For one, it has finally incorporated the `diamonds are forever' catchline in its new logo; recently appointed Gary Ralfe as the company's first managing director; silently terminating the badly flawed purchase contract with Russia entered in 1996; and is active in its diamond prospecting activities in the emerging markets of Turkey, Middle East, Pakistan and India, a growing region which now accounts for 10 per cent of world diamond demand, and in China -- whose potential remains huge.

These are some of the major steps that the new chairman, Nicky Oppenheimer has taken to reshape De Beers to take up the emerging challenges.

After the famous James Bond movie, `Diamonds are forever', Ian Flemings' famous catchline is likely to be immortalised, for, from 1998 onwards, De Beers has a new logo which incorporates `A diamond isforever' as its new advertising slogan, that extends to all aspects of the diamond industry, including its expertise. And remember, it has committed to spend a massive $200 million in 1998 for the promotion of diamond jewellery around the world.

The second page of De Beers' 1997 annual report explains: `The cover illustrates the new-look `wordmark' or logo -- A Diamond is Forever (beneath De Beers name) -- which will be used in both the promotion of diamond jewellery and to represent De Beers internationally at corporate levels'.

Nicky Oppenheimer, the new chairman since late 1997, is thus trying to chart out a path different from his predecessors, including his father. He took De Beers' reins after Julian Ogilvie Thompson stepped down as chairman at the end of 1997 (who presided over 13 years of `unprecedented' growth. Thompson succeeded the senior Oppenheimer as De Beers' chairman in 1984.

Says Nicky Oppenheimer in the chairman's statement: "Institutions, companies, systems and, indeed people provetheir value not in good times, but in times of challenge and stress...The outlook in 1998 is not one of unrelieved gloom....It will pose even greater questions before the economic storm in south east Asia blows itself out...The problems in the Far East, while pressing, are not permanent.

"Once the Asia Pacific region emerges from its present economic and currency turmoil we are confident it will provide substantial new markets which, in turn, will increase worldwide diamond demand....How the industry responds to these emerging challenges will determine the contours of the diamond world for years to come. De Beers is well poised to shape that world".

Further still, The renewed prosperity in Japan has been postponed, not cancelled, and economists expect a resurgence of growth once the precess of economic restructuring is complete. Despite the current slowdown, consumer attitudes towards diamonds in Japan remain positive and De Beers is developing several new campaigns to take advantage of the eventualrecovery in consumer confidence'.

In 1997, De Beers' pre-tax net income at US $892 million slumped 15.45 per cent from $1,055 million in 1996. The post-tax net income was down by almost 23 per cent at $640 million ($831 million). Diamond sales (through its Central Selling Organisation), at $4.640 billion, were four per cent lower after record sales of $4.834 billion in 1996. The diamond account in 1997, however, was up to $849 million ($803 million in 1996).

In order to stall the plunging diamond prices, De Beers had in 1997 reduced sharply reduced diamond supplies in second half of 1997. Translated in stock value during the year, it was almost six per cent lower. As at December 1997, its diamond stock was $4.439 billion, down from $4.703 billion in 1996. De Beers' net asset in 1997 were valued almost 8.5 per cent lower at $ 13.759 billion ($15.029 billion in 1996).

With such statistics, De Beers and its new chairman both have a mammoth challenge ahead.

In a defining move, De Beers has separated itsmanagement ties to Anglo American Corporation, to become an organisation with its own management team and with all the energies and skills of its human resources dedicated to `one comapany and one product'.

Further, Gary Ralfe, De Beers' first managing director has `responsibilities for the worldwide group that reflects the company's overall intention of focused growth. This move enables De Beers to re-shape itself into a closely integrated, tightly focused multinational, fit for its historic role as South Africa's truly global mining group.

What is more, during the roller-coaster 1997 year began with continuing supply-side concerns, which focused both on the decision, taken at the end of 1996, to terminate purchases under the badly flawed contract with Russia and fears of uncontrolled supplies from Angola. Both these steps are directed at `substantially' increasing its marketshare.

These and other steps were announced to the De Beers shareholders as `Restructuring of diamond interests' which, accordingto the company will be effective from April 1, 1998.

Lastly, Nicky Oppenheimer even sends a warning, sort of, to `recent entrants in the diamond' field when he says: "Current upheavals offer opportunity for all in the industry to reflect both on the lessons of the past and on whether and how we can shape a future in which all can continue to benefit -- from producing countries...It is De Beers' hope that recent entrants in the field will recognise the sense of single channel marketing and will not be tempted to undermine the very factor -- predictable and stable prices -- which attracted them into the industry in the first place; nor that they will commit the cardinal error of assuming that De Beers will act against its own interests and those of its shareholders in a competitive world."