diamond through GemFair. With supply growing, our focus shifted to considering how best to profile the compelling story of GemFair diamonds with luxury consumers. Creating a bespoke collection with De Beers London felt like the perfect way to reach consumers and engage them with GemFair’s powerful story. Given De Beers Group’s activities across the diamond pipeline, we recognised we had a unique opportunity to support not only with robust sourcing standards and practices, but also with creating downstream visibility and an interesting route to market.

What were the creative thoughts behind the design of the collection? Is there a standout piece that embodies this vision?

The De Beers London Riverborn collection [pictured in the gallery above] is made up of 12 unique pieces using both rough and polished GemFair diamonds. We know that the best diamonds aren’t just beautiful, they are authentically connected to a place of origin before they become yours: the rock it came from, formed deep within the Earth. With this collection, each stone tells a story of transformation (from the land it came from, to the people who discovered it, and the future it helps build) and we wanted to reflect that in flowing curves, organic shapes, and diamonds left in their natural form to celebrate our planet's raw beauty.

The 'Toi et Moi' rings are real standouts. They were the first Riverborn pieces that I tried on during the design process; they are beautiful and incredibly unusual. Pairing rough and polished diamonds side-by-side beautifully captures the individuality of each stone, while showcasing the exceptional craftsmanship behind the collection.

Why is GemFair important for the wider luxury sector?

Artisanal diamonds make up around 10% of global diamond production by value, but historically the sector has faced challenges around perception and practice. GemFair offers a credible way for luxury companies to partner with artisanal miners and brings fairness, empowerment, and traceability into their diamond products. Now, following this capsule collection, GemFair is a registered supplier for future De Beers London collections.

We’d like to see GemFair diamonds featured in more beautiful jewellery pieces and collections, strengthening the connection between exceptional diamonds, the people who discover them, and the finished product.

What are the long-term goals for GemFair, and for De Beers in sustainability?

GemFair will continue to focus on formalising the artisanal diamond mining sector, reaching as many artisanal miners as possible, supporting them in raising their standards and providing fair and transparent access to end-consumers. The aim is to continue to demonstrate that artisanal diamonds can be purchased with confidence, and that the industry can be a force for long-term positive change and delivering on the 'Building Forever' goal to develop scalable solutions to raise livelihoods of artisanal miners by 2030. 

Our GemFair programme sits at the intersection of our 'Building Forever' 2030 ambition and its core pillars of focus (Livelihoods, Nature and Climate), underpinned by our ongoing commitment to provenance. From supporting the livelihoods of artisanal and small-scale miners and their local communities, to pioneering ethical sourcing and advancing traceability,  everything we do through 'Building' Forever is designed for us to continue to create meaningful impact that endures beyond our diamonds.

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