The tour, scheduled for mid next year, embodies the concept of following a diamond’s path from mine to end consumer. As such, it will begin at the Jwaneng mine in Botswana – said to be the highest yielding diamond mine in the world.
According to Nationwide managing director Colin Pocklington, this aspect of the trip is special not only due to the fact that very few jewellery retailers have ever been to a diamond mine, but also because the buying group’s members are the only jewellery retailers in the world to have visited this mine.
Following the excursion to the Jwaneng mine, members will tour the rough sorting facility operated by De Beers’ Diamond Trading Company in Gaborone and stop by a large diamond-cutting factory.
The trip is an optional add-on to the buying group’s biannual visit to Antwerp, Belgium.
Next year’s trip will mark the third time Nationwide has organised a Diamond Safari, with the previous two being held in October 2011 and March 2013.
Pocklington explained that the professional experience was valuable for attending members because it “helps establish them as being a true diamond expert”.
Margaret Fay of Fay’s Jewellers in Tasmania – who attended the inaugural Diamond Safari – is one retailer who claims to have benefitted from the trip.
“Even today, we still have people who come in and say, ‘Look, I know you went to the diamond mines and you have experience with diamonds,’ so it has certainly given us a good face for our business,” Fay said.
Peter Beever of Victoria-based Ringwood Jewellers attended the safari last year, and described it as “one of the most incredible experiences I have had”.
“To come back and be able to talk to our customers on that level is quite unique,” Beever said. “A lot of people are worried about the ethical part of diamonds, and I think it gives consumers a lot of confidence knowing that I’ve been to the source and can talk with authority on how well the staff at the mine are looked after.”
Nationwide Jewellers is Australasia’s largest jewellery buying group with a membership consisting of more than 500 independent retailers across Australia and New Zealand.
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Second diamond safari scheduled