Anglo American Platinum Now Sole Sponsor of Platinum Guild USA

New York—Platinum Guild International (PGI) USA has announced a change to its funding structure.

Anglo American Platinum, a subsidiary of mining giant and majority De Beers Group owner Anglo American, is now the sole sponsor of PGI USA.

PGI USA, established in 1992, has received its funding from a group of South African platinum producers via the Platinum Jewellery Development Association (PJDA) since 2005.

The new funding structure also will apply to PGI Japan.

PGI India has been funded solely by Anglo American Platinum since 2016.

PGI China, however, will continue to be supported by the PJDA.

“We are excited for this next chapter in our organization’s history,” said Jenny Luker, president of PGI USA.

“We look forward to working more closely with our Anglo American Platinum colleagues to further drive awareness of and consumer demand for platinum in the market. The strengthening of this relationship will enable us to support availability of metal supply to the U.S. market, explore groundbreaking technological advances, and continue to support our partners and the industry at large with one of the world’s most precious metals.”

Benny Oeyen, Anglo American’s executive head of market development for platinum group metals, said, “We absolutely believe in the continued potential of jewelry as an opportunity area for our precious metals, and our new funding commitment to PGI’s longstanding work promoting platinum jewelry demand underlines this.”

He added that the company’s work with PGI will help it to develop higher awareness and appreciation for platinum in fine jewelry and give Anglo American Platinum access to industry knowledge and expertise.

Huw Daniel, CEO of Platinum Guild International, called the change “a momentous next step” that highlight’s Anglo American Platinum’s “unwavering belief” in the U.S. jewelry market.

“They have long been our key sponsor across several global markets and formalizing this new relationship will allow our U.S. team to continue to further develop the positioning and utilization of platinum to levels never seen before,” said Daniel.

At the upcoming Couture show in Las Vegas, PGI will showcase platinum jewelry designs by 16 designers as part of its Platinum Spotlight Program, now in its second year.