De Beers Leans into Diamond Cabochons to Drive “Earth Made” Push

De Beers London has introduced cabochon-cut diamonds for the first time, unveiling them Sept. 18 in Vibrations, its latest high jewelry collection, according to WWD. The smooth, unfaceted cut is typically reserved for colored gemstones since cabochons have no facets to mask flaws; applied to diamonds, it demanded exceptionally pure rough. De Beers said fewer than 0.5% of diamonds meet the color, clarity and structural criteria required. Speaking during London Fashion Week, De Beers CEO Emmanuelle Nodale said the technique took five years to develop. The process requires an additional diamond-powdered ceramic disc to grind the stone into an even surface, a slower process that wastes more material and tolerates fewer flaws. Nodale told Vogue that direct mine access lets the company select stones suited to the cut: “No other brand will be able to do this.”

The launch lands amid a wider De Beers Group push to re-center natural diamonds in the market. Under CEO Al Cook’s “Origins” strategy, the miner shut down its Lightbox lab-grown jewelry brand last year, renamed its retail arm from De Beers Jewellers to De Beers London, and committed its highest category-marketing spend in a decade to differentiate what it calls “Earth made” from “factory made.” Vibrations, which also debuts diamonds sourced through De Beers’ GemFair artisanal-mining initiative, ties that origin story directly to the jewelry — deltas and canyons across Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Canada rendered in stone.