(IDEX Online) - A 2.00-ct pink has become the most expensive diamond from the iconic Argyle mine ever sold at an auction or public tender.The fancy purplish pink diamond (pictured) fetched ?, ?1.62m at the debut tender by Australian financial technology start-up yourdiamonds.com.The historic Fitzpatrick Pink diamond, acquired by the renowned Brisbane collector Di Fitzpatrick in 1988, went to an an...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Tributes have been paid to the legendary Willie Nagel, diamond entrepreneur, former De Beers broker and pioneer of the Kimberley Process, who died last week aged 96.He quit a career as a Cambridge University-qualified lawyer, established the W. Nagel Ltd diamond company in London, and was appointed as a De Beers broker in 1959.He became a luminary in the diamond world and beyond. T...Read More
RAPAPORT... Diamond production at the Diavik mine in Canada dropped 12% year on year in the second quarter amid the recovery of lower-grade ore, according to part owner Rio Tinto.Diavik yielded 1.4 million carats for the three months ending June 30, with higher processing volumes failing to offset the lower ore grades coming from the mine's underground portion, Rio Tinto said last week.Rio Tinto's...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Free Covid vaccines are being given to 5,000 diamond artisans in Mumbai, India, following an industry-wide Diamond Aid appeal.It was launched in April after a catastrophic spike in Covid fatalities. The World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) pledged urgent action to help hospitals in the manufacturing and trading hubs of Surat and Mumbai.The campaign raised "many tens of thousa...Read More
RAPAPORT... Australian jeweler Michael Hill reported a rise in revenue during the fourth fiscal quarter amid the reopening of a number of its stores and a sharp increase in online sales.Group sales soared 116% to AUD 116 million ($85.5 million) in the three months ending June 30, the company said last week. Same-store sales - at branches open more than a year - grew 7.5%. During the period, Michae...Read More
RAPAPORT... US retail sales rose in June as the economy continued to reopen and consumers were eager to go out and shop, the National Retail Federation (NRF) said. Revenue grew 0.6% month on month and jumped 18% compared to the same period last year, according to data the US Census Bureau reported last week. "We're continuing to see an impressive recovery," said NRF chief economist Jack Klein...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sharp growth at Richemont's jewelry and watch brands buoyed the luxury company's revenues in the first fiscal quarter amid a strong recovery in the US market. Proceeds from the group's jewelry maisons - Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Buccellati - surged 132% to EUR 2.52 billion ($2.97 billion) in the three months ending June 30, the company said last week. Sales rose 38% com...Read More
RAPAPORT... Alrosa's second-quarter diamond revenues exceeded pre-pandemic levels as strong demand and limited supply supported the market. Rough and polished sales increased to $1.18 billion for the period ending June 30, compared with $87 million a year earlier, the Russian miner reported Friday. The figure was 46% higher than in the same quarter of 2019."Demand for rough diamonds outs...Read More
RAPAPORT... India's polished-diamond exports registered their eighth consecutive year-on-year increase as the market continued to rebound, according to recent data from the country's Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC). Shipments more than doubled to $2 billion in June 2021 versus $898.3 million a year earlier, when the Covid-19 crisis was still affecting the sector. Rough im...Read More
RAPAPORT... A newly discovered pipe at the Ellendale mine may contain "millions" of fancy-yellow and other gem-quality diamonds, according to the company that owns that part of the site.India Bore Diamond Holdings (IBDH) has identified a buried drainage system at the Australian mine that is full of rough diamonds, it said Wednesday. The stones had washed into it when nearby diamond-containing...Read More
RAPAPORT... Chow Tai Fook saw sharp growth in Hong Kong and China in the past three months as both markets showed improvements compared with last year's slowdown.Retail sales value across the group jumped 70% year on year for the first fiscal quarter ending June 30, the Hong Kong-based jeweler reported Tuesday. The figure rose 69% in mainland China and 76% in Hong Kong, Macau and other market...Read More
RAPAPORT... The rough market is buoyant after yet another price increase by De Beers, leaving many in the trade scratching their heads. Goods are selling at strong premiums on the secondary market - double-digit percentages in some categories - as manufacturers continue to boost production after the past year's coronavirus-induced stoppages.De Beers raised prices an estimated average of 5% du...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The government of Zimbabwe admits it has lost 350,000 carats of rough diamonds, with an estimated value of $140m. They were stored at repositories belonging to Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) and Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC). Both are wholly owned by the government. In a newly-released report, the country's Auditor-General Mildred Chiri...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa has resumed operations at another low-output mine, as the demand for rough recovers.The Zarnitsa open-pit mine (pictured), in Yakutia, Russia, stopped production in May 2020 as the market slumped, but the state-owned miner said it resumed operations on 1 July.Ore from Zarnitsa - one of the first primary diamond deposits discovered in the then-USSR - will not be process...Read More
RAPAPORT... Alrosa has recommenced production at its Zarnitsa open-pit mine in Yakutia following a 14-month shutdown.The mine reopened on July 1, with ore extraction due to take place this year, Alrosa said Wednesday. However, the move will not affect the company's 2021 production outlook, as processing of diamonds will only begin in2022, noted Sergey Pavlenko, head of the Udachny division, which...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Signet Jewelers rose up the rankings in the National Retail Federation (NRF) new list of Top 100 Retailers in the US - from 98th place to 78th.But its total retail sales plunged by almost a quarter from $6.05bn in 2019, to $4.65m in 2020 according to the NRF data, provided by Kantar data analytics. Walmart and Amazon.com, placed first and second respectively in both 2020...Read More
CAUTION: Rough prices surging out of control with some secondary market premiums over 10%. No assurance that polished prices will follow rough price increases. Manufacturing profit margins under pressure as De Beers raises prices 5% at July sight. Rough prices have increased an estimated 20% in 2021 with 1-carat polished only up 11%. Polished trading steady. US and Chinese demand supporting the m...Read More
RAPAPORT... A rare 2-carat Argyle diamond fetched AUD 2.2 million ($1.6 million) at the first public tender of pinks originating from the mine, setting an Australian record.The fancy-purplish-pink stone, called the Fitzpatrick Pink, was expected to garner between AUD 1.5 million and AUD 2.5 million ($1.1 million and $1.9 million), Yourdiamonds.com, the sale's organizer, said Wednesday.The seller w...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Gahcho Ku?(C) mine is on track to achieve its 2021 production forecast after strong second-quarter output compensated for a shutdown earlier this year, Mountain Province said.Total production from the site in Canada rose 14% year on year to 1.8 million carats during the three months ending June 30, the part owner reported Tuesday. The figure was also 27% higher than the 1.4 million...Read More
(IDEX Online) - China's diamond trade is surging, as it bounces back from the pandemic and benefits from crackdowns on smugglers and money launderers.The Shanghai Diamond Exchange (pictured) reports $3.82bn in total rough and polished transactions in the half-year to June, an increase of over 86 per cent on the same period in pre-Covid 2019.Imports of polished goods came to $1.58bn, up by alm...Read More