De Beers Collaborates With 5 Female Jewelry Designers on a Capsule to Benefit Youth in Botswana

Reset is a word that has come to define 2020. When the pandemic hit the United States in March, we were forced to reset everything: our priorities, our mindsets, even our habits. For certain industries, fashion included, the wake-up call was long overdue, particularly when it comes to environmental and social impact. Brands high and low are now beginning to address their carbon emissions, improve transparency in their supply chains, and revamp their hiring practices, though it’s possible the do-gooding will be short-lived for some. With a new collaboration called ReSet, De Beers is asserting its long-term commitments to positive change. The project includes five independent female jewelry designers: Jade Trau, Jennie Kwon, Julez Bryant, Sara Weinstock, and Zoë Chicco. Each designer created a one-of-a-kind pendant using diamonds sourced from the De Beers mines in Botswana. What makes this partnership particularly notable is that the designers actually saw precisely where the diamonds are sourced from.

Colby Shergalis, a senior vice president at De Beers Group, recalled a 2019 event hosted by Neo Masisi, the First Lady of Botswana. She asked a room full of jewelry designers if they’d ever visited a diamond mine. “Very few hands were raised,” Shergalis says. “We saw it as a tremendous opportunity to connect designers with where diamonds come from.”

She organized a trip to Botswana to educate designers about De Beers’s practices, introduce them to the people involved in their supply chain, and generally help the designers become more informed and confident in sourcing diamonds, gems, gold, and other materials. “We wanted to connect designers with the communities and places where our diamonds come from, so they could see how we are ‘Building Forever’ [De Beers’s roadmap for sustainability and ethics], and the impact it’s having,” Shergalis adds. “Building these connections is vitally important. Now more than ever, people are resetting and elevating their expectations, and they’re looking for meaningful connections with both people and the planet. We all want to know where the products we buy come from, and that they’re not only doing [less] harm, but are actively doing good.”

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