Laurelton Reign Diamonds, a subsidiary of Tiffany & Co., has launched a cutting plant in Windhoek, the capital of the southwest African rough diamond producing state of Namibia. The plant, which was opened by the Namibian Minister of Mines and Energy, Isak Katali, was built at a cost of $3.7 million.

Laurelton Reign Diamonds, which was established by Tiffany’s in 2007 in partnership with Reign Investments, a wholly-owned Namibian company operated by a group of Namibian entrepreneurs, is one of seven manufacturing facilities that the company set up under their manufacturing and diamond sourcing arm, Laurelton Diamonds.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Andrew Hart, LRD’s president and a Tiffany’s vice president,  said only the most sophisticated, state-of-the-art equipment are being used to facilitate all  said that his company intends investing more
than $3 million to train Namibian employees to fill management and other key positions that currently are being held by expatriates. “Namibia has proven to us that skills can be successfully transferred,” he said.

The diamonds that are cut and polished at Laurelton Reign Diamonds are obtained from the Namibia Diamond Trading Company (NDTC).