Diamond major De Beers will be focused on growing its Forevermark brand in South Africa this year by promoting the Promise campaign, which it launched in mid-2014.

The Forevermark brand is distributed in South Africa through the local diamond business Caratco, under whose initiative the brand is expanding in Southern Africa to Namibia and Botswana.

De Beers CEO Philippe Mellier says the group is committed to Forevermark and to growing the ‘diamond dream’, and that there is great potential in the bridal market worldwide.
He notes that the Forevermark brand answered consumers’ increasing desire for branded products that could provide assurance of their ethical credentials.

In 2014, the company inscribed its millionth Forevermark diamond.

“Forevermark provides the opportunity for additional margin to be captured and, to date, Forevermark jewellers are consistently achieving about 10% premium above equivalent generic diamond jewellery,” Mellier states.

Forevermark brand manager at Caratco Anna Russo states that the new Promise campaign reinforces the value of the ‘diamond dream’, adding that Forevermark will drive that dream in South Africa.

“At the core of the ‘diamond dream’ is the idea that the diamond carries a timeless promise. Customers can feel proud to make their most important promise of love with a Forevermark diamond. At Caratco, we intend to grow Forevermark in the local bridal market, in line with the global goals.”

She adds that Forevermark is a diamond brand and not a jewellery brand, and that countries and businesses involved – such as Caratco – that are licensed to distribute Forevermark, are encouraged to create their own Forevermark collections for their own market and customers.

“At Caratco, we created a new Forevermark collection last year. It is a collection designed to meet the demand of the South African market and we are developing it in the bridal market especially,” Russo says.

Russo comments that, with the new Promise campaign, Forevermark aims to drive awareness of the brand’s own promises, which include a commitment to beautiful, rare and responsibly sourced diamonds.

Caratco’s new Forevermark collection is a collection of classic designs for engagement and anniversaries. The inspiration behind the new collection is “timeless”.

“The primary goal of the De Beers group is to establish Forevermark as the biggest diamond brand in the world. Globally, the goal is to strengthen the existing markets and to acquire new ones,” she says.

She adds that, locally, Caratco’s goal is to grow both the local and tourist markets.

“Visitors from all over the world understand that South Africa is a global diamond hub and tourists want to buy diamonds here, so we must be able to meet the tourist demand by offering a premium diamond brand such as Forevermark,” says Russo. To expand the tourist offering in Southern Africa, Caratco opened an outlet at Maun International Airport, in Botswana, last year.

Caratco also arranged a Forevermark jewellery display at the thirteenth Confederation of Commerce, Industry and Manpower conference in Maun last year, in support of the De Beers group, which sponsored the conference.