GROWING AND LEARNING
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‘Of course, that really is the “beauty” of the KP. There is no vote; it’s a decision made by consensus among all Participant countries. When decisions are made and accepted by all, the feeling is amazing. Of course, when they are not, sometimes for no reason that you can discern, the lows are truly low!’
A former president of the London Diamond Bourse, at whose head he served from 2018 through 2024, Alan Cohen is a member of the World Diamond Council’s Board of Directors and also of its Kimberley Process Task Force.
South African-born, he left the country as a young diamantaire, settling in London and becoming part of United Kingdom’s diamond sector. When the Russian diamond industry opened to the international trade in 1990, he relocated to Moscow, where he lived and worked for 16 years.
After returning to London he became active in the public life of the industry, first at the London Diamond Bourse, and later at the World Federation of Diamond Bourses and the World Diamond Council.
MAY 1, 2025
When World Diamond Council Executive Director Elodie Daguzan approached me about contributing a blog to the organization’s newsletter, I immediately said yes. Over recent months, the WDC has been publishing a series of blogs penned by various member representatives, some sharing their journey into its world. Following this tradition, I wanted to tell my own story of “How did I get here?”
This year marks my eighth as a WDC Board Member. I arrived as a complete novice, knowing virtually nothing about its work. My position had come by default, through the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB), which I was requested to represent. It holds a permanent seat on the WDC Board, alongside the World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) and the International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA).
My journey towards the WDC
My diamond career began in South Africa in 1973, where, as a young father of two, I sought to make a living while finding a way to leave what then was an apartheid-driven country. After learning about polished and rough diamonds, my family and I relocated to London the following year.
For the next 17 years, I ran my own trading business, buying and selling diamonds. I even ventured into retail, opening a very short-lived shop in Los Angeles. I traveled throughout Africa seeking that one stone that I could buy and transform into a million-dollar winner. I had a wonderful time throughout!
I experienced the market’s dramatic highs—D IF 1 carat stones selling for $62,000 per carat in the early 1980s and DeBeers setting 30 percent premiums on sights to cool an overheated market. I also experienced devastating lows, when the same D IF 1 carat stones plummeted in value to $7,000 per carat after the U.S. Federal Reserve burst the speculative bubble by raising interest rates to 20 percent.
Though I discovered wonderful gems and closed fantastic deals along the way, the 1980s crash was devastating, and I spent most of the latter part of the decade trying to reinvent myself and my business.
In 1990, an old client and friend asked me to examine some diamonds in Moscow, launching my next adventure. I ended up living in the Russian capital until 2006, when I returned to London.
Throughout my years outside of the United Kingdom, I had maintained my membership of the London Diamond Bourse (LDB).
In 2013, I joined the LDB Committee under Harry Levy’s excellent presidency, and in 2018, I became President of the bourse and a member of the WFDB Executive.
Ernie Blom, who then was President of the WFDB, was unable to sit on the WDC Board for various reasons. He asked if I would represent the WFDB, and, when I agreed, I entered a realm I did not know existed. There I met amazing people who have dedicated their time, energy, passion, and knowledge to our industry.
When he succeeded Ernie as WFDB President, Yoram Dvash remained a steadfast supporter of the WDC’s mission and values. For my part, I retained my place on its Board of Directors.
My first WDC Board meeting
My first experience of a WDC Board of Directors meeting was in London. It took place at the De Beers offices, which then were in St. James’s Square. I was completely overwhelmed—everyone seemed to know so much more about the industry’s functioning than I did.
As a simple trader, I felt like I was drowning in the deep end. I decided to listen and learn, and would try to represent the individual players and small companies in the industry amongst these giants that were making decisions. Was that going to be an adversarial relationship, I asked myself.
The room was full, with a large screen connected to Skype. These were pre-Zoom days and industry analyst Pranay Narvekar was joining the meeting from India. Physically present were WDC President Stephane Fischler, along with Edward Asscher, Feriel Zerouki, Ronnie VanderLinden, Peter Karakchiev, Udi Sheintal, James Evans Lombe, Martin Leake, David Bouffard, Elodie Daguzan, Karla Basselier, and the then-Executive Director, Marie Chantal Kaninda, as well as communications specialist Steven Benson.
Everyone was welcoming and accommodating, going out of their way to make me feel at ease. I had briefly met some attendees in India in 2018 when representing the London bourse at a WFDB President’s meeting in Mumbai.
