The 8 a.m. Sunday breakfast with Martin Rapaport at JCK Las Vegas is an institution—equal parts sermon, pep talk, and no-holds-barred market commentary. This year, Rap held court for two hours, delivering his annual state-of-the-industry address with his usual flare: bold, unfiltered, fearlessly critical, and fiercely loyal to the diamond trade he’s influenced for decades.
As always, the room was packed. Rapaport’s message? The diamond industry is in trouble. But the U.S. jeweler is its bedrock—and if the industry focuses on ethics, transparency, and the right customer, it can come back stronger than ever.
“Here’s the situation,” says Rap… “and frankly, it sucks.” … and we’re off.
Rapaport wasted no time painting a bleak picture: double-digit sales declines from major global sources of rough and polished diamonds, China’s diamond demand collapse, and synthetic diamonds swallowing more than half the engagement ring market. He scoffed at the idea that anyone—miners included—knows exactly what’s next.
“Everybody doesn’t know what’s going to happen.”
Amid the storm, however, he saw one ship of stability: the American jeweler.
“I’m very optimistic. The U.S. jeweler knows what they’re doing. The real foundation of this industry is solid, thank God.”
On Synthetics: A Market with No Soul
Rapaport didn’t hide his lack of respect for synthetic diamonds. In his view, it’s a race to the bottom—prices collapsing, consumer trust eroding, and long-term value nonexistent.
“You’re selling your customer something you know is going to be $5,000 today and $299 tomorrow. How is she going to feel when she sees that same engagement ring in Walmart?”
He warned of an inevitable backlash from consumers burned by overpriced synthetic diamond purchases-and he wasn’t subtle:.. “DON’T SCREW YOUR CUSTOMER! What an idea.”
For Rapaport, the key issue is scarcity. Synthetic diamonds are simply not rare.
And rarity comes with a price. “Natural diamonds are not for people who want to save money. Natural diamonds are for people who want to spend money.”
Russian Rough: “Everybody’s Cheating”
The topic of Russian sanctions brought another classic Rapaport mind-melting rant. He accused much of the trade of laundering Russian-origin diamonds through places like Dubai and India, then falsely declaring them as non-Russian to U.S. Customs.
“It’s bullshit! Be honest. Be straight. You can’t just take a diamond from Russia, cut it somewhere else, and pretend it’s clean.”
Ethics, he argued, are not optional – they are foundational.
“Ask your kids: should I know where my diamonds come from? You’re responsible for where your money goes. It could be ending up with Hezbollah or Boko Haram. Do you really want that?”
What Makes a Diamond “Good”?
Rapaport then shifted into what could be his most important message of the morning: natural diamonds, ethically sourced, are not just a product. They are a story. They are a story of social good. … a story of a way to make the world better.
“Show me show me the hospital!” he shouted. “Show me the school! Show me the well! Show me the water! Show me the roads! Come on… Where are those synthetic hospitals?”
That’s what natural diamonds can do. Synthetic diamonds?
He praised De Beers’ Tracr initiative and called for industry-wide adoption of traceability and transparency.
“If we want a good industry, we have to be good.”
I’m Begging You, PLEASE!
At one point, Rapaport dropped to his knees at center stage:
“Please don’t buy those blood diamonds!”
It wasn’t the first time he’d made this plea—and it likely won’t be the last. With characteristic fire, he urged the audience to take responsibility and demand transparency.
“You screw people, you’re going to get screwed… if you ask me. … One of the things I’ll tell you is if we sell blood diamonds…. where the hell do you think those diamonds from the Wagner Group are going? You’re going to get screwed! It’s just karma! It’s just the way God runs the world! So, if we want to be good, … if we want a good industry, then we have to be good. And diamonds are only as good as we are. And it’s really important that we know where our diamonds come from.”
He then reminded the room of last year’s emotional moment—before repeating it.
“I’m telling you, maybe I’ll get down on my knees like I did last year and say, ‘please don’t buy those blood diamonds.’”
And then he did.
He closed the moment with a final call to action:
“If you don’t know where they come from, don’t buy those diamonds. Know where your diamonds come from.”
The Broader Message: Responsibility, Storytelling, and Opportunity
As the morning unfolded, Rapaport followed a general outline, pointing out several opportunities for the industry:
- Collaborative marketing to promote natural diamonds as a social good
- Ethical sourcing and traceability as industry standards
- Tools and training to help retailers sell based on value and origin
- New opportunities to brand Botswana-mined De Beers diamonds
The Real Battle: The Last 18 Inches
Okay, next topic.
Now Rap turns to the counter—the final 18 inches where every deal is closed.
