Signet Jewelers and De Beers are reinforcing a partnership spanning diamond mining, manufacturing and retail, placing Botswana’s economic transformation, local craftsmanship and responsible sourcing at the centre of efforts to revive consumer demand for natural diamonds.
The relationship was highlighted at a reception at the National Museum in Gaborone on Friday, celebrating Botswana’s 60 years of independence and its contribution to the global natural diamond industry. Senior executives from Signet, the world’s largest diamond jewellery retailer, had earlier visited Jwaneng, widely regarded as the world’s richest diamond mine by value.
Making his first visit to Botswana, Signet Chief Executive Officer James Kevin (J.K.) Symancyk praised the country’s transformation and the contribution of diamonds to schools, hospitals, roads, employment and economic development over the past six decades.
Symancyk, who brings more than three decades of experience in retail, consumer behaviour and merchandising, acknowledged the difficult trading conditions confronting the industry but maintained that the rarity, authenticity, provenance and social impact of natural diamonds remained compelling attributes for consumers.
‘Consumer demand is under pressure, and the industry is working together to navigate significant change,’ Symancyk said, stressing the importance of explaining the benefits that diamond production brings to communities.
New York Stock Exchange-listed Signet Jewelers, which owns jewellery brands including Kay Jewelers, Zales, Jared and Blue Nile, recorded annual sales of $6.81 billion (approximately P91.0 billion) for the financial year ended January 2026, up 1.6 percent from $6.70 billion (P89.6 billion) a year earlier.
Paul Rowley
De Beers Executive Vice President for Diamond Trading Paul Rowley, who has spent more than four decades in the industry, described the past three years as the most difficult of his career. He said closer cooperation between producers and retailers was essential to navigating the downturn.
Rowley emphasised that while producers value diamonds for their rarity and natural origins, their commercial worth ultimately depends on consumers.
‘What we have to remember is it’s the actual consumer that creates all the value,’ he said, highlighting Signet’s importance in promoting natural diamonds internationally.
The companies’ relationship stretches back more than three decades and has expanded beyond rough diamond supply. In May 2024, they announced a marketing collaboration targeting younger American consumers, followed by the Worth the Wait campaign in October, using Signet’s retail network and De Beers’ marketing expertise.
Their ties in Botswana developed alongside the country’s emergence as an international diamond trading centre. De Beers, whose mining partnership with Botswana dates back to the establishment of Debswana in 1969, transferred its diamond aggregation activities from London to Gaborone in 2012 and held its first international sight in the capital in November 2013.
Rowley recalled that the relocation was intended to be permanent, strengthening Botswana’s position in the global diamond value chain.
Signet acquired a Gaborone diamond polishing factory for $9.1 million (P121.7 million) in November 2013, becoming a De Beers sightholder a year later and securing contracted supplies of rough diamonds.
Rowley said Signet’s local manufacturing operations had undergone substantial transformation. More than 90 percent of employees were expatriates in the factory’s early operations, largely involved in training, but the position had since reversed, with Batswana now accounting for more than 90 percent of the workforce.
According to Signet’s September 2026 financial disclosures, its Botswana cutting and polishing facility employs 165 people, reflecting its continued commitment to local manufacturing despite difficult conditions facing the global diamond industry.
Signet Chief Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Officer Colleen Rooney highlighted the company’s more recent efforts to develop local craftsmanship, particularly an initiative over the past two to three years to cut and polish high-quality Botswana diamonds locally.
Rooney singled out the factory’s round-polishing team, led by department manager Nancy, as an example of the skills developed locally. She said the delegation’s visit to Jwaneng had also provided an opportunity to understand the industry’s operations and explore closer collaboration.
‘That was our agenda today, was to really learn more and figure out how we could do more together in the spirit of relationship,’ Rooney said.
Rowley illustrated the rarity behind the industry’s marketing message, describing how a 300-tonne truckload of ore from Jwaneng’s productive Centre Pipe yielded approximately 600 carats of rough diamonds, while six additional truckloads of waste rock had to be removed to access the ore.
Symancyk said strengthening consumers’ understanding of that journey, and the economic opportunities diamond production creates for Batswana and communities, would be important to sustaining the industry’s appeal.
‘Together, we can help consumers better understand the people, communities, craftsmanship, and positive economic impact behind every diamond,’ he said.