London— Faberge is seeking a deal to market gems from state-run Russian diamond giant Alrosa, a top official from Pallinghurst Resources, which owns the Faberge brand, told The Moscow Times Friday.
Pallinghurst partner Sean Gilbertson told the paper that the firm hopes to take advantage of a European Union mandate requiring Alrosa to stop selling its diamonds through top-ranking De Beers as part of an anti-monopoly deal.
"We think there's a unique opportunity to take Russian diamonds from Alrosa and help them with this marketing problem by creating a range of Faberge Russian diamonds and at a stroke creating one of the most powerful diamond brands in the world," he told the paper.
He said it was too soon to comment on any talks with Alrosa or how the project was progressing.
De Beers, which sold $600 million worth of Alrosa diamonds in 2006, has been phasing out Alrosa sales and is due to completely stop marketing the Russian stones by 2009.
The move to get in on Alrosa's cache is part of plans to return Faberge to its Russian roots and put out its first collection of art objects and jewelry next year, Gilbertson said.
Faberge previously announced plans to market branded colored gemstones, including emeralds and rubies. Under the plan, all Faberge gems will have a tiny laser inscription with the brand and mine, designed to appeal to consumers worried about conflict diamonds.
Source: nationaljewelernetwork
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