here(IDEX Online) - New software will help jewelers comply with anti-money laundering (AML) requirements of the anti-terror USA PATRIOT Act.The JewelPAC online program has been developed by the Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC) and is hosted by insurers the Jewelers Mutual Group.It's designed to save time and provide peace of mind for the vast majority of US jewelers required to implement po...Read More
RAPAPORT... US polished-diamond imports dropped heavily in April to their lowest level since Rapaport records began, as the coronavirus shut global markets. Rough trading was close to zero during the month, according to data from the Commerce Department. US Trade Data for April 2020Read More
RAPAPORT... Adolescence is hard enough without having to deal with Covid-19 on top of everything. This year, teenagers are missing out on coming-of-age moments like proms, graduations and sports seasons. Slightly older ones are missing career opportunities, from dream internships to first jobs.Quarantined young consumers are looking for new ways to celebrate life milestones and hang out with frien...Read More
(IDEX Online) - British miner BlueRock Diamonds says revenue almost trebled in 2019 at its Kareevlei mine, in the Kimberley region of South Africa.It was up 190 per cent from $1.75m in 2018 to $5.1m in the year ended 31 December 2019, according to final results issued yesterday.BlueRock sold 12,675 carats during 2019, up 124 per cent from 5,657 carats in 2018 and the average price per carat r...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Zimbabwe's ambitious plans to treble diamond production to 11m carats a year are under threat from COVID-19, says a human rights watchdog.The country has pinned its hope on exploiting rich reserves to revive an economy crippled by triple-digit inflation and high unemployment. But it has amassed a glut of unsellable diamonds, according to the Harare-based NGO Centre for Na...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The British jewelry retailer Beaverbrooks reported a 30 per cent surge in sales on the first day of post-lockdown trade.Customers flocked to the family firm's 59 newly-opened high street stores in a retail frenzy after three months of restrictions were lifted on 15 June.The average spend on watches and jewelry items was up by almost a quarter (23 per cent) year-on-year.And tot...Read More
RAPAPORT... India's diamond shipments plummeted in May, according to data from the country's Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), continuing the decline resulting from the coronavirus crisis.Rough imports and polished exports were essentially zero in April, Rapaport calculations showed, as cargo routes stopped and global demand nosedived. Trading picked up in May as the India...Read More
RAPAPORT... Tse Sui Luen (TSL) has reported a loss for the full fiscal year, as it faced challenges from the US-China trade dispute, protests and the coronavirus pandemic.The net loss totaled HKD 89.8 million ($11.6 million) for the 12 months ending March 31, compared with a profit of HKD 54.2 million ($7 million) the previous year, the Hong Kong-based jewelry retailer said Tuesday. Revenue slid 2...Read More
RAPAPORT... The diamond mining sector has been hard hit by the coronavirus crisis. There has been a significant drop in demand - when rough sales could even take place - forcing miners to reconsider their production programs for 2020. However, Lucara Diamond Corp. appears cautiously confident that it has the balance sheet, the sales platform, and the right product mix at its high-value Karowe mine...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A diamond courier has allegedly disappeared from the Bharat Diamond Bourse, in Mumbai, India, with stones destined to be cut and polished in Surat.The so-called "angadia" is rumored to have become involved in a failed property deal as coronavirus hit trade, according to India's Economic Times.Angadias have become the cheapest and most trusted means of ferrying valuable consign...Read More
RAPAPORT... Angola is halfway through the construction of a $77 million diamond hub that it hopes will create revenue sources beyond the sale of rough diamonds.The hub is located in Angola's diamond province of Lunda Sul. It will contain a main diamond-cutting facility, a diamond evaluation and training center, and smaller manufacturing plants, Sodiam, Angola's state-owned diamond company, said la...Read More
RAPAPORT... Angola is halfway through the construction of a $77 million diamond hub that it hopes will create revenue sources beyond the sale of rough diamonds.The hub is located in Angola's diamond province of Lunda Sul. It will contain a main diamond-cutting facility, a diamond evaluation and training center, and smaller manufacturing plants, Sodiam, Angola's state-owned diamond company, said la...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Colin Shah is to step up as chairman of India's Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).He will steer the industry body through what he's described as "acute uncertainties due to the ongoing COVID 19 crisis in India and world over".GJEPC, established by the government in 1966 to promote overseas sales, now represents 7,000 exporters in the sector. Mr Shah...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Trade shows that were twice postponed in Hong Kong because of COVID-19 have now been canceled altogether.The Hong Kong International Jewellery and Diamond Show (pictured) and its sister event, the Gem & Pearl Show, will not now take place this year.Organizers had tried repeatedly to keep the events alive, moving them from March to May and then to August.But the final blow came...Read More
RAPAPORT... Signet Jewelers has appointed Rebecca Wooters chief digital officer to help expand its online offering in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic."Our omni-channel and digital transformation is even more important now with today's shift to online shopping," Signet CEO Virginia Drosos said last week. "Rebecca is joining us at a pivotal time in our...transformation journey, which we are acc...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Three major diamond factories in Surat were ordered to close yesterday for at least 10 days, after a total of 22 of their employees tested positive for coronavirus.Municipal authorities fear packets of rough diamonds may have been the source of the infection and are urging owners to have them sanitized before they are given to the workers for polishing.The city's deputy health...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa has reportedly lost at least five of its long-term buyers, as it maintains its price over volume strategy and forces customers to buy goods deferred from earlier sales.They've broken from their contracts because they can't make money in the COVID-19 climate, according to the Bloomberg news website.It says they include the diamond trading company Diaciore, owned by...Read More
RAPAPORT... Swiss watch exports continued to slow down in May, the second month of "quasi-paralysis" in the sector, according to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry.Shipments slid 68% to CHF 655.6 million ($688.4 million) for the month, with all markets declining significantly. Orders from the US plummeted 79% to CHF 43.3 million ($45.5 million), while supply to Hong Kong dropped 69% to CHF...Read More
RAPAPORT... Mountain Province has reduced its production outlook for the year amid the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on operations.The miner now expects to produce between 6.3 million and 6.4 million carats in 2020 from the Gahcho Ku?(C) mine in Canada, compared to its earlier outlook of 6.75 million to 6.95 million carats, it said last week. That figure represents to...Read More
RAPAPORT... The coronavirus pandemic has impacted every part of the diamond supply chain. As markets reopen with the virus still lingering, there is a consensus that a new normal has been established, even as it continues to evolve. The world is a different place than it was pre-pandemic, and the changes are likely to remain after things return to some version of normalcy, however long that takes....Read More