Gaborone: De Beers launched an online trading service that enables third parties to sell polished diamonds to other businesses on the miner’s existing auction platform.

The pilot service is targeted at single stones weighing more than 5 carats or those with a fancy color, the company said. The initiative, open to midstream industry members, represents an expansion of a rough trading platform for the trade De Beers introduced in June.

“We look forward to seeing how the trade responds to the extension of the third party selling service. Once we have some initial feedback we can decide whether there is sufficient demand to continue with it,” said Neil Ventura, executive vice-president of De Beers auction sales business.

De Beers said all sellers must comply with a declaration of integrity. In addition, diamonds must come with evidence of manufacturing history and go through a three-level screening process to identify synthetic or treated stones.