From the mines to the shops, how does a diamond get there?

The search for the rough diamonds is just the beginning. The rough crystals of diamonds are sorted and classed according on their size, color, form, and other properties after being extracted from the “overburden,” or the kimberlite rocks in which they are embedded.
Most items purchased through the Central Selling Organization CSO are shipped to London where De Beers’ marketing division, the Diamond Trading Corporation (DTC), offers them to customers.

Each year, the DTC holds 10 “sights,” or week-long selling sessions. These sights are by invitation only, and only a small number of international diamond producers (referred to as “sightholders”) are permitted to attend. These sightholders have the option to cut the rough diamonds they purchase themselves or to sell some of the rough stones to smaller producers. These smaller producers cut the rough diamonds, which they then sell to jewelry producers (who set the diamonds into finished pieces of jewelry, which are then sold to retailers of jewelry), or to diamond wholesalers (who, in turn, sell the diamonds to retailers of diamonds).

We cut out the middlemen and purchase cut and polished diamonds directly from a sightholder to guarantee that our customers receive the quality they want at the price they can afford.
Some independent miners choose the less popular route from mine to market by choosing not to sell their mine production to the DeBeers cartel. They instead sell newly mined diamonds straight to consumers throughout the globe.