De Beers Opens Three Boutiques in Tokyo.

Business Editors

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 10, 2003

De Beers LV, today announced that, following the success of the initial flagship store in Bond Street, London, three further boutiques under the De Beers name have opened their doors in Tokyo today.

De Beers has chosen to open these first outlets within major department stores, in line with the initial launch strategy in Japan of other prestigious brands like Louis Vuitton, in order to benefit from the massive customer traffic of these department stores and generate high brand visibility. To that end, De Beers has obtained outstanding locations for its boutiques within the three stores, with two of them on ground floor locations next to the main department store entrance.

The department stores that have partnered with De Beers for the launch of the Brand in Japan are Takashimaya, Matsuya and Isetan, enabling De Beers to cover the three different shopping districts of Nihonbashi, Ginza, and Shinjuku in Tokyo.

Alain Lorenzo, CEO of De Beers LV, said: "Each boutique is between 1300 and 1500 square ft., which is considered very big for jewellery shops located inside department stores. The look and feel of each store is close to the London Bond street flagship store. The range of products sold is the same as in London, consisting of signature collections, diamond engagement rings, and a high-end selection of rare diamonds."

The launch events began yesterday with a store appearance by Iman (the De Beers style icon) at the three department stores throughout the day for VIP pre-opening celebrations. Iman wore the 203 carat De Beers Millennium Star, the world's largest flawless pear shaped diamond, in a specially designed necklace created for her by Creative Director Reema Pachachi.

A gala dinner was held at the Park Hyatt hotel for 100 people including the press, VIP's and department store senior executives. This was followed by a party at the Izumi Gardens for over 300 people at which the young American singer Jade Anderson performed and the crowd had much fun on the dance floor.

Note to the editors: Following the creation of De Beers LV two years ago, the Brand had announced that its strategy was to open its first store close to its head office in London to fine tune the retail concept and product range prior to a world rollout. This store opened in December 2002 in Old Bond Street.

Now that this learning phase is complete, De Beers is moving to the next stage which consists of an international rollout focused on Japan and the US. These two countries represent about 60% of the world diamond jewellery market. Following the current introduction in Japan, the US launch will take place in the Fall of 2004 with locations in both New York and Los Angeles.

De Beers LV

De Beers LV was established in 2001 as an independently managed and operated company by De Beers SA, the world's premier diamond mining and marketing company, and LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world's leading luxury goods company.