Gaborone: De Beers will allow businesses to sell rough diamonds from its online auction platform in a pilot scheme announced Thursday.

The service is available for single stones of more than 5 carats or fancy-color diamonds. The limited service will only be available to businesses that adhere to standards set by De Beers covering integrity of diamond sellers, product disclosure and provenance.

It will represent a very small proportion of the gems sold on the De Beers auction sales platform, which in turn offers about 10 percent by value of the rough sold by De Beers.

The project “gives us the opportunity to test the strength of demand for such a service,” said Neil Ventura, executive vice-president of auction sales at De Beers.