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In todays National Jeweler Daily News:
By Susan Thea Posnock
JUNE 10, 2005 - London -- The sightholder speculation ended Thursday as the Diamond Trading Co. (DTC) announced it would increase its Supplier of Choice roster by 11, for a total of 93 sightholders.
Among the new players are non-traditional companies like Louisiana-based Stuller and Tiffany & Co., which won a London sight in conjunction with Rand Precision Cut Diamonds. The company has a joint venture with Rand in South Africa, says Linda Buckley, Tiffany''s vice president of media relations.
"The shape of the playing field has changed a great deal with the Supplier of Choice initiative, and I think we''ve seen incredible changes occur in the diamond community throughout the world," says Chuck Lien, president and chief operating officer for Stuller. Companies with powerful marketing and distribution channels now hold more value, he says, as DTC continues to swim downstream.
India continued to dominate the sightholder list, with Rapaport News reporting that four Mumbai companies—Kiran Exports, Bhansali & Co., Mine Stone, and Tara Jewels—made the latest cut. According to Rapaport, the list of DTC sightholders now includes a total of 34 India-based companies.
While rumors had circulated that DTC might tighten its list, this scenario has not played out for the 2005-2008 SOC contract period.
"Our aim is to help grow the value of the diamond jewelry market, which we anticipate will be worth $75 billion by 2012, and the Supplier of Choice strategy is helping us, our sightholders and the wider industry to achieve this," said DTC Managing Director Gareth Penny in a release.
Launched in 2000, Supplier of Choice was designed to drive consumer demand for diamonds in the face of greater competition from other luxury brands. DTC asserts the program has generated positive results by encouraging sightholders to add value and market more effectively
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