Andrew Coxon, a leading expert in the diamond world, has over forty years of experience with diamonds and the De Beers group of companies.
After spending 10 years in Africa in the early part of his career, in 1982 he opened the first De Beers diamond buying office in Antwerp and worked in the European capital of diamonds for a total of five years. It was during this period that he made his most spectacular single purchase, a flawless fancy yellow diamond of 889 carats, the fifth largest diamond ever discovered.
He returned to the De Beers headquarters in 1987 as a director of The Diamond Trading Company. He also held the position of Deputy Director of Diamond Sales and the Director of Diamond Purchasing. It was during this time that he had the privilege to help the World Diamond Council, Government and Civil Society to implement the Kimberly process and spoke at the United Nations General Assembly, Open Forum on Conflict Diamonds.
Andrew has been with De Beers Diamond Jewellers since it was first formed in 2001. Andrew is responsible for the sourcing and selection of all polished diamonds for De Beers Diamond Jewellers. Only few diamonds meet De Beers’ stringent standards.
“De Beers rejects many more diamonds than we select because they lack the inner ‘fire’, ‘life’ and ‘brilliance’ that we require. The most important factor is how a diamond looks and the way it excited your eye, brain, and heart. Too many diamonds have been cut to obtain the best grading report and the heaviest weight, rather than the best beauty,” Andrew, said.
“We are very excited and honoured to have Andrew Coxon in Bahrain. Andrew has over 40 year expertise in the diamond industry & we believe that he is the most prominent personality in this industry around the world today,” Mohammed Kooheji, Director of the AJM Kooheji Group, said.
The guests also witnessed the stunning De Beers designs including the Princess Lea necklace. Diamonds become single drops or cascades of liquid light in the dramatic Princess Lea Necklace, with its magnificent pear-shaped diamonds, hung within a waterfall of diamonds. The Princess Lea, composed entirely of superb quality, D colour, internally flawless diamonds, is a modern masterpiece that took twelve hundred hours of highly skilled artisanship to create.
Andrew also explained to the guest the unique passion and expertise in creating De Beers’ jewellery with the world’s most naturally beautiful diamonds. The De Beers team has skilled artisans who ensure craftsmanship of the highest standard and this can be seen in any of the De Beers jewellery pieces.