Actress Simran Kaur is the new brand ambassador of JJS

The 10TH JJS will be held from December 22 to December 25 at the Raj Mahal Palace, Jaipur

Post By : IJ News Service On 24 July 2012 4:52 PM
A highly respected figure in today’s diamond world, Willie Nagel first came on the scene as a young diamond trader in London in the early 50s, establishing connections that would soon bring about his appointment as a De Beers broker. A barrister by training, he has been putting his efforts into furthering his clients’ interests as well as the best interests of the diamond industry as a whole ever since. His wide international connections, be it in the business world or among politicians and public figures have served him well even when the diamond trade was first facing a calamity of a sort that threatened its very existence.%% With the new millennium came the worries that diamonds mined in Africa are inadvertently fuelling the wars raging on the continent and thus bringing misery and death to a lot of African people. The western public perceived the diamond trade as the cause of all evil and a possible ban on imported diamonds to the US, similar to the one already existing on importation of natural fur, was being considered. The diamonds world was concerned and was asked to use his personal connections in the public domain to find the solution to the problem. His personal acquaintance with Robin Cook, the then British Foreign Secretary led him to discussions with Stephen Byers, the Trade and Industry Secretary at the time. They, in turn, have suggested discussing the problem with Peter Haine who was the Minister of State for Africa at that time. Haine shared an overall negative vision of the diamond trade with the general public, and it took some persuasion, after Willie explained the workings of the industry, to make him take a more objective view. Although, admittedly, Willie argued, it was only about 4 per cent of the diamond trade that was then involved in illegal smuggling, it was enough to put a “blood” stain and cause great damage not only to the industry but diamond producing countries too. Now, of course, it has been virtually eliminated.
%%{{Willie’s Original Spark – ‘Chain of Warranties’}} :%%It was in March 2000 that the US State Department dispatched a high-powered team to meet their British counterparts for consultations on this subject. Peter Haine invited Willie to share his ideas and help this British/US committee reach a credible solution. While some American members of the team went as far as advocating an invention of a machine able to detect the origin of each diamond, the costs and practicalities of this suggestion seemed prohibitive. Instead, Willie put forward his “Chain of Warranties” idea which was, in fact, very simple: every diamond firm, large or small, should ensure the provenance of their diamonds by issuing a warranty that the goods they sell do not come from any of the conflict areas. He also ring fenced the solution by suggesting that in the event of such goods being wrongly certified, big fines would be imposed on that particular firm as the system could not be effective without the possibility of sanctions in case of non-compliance. Furthermore, relying on the industry alone would not be enough, he argued, and it would be essential for national governments to establish a proper system of monitoring diamonds imported and exported, issuing certificates of clearance. The Committee accepted the proposal enthusiastically and so did Peter Haine who also persuaded the US and Canadian governments to follow the British lead. Within the industry, De Beers was the first to take Nagel’s warranties system on board and the rest, as they say, is history. When countries worldwide got together in Kimberley soon after, the national monitoring systems were established and the Kimberley Process was born. %%A lot of work has been done since by the World Diamond Council by many stalwarts of the industry. %%{{K.P. not Perfect, Yet Delivers the ‘Clean’ Goods }}!%%Although some say that the Kimberley Process is “not a perfect construct”, no man’s creation ever is, says Willie. But given the complex nature of the diamond trade and the diamond pipeline itself from source to consumer, it has been a tremendous success. As the architect of the Kimberley Process, Willie insists that the industry has to continue to be vigilant while the KP not only needs to be effective, it needs to be seen to be effective. He argued the point that the process has been successfully implemented in a recent TV debate with the representative of Global Witness, condemning any unethical business practices.%%{{Living up to Diamonds:}}%%The doyen of the diamond industry, Willie Nagel continues to successfully run his W. Nagel International Diamond Brokers business, together with his son and daughter, in a manner of “living up to diamonds”, to use a phrase coined by the De Beers Chairman, Nicky Oppenheimer. His engagement with the political life and a natural empathy with people prompted him to initiate and broker many agreements and further the cause of friendly relations between countries and nations. For his services to various causes he was awarded high national orders by Germany, Romania and Belgium as well as being honoured by the Queen with a very rare distinction of Companion Of The Order of St. Michael & St. George for his contribution to improvement in relations between Britain and Germany.

Be the first to comment

Leave a comment

Email Alerts

WhatsApp Alerts