(IDEX Online) - Workers in Minneapolis fled in terror when looters threw a rock through their jewelry store window. A dozen staff were stashing valuables in a safe at R.F. Moeller Jewelers, in St. Paul, when company president Bob Moeller received a text warning from police that a mob was approaching. They escaped through a back door as looters smashed their way in with sledgehammers. The company&#...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Swiss Gemmological Institute (SSEF) has introduced a service that determines a pearl's species using DNA fingerprinting.The Basel-based laboratory has substantially expanded its database and capabilities, enabling it to identify each of the eight oyster species that account for the vast majority of gems available in the natural- and cultured-pearl trade, it said Tuesday. It ac...Read More
RAPAPORT... Titan Company anticipates a negative impact on its profit in the first half of the year amid "very marginal" sales due to the coronavirus-related lockdown in India.Government measures forced the jeweler to shut all its stores and manufacturing facilities from March 17 until the first week of May, when the restrictions were gradually eased. The shutdown hit operations "substantiall...Read More
RAPAPORT... De Beers will hold viewings of sight goods in locations other than Botswana, enabling customers to access the company's rough amid travel restrictions.The miner will introduce the provision in "relevant diamond centers" for the upcoming sight scheduled for June 15 to 19, a De Beers spokesperson told Rapaport News Monday. He would not say which cities would host the viewings.Botswa...Read More
RAPAPORT... The annual Rapaport Breakfast this Thursday will explore what's next for the diamond industry as it navigates the economic crisis resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. "This will be one of the most important presentations I have ever made," said Martin Rapaport, chairman of the Rapaport Group, who will make his "State of the Diamond Industry" presentation online on June 4 at 12 p....Read More
RAPAPORT PRESS RELEASE, June 2, 2020, Las Vegas... Diamond trading is starting to regain traction in Hong Kong with some demand from China. Hong Kong is mostly open for business, but concerns are mounting about renewed protests following new Chinese security laws. New York's 47th Street remains closed as other parts of the US slowly begin to open. US riots over police brutality are also creating c...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Bulk sampling at Marsfontein, South Africa, has yielded encouraging results, according to the exploration company Botswana Diamonds. It has recovered a total of 111 macro diamonds, mostly from high-interest kimberlite, but also from dumped kimberlitic material left from previous mining activity. The company, which expanded from Botswana into South Africa and Zimbabwe, says the resu...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A gang swapped $5.3m of diamonds for a bag of worthless pebbles in an audacious sleight-of-hand heist at a top London jeweler.Detectives said the astonishing raid was like something from the Ocean's Eleven movie franchise, starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt.The thieves posed as wealthy Russian businessmen to dupe luxury jeweler Boodles - founded in 1798 - out of seven stone...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Diamond Producers Association, representing the world's biggest producers, is changing its name to Natural Diamond Council in a move that will distance it from the lab-grown sector.The industry authority, whose members include Alrosa, De Beers Group, Dominion Diamond Mines, Lucara Diamond, Petra Diamonds, RZM Murowa, and Rio Tinto, is also adopting the new brand name "Only...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Diamond Producers Association (DPA) has unveiled a new name and strategy it hopes will resonate with younger consumers and position it as a leading digital publisher of information about diamonds.The category-marketing organization is now the Natural Diamond Council (NDC), with its new consumer website - naturaldiamonds.com - serving as a resource and educational hub, executiv...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sales of jewelry and other luxury items in Hong Kong plunged to their lowest level on record in April, as business remained challenging even as the pandemic threat cleared locally.Revenue from jewelry, watches, clocks and other valuable gifts dropped 77% year on year to HKD 1.36 billion ($176 million) for the month, as tourism remained at a near standstill and consumer sentiment w...Read More
RAPAPORT... The International Gemological Institute (IGI) has reopened several offices around the world following coronavirus-related closures, it said Thursday.Its centers in Antwerp, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Bangkok, Tel Aviv, Dubai and Japan are now operational. It is carrying out certain remote services at its New York office, while operations at its locations in India vary accordin...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Jewelry stores have shown "encouraging signs" in post-COVID-19 China, according to De Beers. Paul Rowley, its executive vice president of diamond trading, said most retail outlets were now open again, although sales had yet to return to levels before the pandemic. "In China, most stores are now open again with consumers returning and encouraging signs are beginning to show,"...Read More
RAPAPORT... As difficult as the Covid-19 lockdown period has been, Sally Morrison, director of public relations at De Beers' consumer and brands division, sees opportunity for the diamond industry moving forward. In the first episode of the Rapaport Group's "The Recovery" webinar series, Senior Analyst Avi Krawitz discussed the state of the luxury market in the coronavirus era with the marketing e...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa will allow customers to defer 100 per cent of June purchases, as it has done in April and May, in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Russian state-owned miner says it's offering "unprecedentedly flexible terms for its long-term clients" in an attempt to prevent a depressed market from being flooded. Until 2018, the 58 approved buyers on Alrosa's list co...Read More
Polished diamond prices for May reflect much more movement than for April, with an overall trend of modest rises, balanced by price drops in specific sizes and qualities. Much of the activity for both round and polished stones was among 0.50 to 1.99 cts. Smaller sizes were characterized by inactivity or limited price drops. Larger key sizes, over 3.00 cts saw clust...Read More
RAPAPORT... Petra Diamonds is considering whether to hold a rough tender in June after a market slowdown prompted it to cancel its May sale.Prices fell 27% in March and April compared with February as the Covid-19 pandemic reduced business activity throughout the supply chain, the company reported Friday. Having called off the May sale, it is now considering holding a tender in South Africa a...Read More
(IDEX Online) - India's diamond industry, already reeling from COVID-19, has been dealt another blow, with the introduction of a two per cent online sales tax. The so-called Equalization Levy will be applied to all sales made by any foreign e-commerce operator - including suppliers of rough or polished diamonds - to any resident or business in India. The government is keen...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers aims to hold Sights outside Botswana until travel restrictions brought in to counter COVID-19 are eased. Its third Sight of the year, in March, was canceled and the fourth, in May, was virtually wiped out by travel restrictions. The next is scheduled for 15 to 19 June in Gabarone, the country's capital. But De Beers is in talks with Botswana's government to relo...Read More
RAPAPORT... Petra Diamonds is considering whether to hold a rough tender in June after a market slowdown prompted it to cancel its May sale.Prices fell 27% in March and April compared with February as the Covid-19 pandemic reduced business activity throughout the supply chain, the company reported Friday. Having called off the May sale, it is now considering holding a tender in South Africa a...Read More