De Beers Brands appoints Sandrine Conseiller as CEO

South African diamond group De Beers has named Sandrine Conseiller CEO of De Beers Brands, the division that runs the De Beers Jewellers and De Beers Forevermark brands. She succeeds Marc Jacheet, a seasoned luxury industry executive who worked at LVMH and Tiffany. He had led the division since January 2022, and has recently left De Beers. The powerful South African diamond conglomerate has chosen a new, different executive profile to manage its brands and relationship with consumers: France-born Conseiller spent most of her career in the consumer goods sector, before switching to fashion.

She will join the De Beers group as CEO of De Beers Brands, and will also sit on the group’s executive committee, as of December 1. Conseiller will oversee the growth of the group’s brands, and its investments in new and existing consumer markets for diamond, said De Beers in a press release.

A graduate of the Reims Neoma Business School in France, Conseiller comes from the MF Brands Group, owned by Swiss firm Maus Frères, where she worked for the past eight years. She joined MF Brands in 2015, as vice-president in charge of marketing at Lacoste, and was then named CEO of boot-maker Aigle in mid-2019.

Previously, Conseiller spent most of her career at Anglo-Dutch giant Unilever, her area of expertise being consumer brands in the beauty and haircare sectors. She rose from brand manager to marketing manager in these categories, first for the French market and then for Asia, assuming increasingly greater managerial responsibilities.

“Her journey as a leader of iconic brands speaks for itself. She has consistently driven transformation and growth. But I am even more impressed by her passion and values. Sandrine is joining De Beers at an exciting time, as we are growing the value of our 135-year-old brand,” said CEO Al Cook, who has been at the helm of De Beers Group for the past year.

Conseiller’s appointment marks a new milestone for the group, which employs 20,000 people worldwide and is active in the extraction and commercialisation of diamonds, and in the development of jewellery brands. In the last 12 months, De Beers has been facing major sourcing challenges because of the invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions imposed on the export of Russian diamonds.