Our clients trust us with their most important projects or investment queries and value our discretion and independence of thought. Leaders of some of the world’s most prestigious companies and wealthy individuals have turned to us for the judgement, insights and advice we provide in a wide range of situations.
Filip Nys founded Rocks International in 2009, after a more than a decade-long career as an international banker, specialised in the global diamond business.
Independence is key and our deep experience and understanding of the international private wealth environment generally enables us to make substantial cost savings and offer better returns for our clients. We believe that less is more and in that respect not only strategy, but also structure matters.
Over the past 25 years, we have established direct business relationships with important diamond manufacturers and dealers. These companies have proven themselves over the years as reliable partners, with spotless track records and a solid reputation, both financially and compliance wise. Our independence allows us efficient sourcing, from which our clients directly benefit.
Based on our 3 independent academic studies, covering the period 1999-2018 and thousands of public auction sales of investment grade gems, we can claim with a high degree of certainty that investment grade diamonds offer true diversification in a portfolio and protect against inflation.
At the end of a devastating civil war in West-Africa beginning 2002, the diamond industry together with governments, NGO’s, international organisations and private companies started implementing structural changes, which makes the industry one of the most controlled and sustainable ecosystems of organisations and communities in the world. Unlike some of the myths surrounding diamond mining, 95% of diamonds by value are extracted by a handful of large scale diamond miners in geographically diverse locations, such as Botswana, Russia and Canada. They directly and indirectly employ over 10 million people, which support tens of millions more in their daily livelihoods, generating multi-billion dollars of socio-economic benefits. Also the remaining 5% of smaller scale production gets checked by a whole chain of government bodies, private companies and specialised banks, before being imported and distributed in the key trading centres. Thereafter diamonds are cut and polished in manufacturing centres such as Antwerp and Surat where again many checks and due diligence are conducted before they reach the jewellery manufacturer or brand.
With over 25 years of experience and know-how in the complete diamond value chain, Rocks International privileges working with the best-in-class for its diamond sourcing. The sourcing process goes beyond the conflict-free guarantee and also includes elements of financial robustness, sustainability and ethical behaviour of the diamond partners.
Over the past 25 years, we have built an extremely valuable eco-system in the global diamond industry. This expertise and network enables us to provide concrete solutions or answer to the most difficult queries of our clients.
Most of our clients have very precise needs, so we prefer to work through clear written mandates, offering transparency and accountability to both sides.
On a more philosophical note, we prefer quality over quantity, sustainability over growth and are proud that some of our clients became very good friends and our best ambassadors.
Rocks Jewellery, part of Rocks International, creates personalised timeless diamond jewellery. Our design and jewellery creations are made in partnership with one of the most renowned private ateliers in Antwerp, while our clients benefit substantially from our wholesale diamond purchase prices. We are proud that our jewellery is handmade by very experienced local artisans, who are remunerated correctly for their skills. Furthermore our Swiss Hallmark underscores our commitment to excellence and authenticity.
All of our diamonds (above 0.25 cts) come with an international recognised certificate, guaranteed conflict-free and sourced in Antwerp from very reputable diamond manufacturers and diamantaires, with a long and spotless track-record in the business. Often they are suppliers themselves to the top tiers brands worldwide. For the smaller diamonds, we receive all necessary assurances both in terms of quality as conflict-free origin directly from our suppliers.
By organising diamond supply and jewellery manufacturing at the same location, we also commit ourselves to keep our carbon footprint as low as possible.
1999-2018 (nominal) | Mean | Volatility | Sharpe ratio | Correlation with global stock index |
White diamond index | 3.8% | 15.9% | 0.163 | 0.218 |
Colored diamond index | 5.1% | 29.0% | 0.132 | 0.261 |
Colored stone index | -0.6% | 185.2% | -0.010 | 0.115 |
Global stock index | 4.5% | 16.3% | 0.202 | 1.000 |
S&P 500 return index | 5.0% | 14.1% | 0.268 | 0.947 |
FTSE all return index | 1.1% | 13.4% | -0.009 | 0.915 |
Global bond index (ex USA and UK) | 1.6% | 6.4% | 0.051 | -0.422 |
US AAA corporate bond index | 1.2% | 5.3% | -0.001 | -0.461 |
US 10-year government bond index | 1.2% | 7.6% | 0.000 | -0.645 |
UK 10-year government bond index | 1.5% | 7.1% | 0.044 | -0.590 |
Composite commodity index | 4.6% | 25.9% | 0.131 | 0.433 |