(IDEX Online) - Israel's diamond industry is maintaining its "robust recovery" according to new figures, although trade dipped during September's Jewish holiday season. Net imports of rough diamonds in the first three months were $1.47bn, a year-on-year increase of 137 per cent, according to the Ministry of Economy and Industry. Net exports for the same period were $1.34bn, up 160 p...Read More
RAPAPORT... Jewelry sales in the US saw a sharp spike in September as consumers updated their wardrobes and prepared for the holiday season, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse.Sales in the category grew 55% year on year during the month, reflecting a favorable comparison with September of last year, when stores were just beginning to recover from Covid-19 closures. Still, jewelry spending also...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A robot dog is being put through its paces at the Gahcho Kue diamond mine, in Canada, to see whether it can take over routine tasks from human co-workers.De Beers say they're seeing how well the four-legged robot, called Spot (pictured), fares at monitoring gauges and other readouts, inspecting for spillages and checking fire detection systems, all by itself.They're also...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Watches and Wonders show is to take place again in a physical format, after two Covid-enforced digital-only editions.The industry's biggest event says at least 40 leading names in watchmaking will be in Geneva from 30 March to 5 April 2022.They include Rolex, Patek Philippe, and Cartier, plus first-time participants Grand Seiko, Oris and the brands of the LVMH Group (Hublo...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Zimbabwe's former defense secretary set up an offshore shell company in the Seychelles to trade diamonds, according to reports on the Pandora Papers data leak.Martin Rushwaya, who now serves as deputy chief secretary to President Emmerson Mnangagwa (pictured), is reported to to have set up Greatgem Corp. in 2010.It was at around the time the Zimbabwe Defence Forces partnered w...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) has partnered with Kering and Cartier to challenge companies to meet environmental targets."Business can be a force for positive change and impact by supporting a global economy that protects people, the planet and the natural systems that sustain us," said RJC executive director Iris Van der Vecken. "Business as usual is no longer an option. The...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers is reportedly searching for marine diamonds off the coast of Greenland.The mining giant commissioned an eight-day survey of around 800 kilometers of seabed, according to a Reuters' news report.A preliminary survey of the topography, at a depth of 50 to 200 meters, was conducted by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), and it will take months to analyz...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Diamond billionaire Beny Steinmetz, and Purvi Modi - sister of fugitive Indian jeweler Nirav - are among those named in the Pandora Papers, a huge leak of data detailing offshore tax havens.The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) released what it describes as an "offshore data tsunami" exposing a wealthy elite who use tax and secrecy havens to buy property,...Read More
RAPAPORT... De Beers has begun investigating Greenland's potential as a source of high-value marine diamonds.The miner commissioned a government agency to carry out a survey into diamond deposits, which are "known to be present" near the coast in the west of the Arctic island, according to an environmental assessment report by De Beers.The Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) - p...Read More
RAPAPORT... Diamonds Do Good (DDG) will give $100,000 in grants to entrepreneurs from diamond-producing countries in southern Africa.The funds will go to a minimum of five people, in increments ranging from $5,000 to $20,000, DDG said Monday. United People Global (UPG), which runs sustainability leadership-training programs, will manage the grants.The scholarships are in line with DDG's mission of...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Police and customs officials blocked the export of almost $10m of diamonds from Namibia last week in an ongoing row over external valuations.The diamonds are produced by the state-owned Namib Desert Diamonds (Namdia). A five-year contract with external valuers came to an end last month. The stones are also valued, as a matter of course, by the Namibia Diamond Trading Company,...Read More
RAPAPORT... Diamond and jewelry figures have appeared in the Pandora Papers, a leak of almost 12 million documents detailing the offshore financial activities of the wealthy.They include Purvi Modi, sister of fugitive Indian jeweler Nirav Modi, according to a report by The Indian Express. A month before her brother fled the country, she set up a firm in the British Virgin Islands that would a...Read More
RAPAPORT... Israel's polished-diamond exports saw their first monthly decline since the industry emerged from the Covid-19 crisis, as Jewish festivals disrupted trading.Shipments fell 42% year on year to $197.5 million in September, after deducting the return of unsold goods, the country's Ministry of Economy and Industry reported Tuesday. Export volume dropped 46% to 80,103 carats, with the...Read More
RAPAPORT PRESS RELEASE, October 5, 2021, Las Vegas... The diamond market was relatively quiet in September as various Jewish and Indian festivals disrupted activity. Dealers remained optimistic for the US holiday season after positive trading at the Las Vegas shows in late August. China's economic slowdown brought some caution into the market. Polished prices softened for goods below 1 carat but f...Read More
RAPAPORT... India's polished-diamond exports rose in August, albeit at a gentler pace than the previous month, according to recent data from the country's Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).Shipments increased 69% year on year to $2.05 billion amid a sharp climb in volume alongside a higher average price. July had seen a 146% jump to $2.26 billion, India's highest for any mo...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A widow is devastated after a bank lost her safety deposit box, containing a pair of diamond Rolex watches, her great-grandmother's gold wedding jewelry and many other irreplaceable items.Audrey Lobo used to work at the branch of The Royal Bank of Scotland, in Aberdeen, Scotland, where she deposited the items for safe-keeping.She says the bank showed her somebody else's b...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Grading reports are now available for red gemstones marketed with the trade name Jedi spinels, after the Star Wars movies.The Bangkok-based Asian Institute of Gemological Sciences (AIGS) says it aims to standardize six key criteria - color, fluorescence, clarity, cut, brilliance, treatment and origin. Spinel are a magnesium/aluminium member of the cubic crystal system which oc...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A daytripper paid a $10 entry fee to dig for diamonds - and went home with a 4.38-ct yellow gem.Noreen Wredberg was enjoying a day out with husband Michael at the Crater of Diamonds State Park, near Murfreesboro, in Arkansas, USA."I didn't know it was a diamond then, but it was clean and shiny, so I picked it up," she said.Park superintendent Caleb Howell said: "It'...Read More
RAPAPORT... Diamond jewels belonging to actress Hind Rostom, the "First Lady of Egyptian Cinema," will go under the hammer at an upcoming Sotheby's auction in Geneva.Rostom was one of the most popular movie stars during the golden age of Arab cinema, starring in more than 80 films and often heralded as the Arab world's answer to Marilyn Monroe, the auction house said Sunday. Her family will offer...Read More
RAPAPORT... GemFair, De Beers' program to formalize the artisanal and small-scale mining sector, has made its first sale of diamonds, offering goods through the company's auctions division.A range of rough diamonds from sites in Sierra Leone were available at a De Beers auction last week, the miner said Monday. The lots contained varying qualities and sizes, with the largest stone weighing 11...Read More