Birks & Mayors, the north American diamond jewellery designer, manufacturer and marketing giant, has signed an exclusive contract with Diamond Manufacturing Botswana to distribute its Botswana polished diamonds in Canada and the United States of America.
The firm, which was established in 1879 to promote marriage jewellery, distributes its diamonds through 70 outlets in Canada and the United States of America and is geared to add Botswana polished diamonds to its stock.
Birks & Mayors, founded in 1879, is positioned in the market as the distributor of marriage jewellery and intends to add Botswana’s goods into its stock by the third quarter.
“By having Birks & Mayors, it will develop our brand of Botswana diamonds in northern America. The whole idea is to communicate beauty, romance and mystique of our source from Botswana,” Diamond Manufacturing Botswana said in an exclusive interview with The Sunday Standard on Wednesday.
The move was also cheered by Birks & Mayors across the Atlantic on Monday after the signing of a historic “performance based contract” saying it will also have ramifications on Botswana’s tourism industry.
“Birks & Mayors has been an industry leader supporting ethical and socially responsible diamond sourcing. This partnership allows us to further strengthen the chain of custody from mine to the case while increasing the prosperity of Botswana people. It is a wonderful story and we are delighted to bring these exceptional diamonds to our customers,” Senior Vice President of Birks & Mayors, John Orrico, said on Monday.
By attacking the north American market, Diamond Manufacturing Botswana is targeting the world’s biggest jewellery market, the United States, where Birks & Mayors is well established in Florida and Georgia.
The move compliments Botswana’s position as the world’s largest diamond producer by value through Debswana- owned mines and the newly established DTC Botswana, which will, in the near future, be the world’s largest diamond sorting and aggregating centre. Diamond Manufacturing Botswana is one of the first 16 sightholders of DTC Botswana and are, this year, expected to receive rough diamonds worth US $370 million that will be upped to US $550 million by next year.
Further, the move will strengthen the Diamond Manufacturing Botswana distribution global network, which is currently skewed towards China, Europe and Japan.
Diamond Manufacturing Botswana is the newest member of Birks & Mayors’ family of high quality, unique and differentiated diamonds, which also includes Birks Canadian Diamonds and Amorique Diamonds. The collection will compliment the company’s braded Birks deal-cut, excellent-cut and premier-cut diamonds, each, when mounted on engagement rings, have their own individualized Diamond Identification Number and a Birks certificate.
