David Troostwyk

My diamond journey began about 20 years ago when I travelled to Africa to open a rough diamond buying office outside the Williamson Mine in Tanzania. Here we supported artisanal miners and purchased rough diamonds from them. After spending the best part of two years in Africa, I moved back to Europe and embarked on a career in the polished side of the business in Antwerp, Belgium. During my time in Antwerp, I worked for various Sightholders, supplying some of the top Jewellery Houses. I was able to gain a huge amount of experience during this time, and create a crucial network of relationships as I honed my skill and craft. Some years later, I began working on a project to create the World’s first electronic diamond exchange, DODAQ. DODAQ was an anonymous trading platform where buyers and sellers could trade polished diamonds, in much the same way as buying stocks and shares. As the original “market disruptors,” DODAQ was a great journey, and a wonderful experience. We were certainly a