(IDEX Online) - Watch retailers are facing a seismic shift as manufacturers increasingly cut out the middleman and sell to direct to consumers.In the premium to ultra-luxury watches industry, an estimated $2.4bn in revenue will transfer from multibrand retailers to watchmakers from 2019 to 2025 as a result of DTC (direct to consumer) sales, says the annual State of Fashion report by the Business o...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Police seized diamonds worth $33,000 from smugglers in the central Indian town of Gariyaband after enlisting the help of residents. The area is well known for its for diamondiferous kimberlite rocks. Officers encouraged locals to provide information on illegal digging, and as a result they confiscated 221 rough stones, according to The New Indian Express. ...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Demand for men's engagement rings has risen 69 per cent year-on-year, says research for a British jeweler.The increase is being driven by the popularity of LGBTQ+ marriages and the growing trend of women proposing.London-based Taylor and Hart said its research revealed the number of women proposing had trebled since 2010. It also said seven out of 10 men would be happy to rece...Read More
RAPAPORT... UK-based auction house Bonhams has appointed Kate Flitcroft as senior specialist in its London jewelry department. Flitcroft will begin the new role immediately, working out of the company's New Bond Street office, Bonhams said Monday. She joins from Scottish auctioneers Lyon & Turnbull, where she was head of the jewelry and silver department.The qualified auctionee...Read More
RAPAPORT PRESS RELEASE, July 6, 2021, Las Vegas... Robust retail sales are driving positive sentiment in the diamond market. Polished prices continue their upward momentum even as inventory levels gradually rise in some sizes. Steady demand, shortages in certain categories and high rough costs are supporting prices. The RapNet Diamond Index (RAPI?,,?) for 1-carat diamonds climbed 2.7% in June...Read More
RAPAPORT... There is a buoyancy about the diamond market that has surprised many at the halfway point of the year. Considering the struggles the industry has endured in the past decade, diamantaires aren't necessarily used to the positive forces shaping the trade in 2021."Coming off a difficult last year, there's no doubt the diamond industry performed better than most [industries]," says Pau...Read More
RAPAPORT... Alrosa has introduced a provenance program that allows customers to trace diamonds back to their origin using nanotechnology. The Russian miner will place a permanent, noninvasivelaser marking on rough and polished stones, which participants can "read" using a special scanning machine that Alrosa will provide, it said Tuesday. This will enable people along the supply cha...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa is applying an indestructible "nano mark" to the atomic structure its diamonds to guarantee their provenance. It says the application of a minuscule physical mark is more reliable than existing diamond-tracing technologies such as laser engraving, which can be polished off. The Russian miner says the application of nano mark to the atomic structure of the diamo...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Firestone Diamonds has finally managed to offload its Botswana operation after six years and two failed bids.The UK-based miner accepted a a one-off upfront payment of just $50,000 from Botswana-based Visionary Victor Resources Proprietary Limited. The new owners will acquire the BK11 kimberlite diamond mine in the Orapa/Letlhakane kimberlite district, as well as Firesto...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa is merging the management teams for its remote Mirny mine with that of its Nyurba mining and processing division.Both teams are already based at Mirny (pictured), in the subarctic Russian republic of Sakha. The joint operation will improve efficiency, says the state-owned Russian miner, but will "free up part of the management staff". Mirny yields some of the world'...Read More
RAPAPORT... Regional health authorities for Canada's Northwest Territories have declared the coronavirus flare-up at the Ekati mine to be over.The Office of the Chief Public Health Officer (OCPHO) announced an outbreak at the site on May 31, after two employees were confirmed positive for the virus during regular testing, it said last week. The Northwest Territories defines an outbreak in a closed...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The IDEX Polished Price Index was up 2.20 per cent in June, as the rate of recovery speeds up and exceptional consumer spending shows no sign of slowing down. This inevitably fuels fears of a bubble that might, at some point, burst. But there's more to this than just pent-up demand. Consumers have been spending more for a year now since the first lockdowns were eased, and a bu...Read More
RAPAPORT... A recent global meeting of the Kimberley Process (KP) ended in controversy as Chinese delegates allegedly clashed with a representative of nonprofit organizations on the issue of conflict diamonds.Attendees from China interrupted a closing statement by Shamiso Mtisi, the coordinator of the Civil Society Coalition, after he criticized the country's approach to the matter, Mtisi cla...Read More
RAPAPORT... Belgium's polished-diamond exports more than doubled year on year to $555 million in May as the country's trade bounced back from last year's pandemic-induced slump. A sharp rise in export volume outweighed a drop in the average price per carat, according to recent data from the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC).Belgium trade data for May 2021 Read More
RAPAPORT... Canada-based jewelry retailer Birks Group saw sales slump for the full fiscal year as the coronavirus pandemic shut many of its stores.Revenue slid 16% to CAD 143.1 million ($115.9 million) in the 12 months ending March 27, the company reported recently. Comparable-store sales - at branches open for more than a year - fell 14%. All of the retailer's locations were closed during the fir...Read More
RAPAPORT... Firestone Diamonds will sell its Botswana operations for $50,000 after trying to offload the asset for nearly six years.Botswana-owned Visionary Victor Resources will acquire the BK11 mine, as well as Firestone's 90% interest in its local subsidiary, Monak Ventures, Firestone said last week. Visionary will also assume responsibility for BK11's environmental liabilities.The agreement is...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Diamond tycoon Lev Leviev is embroiled in a bitter legal row with his son.Shalom Leviev, 42, accuses his father (pictured) - worth an estimated $1bn - of hastening his financial downfall, and his bankruptcy, over a debt of $240,000.He describes his Leviev, 64, born in Uzbekistan and founder of LLD (Lev Leviev Diamonds), as his "enemy", and says he intends to sue him in court,...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Diamond manufacturers are increasing wages by as much as 10 per cent to entice migrant workers to return to Surat.Many thousands who returned to their villages because of the Covid pandemic are now busy sowing rice, maize, sorghum and other "kharif" crops.Production of polished diamonds in India is reportedly dropped by 20 per cent during the second wave of coronavirus, and has yet...Read More
RAPAPORT... Alrosa is streamlining the management teams at its Mirny and Nyurba divisions, aiming to improve the efficiency of its mining projects.The Russian miner will combine the engineering and administrative teams from both sites into one division, thereby eliminating the need for some management positions, it said last week. The merged department will be called Mirny-Nyurba and will be based...Read More
RAPAPORT... After a year and a half as head of the Natural Diamond Council (NDC), most in the industry know David Kellie via Zoom, with the soothing cream-grey surroundings of his study in the background. Covid-19 prevented any formal, in-person introductions that may have been made, for example, when the organization rebranded in June last year.Perhaps that pandemic-enforced isolation afford...Read More