Diamond company De Beers is now weighing entering the U.S. market after being absent from it for six decades, Rough and Polished reports.



De Beers chief executive Philippe Mellier noted that the firm has been unable to do business in the United States since 1948. Mellier admitted that entering the American retail sales markets is one of the company's objectives, now that it has become possible. Diamond jewelry sales in the United States account for almost half of all such sales worldwide.



Mellier also surmised that the firm may even open its own diamond cutting and polishing factory on U.S. territory at some point in the future, according to Rough and Polished, though he admitted that there were no plans to do so imminently.



De Beers paid $295 million to settle a series of anti-trust lawsuits in May, paving the way for its return to American soil.