“This is where we win or lose. Moving the diamond from one side of the counter to the other. Everything else is noise.”
Selling natural diamonds, he said, is still the beating heart of the trade. The future hinges on U.S. jewelers connecting with the next generation of affluent consumers—with diamonds that mean something.
“We’re not going to shake the tree. But the U.S. is going to be a wonderful market for diamonds—more than anybody can dream.”
Okavango Diamond Company Joins Tracr
Mmetia Masire, CEO of Okavango Diamond Company, reinforced Rapaport’s message:
“The luxury consumer wants more than brilliance and clarity. They want to know the story behind the stone… Provenance is no longer nice to have. It’s central to consumer confidence.”
Masire announced that ODC has officially joined the Tracr blockchain platform, becoming the largest source of verified Botswana diamond production using end-to-end traceability.
“In partnership with Debswana, we can now provide secure, tamper proof digital records of every three grainer [0.75 ct. rough] diamonds and above of natural diamonds, from the from the mines in Botswana to the global market.”
“This is provenance you can verify. This is trust that is assured.”
Wesley Tucker of Tracr: “A Crossroads”
Wesley Tucker, CEO of Tracr,
“Tracr is the world’s leading distributed digital platform for tracing natural diamonds from source bringing you the ability to explore the provenance, authenticity and unique story of the journey your diamond has taken along the diamond value chain.”
“It is with great privilege that I get to stand here with our partners at the Okavango Diamond company.”
Tucker echoed Rapaport’s urgency to sell only diamonds that are traceable, that you know where they come from. “We stand at a crossroads. One path leads to commoditization, opacity. The other leads to transparency, trust, and transformation.”
He called the ODC partnership “a bold reaffirmation of what ethical diamond marketing looks like.”
Hour Two – A Rap.net Promo
In the second half of his talk, Rapaport promoted RapNet as the platform to distribute “Green Source” diamonds—stones with verified ethical sourcing and traceability. Casting himself somewhere between rabbi and market-maker, Rapaport outlined a path requiring diamond manufacturers to submit provenance declarations and comply with audits (initially using Responsible Jewellery Council members only). Each diamond would travel with a traceability certificate tied to a digital scan, much like a grading report, but without disclosing manufacturer details. Framing it as a moral mission, Rapaport called on the trade to “move with the good” and help create a diamond market that’s more honest—and more meaningful to consumers.
The Peace Diamond and the Moral Marketplace
Supporting his call to “move with the good,” Rapaport then shared a short video recounting his involvement in the 2017 sale of the 709-carat Peace Diamond from Sierra Leone.
Discovered in the impoverished village of Koryardu, the diamond was sold through Rapaport with the condition that the proceeds benefit the local community. The stone ultimately sold to Graff for $6.5 million, with a reported 25% of the funds going directly to the village (with the other 75% going to the Sierra Leone government).
Those proceeds (approximately $1.6 million) helped build a school for over 200 children, a medical center, clean water systems, provide electricity, and roads—transforming what had been a war-torn diamond narrative into one of hope and sustainable development.
“That’s what diamonds do,” said Rapaport. “Not what they could do, but what they do!”
(More information about the initiative can be found at PeaceDiamond.com.)
Al Cook and the De Beers Vision
Rapaport then welcomed Al Cook, CEO of De Beers, to share the stage, praising him as “a good guy” whose “heart is in the right place.”
They began with a video of Cook, visiting Kono, in eastern Sierra Leone, where De Beers’ GemFair program has operated since 2018.
Cook outlined GemFair’s mission to raise standards in artisanal alluvial mining through 1.) training in safety, environmental practices, and human rights; 2.) to offer fair prices for recovered diamonds; 3.) to enable traceability from mine to market; and 4.) to support post-mining land restoration, by transforming former mining sites into agricultural fields.
This message from De Beers, through its GemFair initiative, is aimed to show that its presence in the area is more than simply taking diamonds out of the ground; it’s also about what gets put back in, following ethical, responsible, and sustainable practices.
Echoing the event’s themes (State of the Diamond Industry: The Way Forward), Cook highlighted what he called “a fantastic week” for natural diamonds, pointing to GIA’s updates on traceability and joining Tracr, its reaffirmation of clear distinctions on grading reports between natural and lab-grown diamonds, calling it “wonderful news.” Of course, he mentioned the debut of De Beers’ own line of jewelry, Ombré Desert Diamonds, emphasizing that “the journey of the diamond should be as beautiful as the diamond itself.”
