Sightholder Opens DTC’s Historic First Sight of 2011
Erez and Alon cut the ribbon to open the first Sight of 2011 watched over by Nicky Oppenheimer and Varda Shine
London, 17 January 2011
For the first time in its long history, the Diamond Trading Company (DTC) – the sales arm of the De Beers Family of Companies – extended a once in a lifetime opportunity to one lucky Sightholder to bid to open the first Diamond Sight of 2011 and to be a guest of De Beers’ Chairman, Mr Nicky Oppenheimer and Mrs Varda Shine, CEO of DTC.
Mr Erez Daleyot, Group CEO of DD Manufacturing (DDM), one of the world’s leading diamond manufacturers and a DTC Sightholder, was successful in his generous bid at the Diamond Empowerment Fund auction held in London last November to be the first ever individual to open a Sight and receive an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the DTC.
Founded in 1986, DD Manufacturing (DDM) specialises in loose, larger polished diamonds and their mission is to provide top-end jewellery retailers around the world with diamonds of the highest attainable cut and quality.
Life Diamonds (South Africa), amongst the largest diamond manufacturing operations in South Africa, and an integral part of the DDM group, actively supports social projects as a central part of their philosophy, with hearing and speech impaired persons making up a significant proportion of their local workforce.
Mr Daleyot said, “The Diamond Empowerment Fund’s vision and values fit perfectly with our own, and we are very excited to have had the opportunity to support them to create a better future for the next generation in southern Africa.”
Mrs Shine, Board Member of DEF who co-hosted the DEF charity event last year at which $1,000,000 was raised, commented that “we were so pleased that one of our Sightholders won the bid, and especially a company that is aligned with our own DTC beneficiation objectives in supporting empowerment and development of opportunities for youth in southern Africa. DDM has been a fantastically generous supporter of good causes at our past charity events.”
For more information on this event, please contact Louise Prior on +44 (0)7887 645869
THE DIAMOND TRADING COMPANY (DTC)
The DTC is the rough diamond distribution arm of the De Beers Family of Companies and is the world’s largest supplier of rough diamonds, by value. With activities in sorting, valuing and diamond beneficiation, the DTC has representative offices in the UK, and South Africa, as well as joint venture operations in Botswana and Namibia with the governments of those countries.
Formed in 1934, the DTC was incorporated in 1986 and established as a stand-alone company within the De Beers family in July 2004. DTC’s vision is to be the world’s most effective rough diamond distributor maximising long-term value for Producer and Sightholder partners, while assisting in the creation of viable downstream industries in producer countries. For further information about DTC visit www.debeersgroup.com
Diamond Empowerment Fund (DEF)
Founded and based in the United States since 2007, the non-profit Diamond empowerment Fund’s mission is to raise money to support education initiatives that develop and empower economically disadvantaged people in African nations where diamonds are a natural resource. D.E.F. has two named beneficiary organisations, CIDA City Campus and African Leadership Academy, both models for access to higher education in Johannesburg, South Africa. Sixty percent of the world’s diamonds come from Sub-Saharan Africa. In a land rich in diamonds, D.E.F.’s goal is to help Africa’s most precious diamonds – its youth – have greater educational opportunities that lead to personal and economic empowerment. For further information about DEF visit www.diamondempowerment.org
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