Central Selling Organisation
cartel
| Central Selling Organisation () | |
|---|---|
| Founder | Ernest Oppenheimer |
The Central Selling Organisation (CSO) diamond cartel was formed in 1934 when De Beers chairman Ernest Oppenheimer offered to buy all the diamonds in the world.[1]
In July 2000, De Beers decided to abandon the CSO's 60-year price-fixing tradition of attempting to stabilise supply and demand in the world gemstone trade and concentrate instead on mining and marketing. Managing Director Gary Ralfe hoped to use De Beers' dominant position to persuade everyone in the industry to spend much more on marketing, and confirmed the company would continue its famous generic advertisements with the slogan "A diamond is forever".[2]