De Beers/JWT Director Marian Salzman meets Fraser Brown

When friends of Emma and Fraser in Los Angeles sent them an email all about a new documentary that they were producing to "Raise awareness so that consumers no longer have to unknowingly participate in direct or indirect support of an inhumane diamond trade." Fraser was quick to contact them and explain the latest developments in Sierra Leone and offer high-level introductions within the diamond trade.

On the 18th November in LA’s Mondrian Hotel, Fraser Brown met with the JWT’s Director responsible for the De Beers account. JWT is one of the largest media and marketing firms in the world and is responsible for the famous ‘A diamond is forever’ advertising and the creation of the idea of the ‘Right Hand ring’.

At this meeting Fraser and Marian Salzman brainstormed how best to help Sierra Leone by giving the documentary makers access to high-level industry documents that show how the diamond trade is working with Sierra Leone to create a better industry there.  These documents can be viewed here:

De Beers - Ending the trade of Conflict Diamonds Right click, "save as" if pdf does not view

The Diamond Development Initiative Right click, "save as" if pdf does not view

The risk of sensationalist documentaries like these is that Sierra Leone suffers because people see shocking images of African atrocities and decide that they should not buy diamonds from Africa. This idea has been gathering such strength in the consumer market that Nelson Mandela himself praised the diamond industry on their efforts and encouraged people to “keep buying African diamonds”.

The Warner Brothers movie called The Blood Diamond, starring Leonardo DiCaprio tells a story of a diamond smuggler and a local fisherman who seek to escape Africa with a priceless pink diamond. It is set in the darkest period of Sierra Leone's history.  In a letter to the film's director Edward Zwick, Kago G. Moshashane (Kimberley Process chair) and Eli Izhakoff (World Diamond Council chair) seek to explain the progress that has been made in Africa and highlight the need for sensitive portrayal of the past in order to protect the future of diamond-producing, trading and polishing countries in Africa and elsewhere. We have provided a transcript of this letter, here.