(IDEX Online) - Diana Ross's daughter, a 17-year-old ski champion and the star of The Queen's Gambit are Tiffany & Co's new global house ambassadors.Tracee Ellis Ross, 48, is an American actress, singer, television host, producer and director, and daughter of the Motown icon Diana Ross. She is best known on screen for Girlfriends and Black-ish.Eileen (Ailing) Gu, 17, is th...Read More
RAPAPORT... US polished-diamond imports soared to $1.59 billion in April, compared with just $28 million a year earlier, as the market rebounded strongly from the 2020 coronavirus slowdown. Shipments into the country for the first four months of 2021 rose 62% year on year, according to data from the US Department of Commerce.US Trade Data for April 2021 Read More
RAPAPORT... A 50.03-carat diamond sold for $2.7 million at a recent Sotheby's digital auction, setting a record for the highest online price paid for a jewel.Sotheby's offered the round, G-color, VVS2-clarity stone without reserve, estimating it at $2.5 million to $5 million. The company saw "fierce" competition for the diamond as soon as bidding opened, with 30 offers coming in from participants...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Almost 500 illegal diamonds have been sold by the government of Lesotho.Its's the first time the landlocked Mountain Kingdom has conducted its own auction, rather than sending rough diamonds to Antwerp.Most of the gems (353) were confiscated by the police from small-scale miners who operate outside the law. The remaining 140 were uncertified stones handed in during a five-mont...Read More
(IDEX Online ) - The biggest polished diamond ever mined in North America has been bought by Diacore.The Dancing Sun, a 204.36-carat fancy intense yellow VVS2-clarity diamond, was sold at Christie's New York for $4,950,000. Nir Livnat, executive chairman of Diacore, described the purchase as a "pricey feat". The high estimate was $5.5m.The company buys, sells and manufactures high-...Read More
RAPAPORT... Swiss watch exports saw a limited recovery in May as the coronavirus continued to affect activity in several major markets.Global shipments were 12% lower than in the same month of 2019, amounting to CHF 1.8 billion ($1.97 billion), the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry said Thursday. Exports rose 174% year on year, but that reflected a comparison with the Covid-19 downturn in May...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Chow Tai Fook, the largest jewelry retailer in Asia, has joined CIBJO in a move that's been described as a "giant milestone".CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation, promotes international cooperation in the industry and describes itself as "the United Nations of the jewellery business".Kent Wong, managing director at Chow Tai Fook, which has over 4,590 stores, said: "It is i...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A huge rough diamond, described as the third largest in the world at 1,098 carats, has been recovered by Debswana at its Jwaneng mine, in Botswana.The biggest diamond ever is the 3,106-carat Cullinan found in South Africa in 1905 - used in the British Crown Jewels - followed by the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona discovered in Botswana in 2015.The newly-recovered stone (pictured) measur...Read More
(IDEX Online) - American rapper Post Malone has spent $1.6m having a pair of "diamond teeth" fitted.He had 12 carats specially cut to fit between existing teeth and replace his upper canines.Twenty-five-year-old Post Malone - real name Austin Richard Post - has 77 tattoos on his face and elsewhere, and has amassed an estimated net worth of $30m since his debut album Stoney in 2016.His dentist, Bev...Read More
RAPAPORT... Debswana, De Beers' joint venture with the Botswana government, has discovered a 1,098-carat rough diamond, one of the largest in history.The company found the "high gem-quality" stone at its Jwaneng mine on June 1, it said on Wednesday. It will work with the government and De Beers to value and sell the diamond, aiming to maximize returns for the people of Botswana."This is the l...Read More
RAPAPORT... Two philosophies have emerged regarding how the lab-grown market will develop.The first sees synthetics in the same space as natural stones, graded according to carat size, cut, color and clarity, and priced at a discount to the equivalent natural diamond. That is how the market has evolved organically.The second ideology is the one De Beers has touted in releasing its Lightbox line. I...Read More
Positive sentiment as demand outpaces supply. US retail upbeat; May jewelry sales +203% year on year and +45% vs. May 2019, says Mastercard. Rising expectations for 2H but concern that inflation surge will curb consumer spending. Some jewelers delaying inventory replacement until more polished becomes available. Suppliers' polished prices firm amid escalating rough costs and anticipated Alrosa pri...Read More
RAPAPORT... US retail sales fell slightly in May amid supply-chain holdups that limited purchasing, the National Retail Federation (NRF) said.Revenue slipped 1.3% month on month but rose 28% compared to the same period last year, reflecting coronavirus-related store closures during May 2020, according to data the US Census Bureau reported Tuesday. By contrast, April saw a 0.9% month-on-month incre...Read More
(IDEX Online) - An exceptional 39.34-carat blue rough diamond could ultimately fetch $64m as a polished gem.The Type IIb diamond (pictured), recovered at the Cullinan mine, South Africa, is set to yield over $1m per rough carat when it's sold at special tender next month by Petra Diamonds.Comparisons with another diamond from the same mine, The Blue Moon of Josephine, suggest it could fetch a...Read More
RAPAPORT... Industry groups in India and Israel have expressed optimism that their members will go to the JCK Las Vegas show, even as the travel situation remains uncertain.India's Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) and the Israel Diamond Institute (IDI) are both organizing pavilions at the fair, they said this week. JCK said it welcomed international visitors who were permi...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A major watch retailer has ditched the terms "men's" or "women's" and now describes watches as small, medium or large.Watchfinder & Co, Britain's largest seller of second-hand watches, says gender terms are "redundant, restrictive and outdated".It says it is reflecting a trend set by Kayne West, Jay-Z, Victoria Beckham and other celebrities to wear watches design...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Insurers Jewelers Mutual Group has acquired Gem + Jewel, the e-commerce platform for independent jewelers and designers, for an undisclosed sum.Gem + Jewel was launched by industry veteran Shelia Bayes, based in Lexington, Kentucky, USA, in 2018.Jewelers Mutual say the acquisition will allow jewelers to expand their customer base more efficiently and grow their e-commerce businesse...Read More
RAPAPORT... Shipments of polished diamonds out of India increased year on year in May, albeit at a gentler pace than in April, according to data the country's Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) released this week. Rough imports jumped more than sevenfold, reflecting a comparison with the peak of the coronavirus crisis in 2020.India Trade Data for May 2021 Read More
RAPAPORT... The luxury jewelry and watch industries are set to recover gradually over the next four years, led by strong growth among Chinese consumers, according to McKinsey and Company."We expect demand to increase from younger consumers as well as in domestic markets amid continuing restrictions on international travel and the rise of domestic duty-free zones in China," McKinsey said this week...Read More
RAPAPORT... Hong Kong jeweler Chow Tai Fook has joined the World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) in what the organization hails as a "giant milestone" for the industry.Chow Tai Fook will "provide [the] confederation with a considerably broader perspective, not only in what are several of the fastest-growing markets in the global jewelry trade, but also in the online environment, which is consuming...Read More