De Beers champions sustainability in new interactive London flagship

De Beers Jewellers has opened its new flagship store on London's Old Bond Street, which puts natural diamonds and sustainability at the heart of the customer experience.

The new flagship resides on 45 - 50 Old Bond Street next to its previous store, with the redesign inspired by "Building Forever", the company’s commitment to creating a positive long-term impact beyond the discovery of its last diamond.

Set over two floors, the 2,690 sq foot store aims to showcase different facets of De Beers’ rich heritage while offering a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere that blends open space with intimate areas.

The store features contemporary counters, "love pods" and a VIP room, allowing couples to browse its diamond engagement rings and signature fine jewellery collections in comfortable and private settings.

The redesign has also allowed De Beers to add interactive and virtual retail installations, including a virtual ‘home of diamond’ experience to connect customers with its diamond experts through video technology. The company added that new digital experiences, including a virtual try-on, will also be introduced in 2022.

Céline Assimon, CEO of De Beers Jewellers, said: "We are delighted to open our beautiful new De Beers flagship, just in time for the holiday season. Our new store is a reflection of how we approach everything at De Beers - revealing the different layers of our heritage within a modern context, and forever celebrating our exquisite diamond designs and expert craftsmanship.

"To celebrate this opening, and as a true Home of Diamonds, we are presenting a selection of extremely rare fancy coloured diamond pieces. I wanted to give them the highlight they deserve and showcase what makes them so unique and precious."

Exclusively available at London flagship store, the Heritage Master Diamonds is a selection of extremely rare fancy coloured diamonds including an array of the rarest pink and blue and vivid shades. These diamonds are presented in iconic De Beers designs as well as simple rings so that clients can collaborate with its creative studio to create their own bespoke designs.

To highlight De Beers' sustainability blueprint, every aspect of the store design, including materials and furniture, engineering from its handling of energy, air, and water consumption to construction, has been executed to meet the independent environmental requirements of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) to certify the building’s green design.

This includes an intricate lighting system that "brings the fire, light and brilliance of each diamond to life" used on the counters designed especially for the De Beers flagship to meet its "rigorous energy consumption standards".

Christophe Carpente, CAPS Christophe Carpente Architecture Interior Design, who worked with De Beers on the flagship, added: "Nature and sustainability were at the heart of the design process as a homage to the natural beauty and wonder of De Beers’ diamonds. Every aspect of the store design, including carefully selected materials and resources, state-of-the-art engineering for energy and atmosphere management, as well as for indoor environmental quality, aims to meet the highest standards for LEED.

"As diamonds are brought to life through light and movement - two key words driving the store’s energy – we used the most advanced lighting design technology to bring the beauty of De Beers’ diamonds to life. With its organic design shapes and refined luxurious finishes, the store provides a range of both physical and digital experiences enhancing the client voyage through De Beers diamond jewellery. This new store design is a key step in De Beers’ journey to transform its retail experience."