Industry players include cutters and polishers of precious and semi-precious stones, manufacturing and retail jewellers and distributors of watches and jewellery. Diamond cutting is a significant sector.
In order to purchase or sell rough diamonds in South Africa, a party is required to be licensed in terms of the Diamond Act. Licensed rough diamond dealers source their rough from the open market from smaller producers. The rough is then sold to diamond manufacturers locally or exported.
Licensed rough diamond dealers are represented by the Rough Diamond Dealers Association, which actively participates in all industry structures. There are currently some 216 licensed rough diamond dealers operative in South Africa.
There are around 18 Central Selling Organisation (CSO) Sightholders and over 200 licensed diamond cutting concerns who obtain rough diamonds from the open market, rough dealers, Diamdel and the South African Diamond Bourse.
The sector has gained recognition for its development of new technologies for diamond cutting with developments such as the Prodiamatic diamond-polishing machine, the Diatronic diamond bruting machine and state of the art laser cutting techniques.
Diamond manufacturing is regulated by the South African Diamond Board, which is a statutory body comprising representatives from industry and Government. The Jewellery Council of South Africa Diamond Certification Laboratory offers world-class diamond grading services.
There is a well-established jewellery manufacturing sector producing a wide variety of precious metal jewellery items, ranging from mass production items to individual pieces. Jewellery manufacture is primarily based in the Gauteng and Western Cape provinces, although there are also important manufacturing nodes in the Durban/Pietermaritzburg (Kwazulu Natal) and Bloemfontein (Free State) areas. The industry comprises around 350 manufacturing concerns, ranging from large manufacturers employing several hundred employees to smaller studios specialising in high value added "designer" pieces. Most of South Africa's manufactured jewellery is currently sold locally. The country's manufacturing jewellers and designers regularly achieve international recognition for their innovative and original designs reflecting the ethos of the African continent.
There are over 3 000 retail jewellers operating in South Africa, around a third of which are represented by the Jewellers Association of South Africa (JASA).
The country has a large 9 carat gold consumer market, but there is also a strong demand for high quality, hand crafted pieces made from both 18 yellow and/or white gold, as well as platinum jewellery.
