De Beers to bring Forevermark to UK

De Beers hopes eventually to have up to 40 locations in the UK

(Rex)

The mining giant that created the desire for diamond engagement rings is searching for UK jewellers to sell its stones.

De Beers, which first marketed diamonds for brides in the 1940s, plans to bring its Forevermark Diamond brand to the UK for the first time and has signed a licensing agreement with Crossworks Manufacturing who will find jewellers across the country.

With more than 1,390 outlets in 29 countries, including US, China, Hong Kong, India and Japan, De Beers hopes eventually to have up to 40 locations here and will announce the first batch of jewellers by the autumn. It first launched Forevermark six years ago and uses only the top 5 per cent of its diamonds for the brand – roughly 1 per cent of the number of diamonds mined globally – which are then inscribed with an identification number and mark. Jewellers then create specific pieces for each stone.