Jewellers sourcing direct from miners

London

JEWELLERS who fill up Christmas stockings with diamonds are increasingly doing so by investing in or securing supply deals directly from individual mines, avoiding the industry's middlemen.

With most of the diamonds near the Earth's surface having already been dug up, and few new mines sprouting, Tiffany & Co and Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Ltd are sharing an ever smaller pie. That is driving them to be more creative in reaching out to mine operators that range from the Canadian Arctic to the Kalahari Desert.