Looking at my copy of that meeting’s agenda, I see question marks scribbled throughout, and a few key numbers noted. The numbers included the total WDC membership—38 members with 16 yet to pay. I would note that today, under our current Executive Director, Elodie Daguzan, membership has soared to 76!
The question marks reflected my knowledge gaps, particularly regarding the updated System of Warranties, and what then was a pressing question of how to define “grandfathered goods.”
The author (right) in November 2024, at the Kimberley Process Plenary meeting in Dubai, together with Feriel Zerouki (center), President of the World Diamond Council, and Yoram Dvash, President of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses.
A process of growth and learning
Thus began a process of listening and learning. It included traveling to Paris for an OECD meeting, reportable only under Chatham House Rules; learning about the Kimberley Process and the WDC’s System of Warranties; joining the Kimberley Process Task Force, the committee within the WDC that strategizes for the KP and participates within its various working bodies; and coming to appreciate the incredible hours invested to make the KP work.
My first close-hand experience of the KP in action was when, in September 2019, on a normal wet and chilly London morning, a group of very important looking people came to my bourse.
The UK had voted for Brexit in 2016, and it was scheduled to formally leave the European Union in January 2020. It was very important (to me) that the country sorted out its independent KP status as soon as possible.
This group visiting the bourse was a KP Expert Mission to the UK, tasked with confirming the country’s compliance with the KP Minimum Requirements and readiness to become a Participant on its own. It was led by the United States, with representatives from Botswana, DRC, India, the Russian Federation and WDC in attendance. It also included the Chair of the KP’s Committee on Participation and Chairmanship (CPC) and the focal point for the European Union. I found it all very intimidating.
My COO and I answered some questions and then a London Bourse council member, who oversaw liaising with the Government Diamond Office, took over and I left the room.
Needless to say, the Experts Mission made its report to the KP and the UK was accepted as a “new” member of the KP family.
Becoming active in the Kimberley Process
It was at that point I decided I really had to take the KP section of my WDC membership seriously.
The first thing I had to do was make a cheat sheet, so if anyone mentioned a working group, I would know what they were talking about, or maybe. It’s crazy stuff, for in addition to the CPC there is the Committee on Rules and Procedures (CRP), Working Group on Artisanal and Alluvial Production (WGAAP), Working Group of Diamond Experts (WGDE), Working Group of Monitoring (WGM), Working Group on Statistics (WGS), and the Ad Hoc Committee on Review and Reform (AHCRR), which is in session three out of every five years. Each of them does amazing work. You can look them up at https://www.kimberleyprocess.com under Working Groups.
I managed to miss the 2019 KP meetings in India, but in 2020 I was ready and looking forward to fly to St. Petersburg in Russia for the June intersessional, but then we all were hit by COVID and the KP year was cancelled.
Russia continued as Chair in 2021, and I looked forward to the meeting in Moscow – but it was a hybrid affair, and we were encouraged not to travel. I watched on Zoom and joined in the background as an Observer, who kept his mouth closed!
The year 2022 in Botswana was a very different scenario. The war in Ukraine was raging and sides had been drawn, with no one wishing to give way.
On the last day of the 2022 Plenary, I realized what consensus really meant. Every line, that had been discussed over the past four days was being scrutinized, including every comma and full stop. I kept feeling—well most of you want “X,” so why don’t you just take a vote…?
Of course, that really is the “beauty” of the KP. There is no vote; it’s a decision made by consensus among all Participant countries.
When decisions are made and accepted by all, the feeling is amazing. Of course, when they are not, sometimes for no reason that you can discern, the lows are truly low!
In Botswana consensus on the Final Communique was reached as at 5:00 AM, more than 10 hours after it had been due. We as Observers had no voting power, but that did not mean we could not influence the process. In the end, after hours of exhausting back and forth, the WDC suggested a change in a sentence that, finally, rendered the document acceptable to all!
A pending epilogue
Over these eight years, I’ve learned tremendously from these incredible people. While I’ve argued and disagreed with them on many occasions, one thing has remained constant—they are all working for the good of the industry and for all of us that are involved in it.
My time as a WDC Board Member will soon come to an end and when I do leave, it will be with great sadness. Yet I will have wonderful memories of all these incredibly committed people I have been fortunate to know.