Rapaport’s Challenge: Help the Jewelers
Cook responded, focused on De Beers leaving the lab-grown diamond jewelry business. “We shut down Lightbox,” he said directly. “Job done.” The job he’s referring to, had been to collapse lab-grown prices by pricing Lightbox jewelry at far below market synthetic diamond prices. He pointed out that “now, at a wholesale level, you can buy a thousand lab-growns for the price of one natural.” With that achieved, De Beers could now shift its synthetic production to medicine, technology, and industrial uses—“We can take all those scientists who are making lab grown diamonds for jewelry and get these amazing PhD level people to focus on actually creating synthetic diamonds to make the world a better place”
A Call for the Diamond Promotion Service – DPS
Rapaport then called for De Beers to support the trade’s front lines: “Bring back the Diamond Promotion Service! Bring back training. Go work with the American Gem Society. Give them some money. Let them train those really good jewelers on how to sell the uniqueness and scarcity of natural diamonds.”
Cook promised the return of “the highest level of category marketing that we’ve had in well over ten years.” A Diamond Is Forever would be back, supported not just by De Beers but—“for the first time”—by the government of Botswana. “And that’s a big deal,” Cook added, prompting applause for the partnership.
Promotion relies on Everyone
When asked how to respond to customers questioning why they should spend more on a natural diamond, Cook leaned into geology: “Do you want something rare, unique, and special to mark the most rare, unique, and special moment in your life?” he asked. “Diamonds are more than a billion years old. That’s three thousand times older than humans. Compare that to something made in a factory in China three weeks ago—there’s no comparison.”
“So we at De Beers, we can bring the money, and we can bring the marketing,” says Cook, “but we need everyone to work together to tell this extraordinary story of why a natural diamond is incomparable to a lab grown diamond.”
Scarcity, Supply, and the Future
Cook gave a vivid illustration of rarity, comparing world production of diamonds to a double-decker bus:
“Every gem-quality, polished diamond in the world ever produced could fit inside a London bus,” noted Cook. “That’s incredibly rare”
But does that even resonate with the retail jeweler or the consumer?
People are starting to see the numbers, says Cook, and it is curious… and maybe even disconcerting to the man who heads up a diamond mining company. “Supply has peaked,” notes Cook. “It’s on its way down.” Not that this is “new” news, as we covered this in his presentation from Las Vegas last year (2024).
But maybe it’s becoming more desperate. “On the supply side, supply is running out.”
“Scarcity has got to be one of the most important factors,”
said Rapaport, “not just in diamonds,
but in the life you want to lead.”
Supply – Where are we Finding More Diamonds?
“The diamond industry has spent $2 billion on exploration over the last 20 years. Do you know how many diamond mines we’ve found? One—in Angola. Congratulations to our Angolan colleagues.”
Meanwhile, production is shutting down across the globe. “Because of the lower prices, we’ve seen the closure just now of Lucapa (diamond mining company, based in Australia).
We’ve seen the closure of Stornoway in Canada. We no longer produce any diamonds from Australia. We no longer produce diamonds from India. We’re going to stop producing diamonds from Brazil very soon. And within ten years, there won’t be any diamonds from Canada.” Diamonds are getting more rare, and that means the supply side is going down.”
So what does that mean for prices?
“Demand is about desire,” said Cook, “and it’s in our hands. That’s why in De Beers, we are restarting our category marketing,” he said, with “more money behind it than we’ve done in more than a decade.”
“We all know that if supply is going down, and demand is going up, then prices go up.”
“The really important thing is recreating desire
for natural diamonds. And that’s what we’re so
passionate about in this room and in
this modern day and age.
It’s about the beauty of the diamond,
the beauty of the jewelry and
the beauty of the journey that the diamond
has been on and the beauty that the diamond does,
whether it’s in Sierra Leone, or Botswana,
or Namibia, or South Africa, or Canada, or anywhere else.”
– Al Cook, CEO De Beers Group
Final Takeaway: The Story Matters
As the two-hour session finally wrapped up, one point became clear: it’s no longer enough to sell a diamond based solely on its beauty.
Today’s customers are asking deeper questions—about origin, ethics, and impact—and they expect real answers. “They ask where their meat comes from, where their coffee comes from, where the cotton in their shirt comes from,” said Cook. “They deserve to know where their diamonds come from, too.”
For jewelers and gem dealers, this is an opportunity—not a burden. Whether it’s through traceability platforms, origin reports, or simply better honest storytelling at the counter, helping customers understand the journey behind a diamond – or any gemstone for that matter – adds value. It justifies price. It builds trust. And it offers something synthetic diamonds can’t easily replicate: a connection to real people, real places, with real meaning.
The tools are already here—blockchain tracking, source certifications, and transparent supply chains. The next step is using them.
As Cook put it, “Every diamond can now have its own story—and it’s a fantastic story. We just need to tell it.”
