(IDEX Online) - Mall traffic rose 91 percent on Black Friday compared to an average weekend. That's the result of a report from advertising technology company Mobility Technologies. That's the good news. The bad news, at least for jewelers, is that they were far from top of mind for shoppers. According to Mobility Technologies Black Friday report lingerie was the biggest growth cate...Read More
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Multi-commodity explorer EHR Resources has reached an agreement to acquire Canadian diamond company Nanuk Diamonds, as part of its strategy to diversify into diamonds in North America.Nanuk holds 625 mineral claims in Northern Quebec covering 274 km2 and containing several occurrences of diamond-bearing kimberlitic dykes that were originally found in the early 2000...Read More
Jewelers and memo dealers gaining confidence afterpositive start to holiday season. E-commerce driving growth, with record $9.4Bpurchases on Cyber Monday, according to Adobe Analytics. NRF counts 189.6Mshoppers and average spend +16% to $362 over Thanksgiving weekend. Tiffany& Co. 3Q sales flat at $1B, Signet Jewelers sales flat at $1.2B. Shortagesand holiday demand supporting diamond prices,...Read More
Buyers actively lookingfor goods amid scarcity of better-quality RapSpec A3+ diamonds that are indemand. Very little new supply available since manufacturers decreasedproduction over last five months. Rough orders expected to improve at nextweek's sight as cutters prepare for post-holiday restocking among jewelers.Steady sales of I1-I3 stars and melee. Interest in certified stones centeringon good...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sales at Tiffany & Co. were flat at $1.01 billion in thethird fiscal quarter as increases in mainland China compensated for weakspending in the US and Hong Kong. Revenue declined 4% to $422.5 million in the Americas region assales to tourists fell, while local customers also trimmed their spending, thejeweler said Thursday. Asia-Pacific sales were unchanged at $294.1 million amid"d...Read More
RAPAPORT... Signet Jewelers' shares jumped 6% in early trading Thursdayafter the retailer increased its sales forecast for the current fiscal year. The jeweler adjusted its guidance following a rise insame-store sales in the third fiscal quarter, it said Thursday. While groupsales slipped 0.3% to $1.19 billion in the three months ending November 2,same-store sales - at branches open for at le...Read More
RAPAPORT... Rough-diamond buyers are anticipating an improvement insales at next week's De Beers sight, as the miner is withdrawing concessions that allowed clients to reject goods. De Beers will revert to its standard rules limiting sightholders' abilityto refuse or defer their supply allocations, sources in the rough market told Rapaport News.They will also only be able to sell 10% of their purc...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Unrest in Hong Kong hit jewelry chain Tiffany & Co. hard in its third quarter. The company reported that worldwide net sales of $1 billion and comparable sales were unchanged from the prior year. Excluding Hong Kong, worldwide net sales and comparable sales increased by 4 percent and 3 percent, respectively.Worldwide net sales for the third quarter were unchanged from the prior...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Signet Jewelers Limited today (Thursday) announced that same store sales at its North American locations increased 2.9 percent in Q3 2020. Average transaction value (ATV) increased 0.5% and the number of transactions increased 2.8 percent.Online sales grew 13 percent and brick and mortar same store sales grew 1.6 percent.Signet's top performing U.S. brand was James Allen, whic...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Laboratory grown diamonds grown using the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process could be prone to extreme color instability warns Gemological Science International (GSI).During standard testing by GSI, a 2-carat CVD diamond was exposed to high-powered UV rays and went from near colorless to blue color. It was then returned to the vault. When it was taken out a week-and-a-half lat...Read More
RAPAPORT... The holiday season got off to positive start over the five-day Thanksgiving weekend, with observers seeing record online sales.About 124 million people shopped in stores, while 142.2 million bought online during the Thanksgiving period from November 28 to December 2, the National Retail Federation (NRF) reported. The average spend on holiday items across all platforms rose 16...Read More
RAPAPORT... Synthetic diamonds grown using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) could change color for an extended period following exposure to certain light forms, Gemological Science International (GSI) has warned. When testing a 2-carat CVD diamond,GSI exposed the stone to high-powered ultraviolet (UV) rays, during which it wentfrom near colorless to blue, the organization said Tuesday. This bl...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) will close its Dubai office by the end of the year, ending a decade-long presence in the city. The organization has offered education programs, including its Graduate Diamonds course and distance-education lab classes, in Dubai since 2008, and opened a take-in facility to ship stones for grading in 2010. Both services will close by Decemb...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The GIA (Gemological Institute of America) has announced the closure of its Dubai laboratory take-in facility and education location by the end of the year. The lab, a branch of GIA India Laboratory Pvt. Ltd., is no longer accepting stones for submission.According to an announcement on the GIA website, the decision to close the operation was taken to align its resources with its mi...Read More
(IDEX Online) - An Atlanta man who tried to defraud dealers and wholesalers of nearly $1.2 million in diamonds and other high-end jewelry has been sentenced to almost eight years in federal jail, reports The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.He has also been ordered to pay over $567,000 in restitutionOver the course of almost two years, from November 2016 until September 2018, Cory Smith took advantage...Read More
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The Minerals Council South Africa on Wednesday published a report on the South African mining industry’s progress in transforming the industry in terms of the Mining Charter.The report was based on a study by advisory firm Moshe Capital into the council members' transformation and community development performance.AdvertisementMoshe based the study...Read More
Aim-listed Firestone Diamonds has confirmed that stable grid power has been restored at its Liqhobong diamond mine, in Lesotho, and that the mine is processing at full capacity.The Lesotho Electricity Company-owned Muela hydropower station was brought back into operation on December 1, following a two-month shutdown period for maintenance.AdvertisementFirestone had to stall its processing plant op...Read More
RAPAPORT... The holiday season got off to a positive start over the five-day Thanksgiving weekend, with observers seeing record online sales.About 124 million people shopped in stores, while 142.2 million bought online during the Thanksgiving period from November 28 to December 2, the National Retail Federation (NRF) reported. The average spend on holiday items across all platforms rose...Read More
RAPAPORT... Synthetic diamonds grown using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) could change color for an extended period following exposure to certain light forms, Gemological Science International (GSI) has warned. When testing a 2-carat CVD diamond,GSI exposed the stone to high-powered ultraviolet (UV) rays, during which it wentfrom near colorless to blue, the organization said Tuesday. This bl...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) will close its Dubai office by the end of the year, ending a decade-long presence in the city. The organization has offered education programs, including its Graduate Diamonds course and distance-education lab classes, in Dubai since 2008, and opened a take-in facility to ship stones for grading in 2010. Both services will close by Decemb...Read More