Wholesale, made human.

The problem.

"Wholesale prices to the public" is one of the most common phrases in the South African diamond industry, and one of the least precise. It usually means one of three things: a small discount off mall-jeweller list, a deeper discount with conditions attached, or an aspirational claim that is not actually grounded in a wholesale benchmark. Buyers cannot tell which one they are getting without doing the maths themselves.

Prodiam runs the maths in the open. The point is not to sound like a wholesaler. The point is to give a retail buyer the same number a working dealer would be quoted on the same stone, on the same day, on the same trade-grounded benchmark.

The four prices on any natural diamond.

Every loose diamond, in any market, has four prices at any given moment. They are stacked from lowest to highest:

1. The wholesale reference (Rap reference). The Rapaport price-per-carat reference for the specific (carat band, colour, clarity) combination, converted to rand. This is the trade's anchor benchmark. Working dealers all start from here.
2. The wholesale-floor price. Rap reference minus 18% to 24% for typical SA trade deals, depending on carat band and the dealer's relationship with the cutter. The price a working dealer pays when buying from a credentialed cutting house.
3. The cutting-house-direct retail price. Wholesale-floor plus 35% to 50% for overhead, GIA grading fee, setting, and a working margin. The price Prodiam quotes to a retail buyer. Approximately 1.5x the wholesale floor and 1.15x to 1.20x the Rap reference.
4. The SA mall-jeweller retail price. Wholesale-floor plus 180% to 280% for chain marketing spend, centre-court rent, parent-group brand margin, and retail commission. Approximately 2.8x to 3.5x the wholesale floor and 2.0x to 2.5x the Rap reference.

A worked example, on a real spec.

Take a typical engagement-ring centre stone: 1.00 carat, round brilliant, F colour, VS1 clarity, GIA Excellent cut. Mid-May 2026 trade benchmarks:

Worked-out prices are an editorial reference, refreshed monthly against public secondary sources. The exact quote for any spec is taken to the rand on the day of the viewing. A live calculator for any spec is at thefacet.co.za/calculator, an independent editorial benchmark.

What the gap actually pays for, at a mall jeweller.

Three loads a cutting house does not carry:

• Centre-court rent. A 60-square-metre Sandton centre-court jewellery box runs above R 1 million per square metre per year, all in. That is roughly R 60 million in rent and fit-out across a typical five-year retail lease, before a single stone has been quoted.
• National marketing spend. A SA chain's annual ad budget runs 8% to 12% of revenue. On a R 365 000 mall sale, that is approximately R 36 000 in ad spend the buyer is paying for, baked into the ticket.
• Brand margin to the parent group. The chain itself pays a brand fee or transfer margin to its holding company that the in-store sales team has no visibility on. Typically another 15% to 25% on the wholesale-floor base.

None of those loads adds carat, colour, clarity, cut, or certification value to the stone itself. The gap is the price of the retail experience, not the price of the diamond.

Why cutting-house-direct is not the wholesale-floor price.

The most common reasonable question from a first-time buyer: "If the wholesale-floor is R 128 000, why is the Prodiam quote R 186 000?" The 1.45x markup is real and it covers real costs:

• GIA grading fee. R 4 500 to R 14 000 per stone, depending on carat and report type. Mall jewellers and cutting houses both pay this; it is a pass-through, not margin.
• Setting and bench labour. The ring around the stone has to be designed, cast, polished, set, rhodium-plated. That is 10 to 20 hours of skilled-bench time.
• Retail risk. Stones held on the bench tie up capital. A working cutting house has typically 20% to 35% of its inventory budget out at any time as "show stones" for buyers who may or may not commit. That capital cost is real and lands in the markup.
• The Diamond Confidence Session. Free Step 1 consultations are an unpriced service that has to be funded by the eventual transactions.
• Lifetime upgrade promise. The trade-in / upgrade route Prodiam offers in writing is itself a contingent liability against future revenue and is priced in.

A cutting-house-direct margin is structurally smaller than a chain margin because the cutting house does not pay rent on a centre-court box, does not run national TV, and does not transfer margin to a parent. But it is not zero. It is the cost of running a one-bench operation honestly.

The Prodiam pricing promise, in two lines.

Every Prodiam quote is benchmarked against the Rap reference on the day, with the discount or premium named in the quote itself. Walk out, get any second opinion you want, come back if the maths checks. We will be here.