Russian gems shunned in diamond center Antwerp

STORY: Antwerp, Belgium – one of the largest diamond trading hubs in the world – has a Russia problem.

It was only a few weeks after Russian troops invaded Ukraine last year when diamond firms in Antwerp started getting phone calls from international clients asking them to avoid using stones from Russia.

That was no easy feat for diamond dealer Thierry Tugendhaft, who said about half of his rough diamonds used to come from Russia due to their high quality. But his company, T. Diamonds, was forced to pivot and get its diamonds from somewhere else.

Now, Western powers want to make the boycott official with a formal ban on Russian stones.

But Tugendhaft says the ban will only go so far:

"Take China, which is a major, major consumer of diamonds, has absolutely no interest in that ban. India, which is also a major consumer of diamonds, they have no interest in that ban. They don't have any interest to know from where the stones are, it's never been the case. And most of Asia, there's no interest in that. So, look, they will buy and continue to buy Russian diamonds because they have no reason not to.”

Major western jewelers from Tiffany's to Cartier have been keen to distance themselves from Russia's lucrative diamond trade.

But a big hurdle with banning Russian diamonds from western markets,which account for 70% of global diamond jewelry demand, is how to trace the origin of the stones.

Small companies will struggle, says Tugendhaft:

"We can do it because we've been working on traceability for the last two years. You should know that (for) people who have been working with big brands, traceability is not something that comes out of the sky as of now. (flash) All the new players in the industry who have not yet started with traceability are going to lag behind for sure."

He said that not only would a full Western ban on Russian gems be costly for the industry, it could also take another year to fully implement.