GNWT revives Polar Bear diamond brand
by eyetee | January 16, 2013 9:37 pm
By Jacquie De Almeida
The roar of the polar bear will soon be heard again following news the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) has awarded licensing rights of the iconic Canadian diamond brand to Deepak International Ltd (DIL).
The news comes more than two years after two companies who previously held the licence went into receivership.
In addition to granting Edmonton-based DIL exclusive use of the polar bear design trademark, the company also received Approved NWT Diamond Manufacturer (ANDM) status. As an ANDM, DIL can purchase a portion of the 10 per cent of rough diamonds produced by NWT producers, fully manufacture it locally, and market the stones as Government Certified Canadian Diamonds.
“We are very pleased that DIL has chosen the NWT to operate their business and wish them every success as they initiate their new diamond manufacturing operation in Yellowknife,” said Northwest Territories Minister David Ramsay.
“We have been working hard to re-establish a vibrant secondary diamond industry in the Northwest Territories and this signals a rebirth of that industry. We are renowned globally as a reliable source of quality rough diamonds and expanding our diamond manufacturing sector will bring additional jobs and economic benefits to the NWT.”
DIL is finalizing the purchase of the Yellowknife facilities that previously housed Arslanian Cutting Works and Laurelton Diamonds, a subsidiary of Tiffany & Co. Deals are also in the works to lease related airport lands.
Deepak Kumar, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of DIL, says he expects to be in production by late spring, with about 50 fully trained cutters manufacturing 15,000 carats per month. Many of the cutters previously worked at the Arslanian and Laurelton factories, as well as Sirius Diamonds, he tells Jewellery Business. In addition, Kumar says the company will be offering $500 scholarships to 15 local students a year to train at the facilities.
Kumar says the failure of previous diamond-cutting ventures in the north served as the starting point for what to do differently this time around. The use of fully automated state-of-the-art equipment is one of the ways he says he will be able to keep costs down and be competitive against off-shore cutting centres. Second, he’s keeping the planning of the rough in-house, rather than having the goods sent off to Antwerp or another location. The purchasing of rough will also be an onsite co-ordinated effort.
Although the Diavik and Ekati Diamond Mines are nearing the end of their mine lives, Kumar says he’s not concerned about supply drying up. In addition to undeveloped pipes in the outer zones, he says projects like Gahcho Kué will help ensure rough is available. “I believe we’ll have diamonds for a lifetime,” he adds.
To help market Polar Bear diamonds, Kumar says he’s looking to sign on big-name celebrities as brand ambassadors. He already has one, but is not giving away names. “All I can say is it’s a global name, as Polar Bear will be distributed across the globe,” he adds.
Adam Shubinsky, general manager of the Diamond Bourse of Canada (DBC), says the organization is supportive of Kumar’s efforts to reinvigorate the Canadian diamond market. He points to increasing costs of production in traditional low-cost cutting centres like India as one factor that will be advantageous for Canada’s manufacturing industry. It still costs less to manufacture in India, he says, but increasing labour rates there have closed the gap somewhat.
“We’ve been preaching for a long time for the necessity for Canada to develop additional diamond activities within the country,” Shubinsky says. “With the way the international diamond business works, there is no reason why Canada can’t develop economically viable diamond-manufacturing operations. We believe we have a lot of talent here in Canada and as the diamond-manufacturing game becomes more and more technologically intensive, I think this is where the true value of Canada can come to the fore, which is in its highly technically skilled workforce.”
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