12 October 2023

Soon after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, luxury brands like Tiffany and Cartier announced they had stopped buying Russian diamonds.

An investigation by the Kyiv Independent has found evidence to the contrary.

A year and a half into the all-out war, export data shows Russia keeps selling its diamonds to the West. Now, through intermediaries, primarily Dubai.

Thanks to weak American sanctions and the absence of any in the European Union, Alrosa, the leading Russian diamond producer partly owned by the state, keeps profiting from diamond sales. The company may be using some of its profit to fund the Russian military directly. Alrosa has not responded to a request for comment.

Clients of jewelry brands like Tiffany and Cartier have no idea the money they spend on diamonds may contribute to Russia's war. Tiffany denied the allegations, while Cartier has not answered the Kyiv Independent’s information request.

Meanwhile, Group of Seven’s (G7) latest efforts to finally restrict Russian diamond sales have come up against an intense lobbying campaign orchestrated by the biggest diamond companies in the world since summer 2022...

Western luxury companies don’t buy rough diamonds straight from Alrosa. They rely on companies that buy “mixed origin” diamonds in Dubai. According to two industry insiders, it is an open secret that this includes Russian diamonds.

Big brands like Cartier and Tiffany’s only work with a small number of trusted suppliers, said an industry insider. According to him, the “trusted few” simply do not have enough supply to satiate luxury brands without finding a backchannel for Russian diamonds.

Those intermediaries who sell to luxury brands directly purchase “mixed origin” diamonds from other companies. Over 400 companies, primarily based in Belgium, the UAE, and India, have purchased Russian rough diamonds since the full-scale invasion, according to Import Genius data...

An industry insider told the Kyiv Independent that he knows a buyer who sources Russian diamonds and sells them to the Louis Vuitton Moet Hennesy (LVMH) group – which owns Tiffany – as mixed stones, falsely certifying that no Russian diamonds are present.

In response to the Kyiv Independent’s request for comment, LVMH denied selling any Russian diamonds and said that Tiffany tracks the provenance of all stones above 0.18 carats and audits its sellers to ensure sellers can segregate Russian diamonds from their production. The company, however, didn't clearly say how it ensures that the smaller diamonds they use don't originate from Russia...

Out of a dozen major intermediaries contacted by the Kyiv Independent that, according to industry insiders, sell diamonds to brands like Tiffany and Cartier, only one commented on their sourcing practices: Taché...Taché bought at least $13 million worth of Russian diamonds since the start of the full-scale invasion, according to data provided by Import Genius. But the last sale took place in April 2022, after which the company stopped buying Russian diamonds.

As late as June 2023, Taché also bought polished diamonds from Shree Ramkrishna Exports (SRK), which, three months later,  in September 2023, Ukraine’s anti-corruption agency designated as a “sponsor of war” for buying Russian diamonds. According to Import Genius data, SRK has bought at least $143 million in Russian diamonds since the start of the full-scale invasion.

Taché also bought extensively from Kiran Gems, a company that has bought almost $100 million in Russian diamonds since the full-scale invasion, according to Import Genius data. In November 2022, Taché received a 72-carat shipment from Kiran - a parcel of many stones.

In a statement responding to allegations by Ukraine’s anti-corruption agency, SRK said they were “unjustly” targeted by the country’s officials but did not deny buying Russian diamonds...