London Diamond Bourse names Charlotte Rose first woman president

Charlotte Rose became the first woman to lead the London Diamond Bourse, taking the presidency at the trade body’s annual general meeting on June 25. The election marked a clear break in an 86-year history that began when the bourse opened in 1940, and the organization said Rose is believed to be the first woman president of any diamond bourse worldwide.

David Troostwyk stepped down as president and moved into the vice president role, preserving continuity at a moment when the diamond trade is still contending with shifting demand, price pressure and the expanding presence of lab-grown stones. For a market built on confidence as much as carat weight, that handover matters: the bourse is one of only about 30 active diamond trading floors worldwide, and its membership of around 700 sits at the center of London’s Hatton Garden trade.

Rose is not new to breaking precedent. In 2024, she became the London Diamond Bourse’s first female vice president, a position in which she focused on education, industry outreach and bringing younger professionals into the fold. She has said she wants to strengthen education and the next generation of diamond talent in her new presidency, an agenda that could shape how the bourse presents itself to dealers who need fresh membership, steadier recruitment and clearer pathways into the trade.

Her own career gives that mission a distinctive edge. Rose is a third-generation diamantaire, and beyond the bourse she is founder and director of Solomons & Rose, a UK-based natural diamond and fine jewellery business, while also heading the jewellery division of Furlong Auction House. That mix places her at the intersection of trading floor discipline, collector appetite and the vintage-to-fine-jewellery crossover, where provenance, craftsmanship and design history often carry as much weight as the stone itself.

Rose’s election also signals a broader shift inside one of the diamond world’s most traditional institutions. The London Diamond Bourse is still tied to the old geography of the trade, with London and Antwerp long linked by the movement of stones, but its leadership is now being shaped by a different profile: a dealer who understands both the classic diamond pipeline and the way modern buyers move between natural stones, antique jewels and auction rooms. In a sector that prizes trust, that kind of fluency can be as valuable as pedigree.