RAPAPORT... Group revenue at Chow Tai Fook rose for the full fiscal year amid an expansion of the company's mainland China operations and improved consumer sentiment.Sales jumped 24% to HKD 70.16 billion ($9.04 billion) for the 12 months ending March 31, the company said Tuesday. The increase reflects a favorable comparison with the same period in 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic forced numerou...Read More
RAPAPORT... Italian watch association Assorologi has become the second major timepiece group to join the World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) this year.Associazione Italiana Produttori e Distributori di Orologeria represents manufacturers and importers of watches and watchmaking supplies, CIBJO said Monday. It is also the industry's representative at Confcommercio, an Italian cross-sector tr...Read More
RAPAPORT... De Beers increased prices of goods above 2 carats at this week's sight amid shortages of rough alongside strong polished demand.Prices rose around 5%, and more in some categories, market insiders told Rapaport News on Monday. Near-gem items also saw significant increases, while prices for other stones under 2 carats were either stable or slightly up."They seem to have picked areas...Read More
RAPAPORT... Hong Kong authorities busted smugglers transporting diamonds and other jewels estimated to be worth HKD 25 million ($3.2 million) in the largest case of its kind detected by the municipality's customs department.Officers discovered the illegal contents when they stopped an outbound truck for inspection at the Sha Tau Kok control point last week, the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Departm...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A new trade fair launches this September in Denver, Colorado, USA.The HardRock Summit will feature gemstones and jewelry at Sparkle & Joy, and minerals, fossils and meteorites at a parallel event called Evolution.Organizers are expecting 400 exhibitors altogether at the Colorado Convention Center (pictured) and the nearby Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel.Co-founders of HardRock a...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa expects to increase rough diamond prices, as consumer demand outstrips slowing supply.The Russian state-controlled miner has a stockpile of more than 23 million carats, and has a 31.5m carats target for 2021."Demand for diamonds from retail is very high," said the company's CEO Sergei Ivanov (pictured). "So the scale of orders coming from the midstream, as I dare to ass...Read More
RAPAPORT... It's almost as if wholesalers want to say, "Pinch me." Sales have been so consistent and strong since January that they're comparing it to Christmas. Even as inventory prices keep rising, they are savoring this welcome sales streak - for now.New York: big business"We're breaking records every month," said Yoni Nitzani, owner of wholesaler Polo Gem Co. in New York. "Every month has...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A flawless 10.59-carat diamond ring sold for $968,000 at Phillips Hong Kong, well above its pre-sale estimate of $700,000 to $850,000.The D-color type IIa Asscher-cut stone was cut from a 30.80 carat rough diamond recovered at the Letseng mine, Lesotho.Phillips said the 165-lot Jewels and Jadeite sale on Saturday (5 June) raised $6.8m in total, with 76 per cent sold by lot, but onl...Read More
RAPAPORT... An Art Deco Cartier diamond and rock crystal brooch sold for 10 times its high estimate, becoming one of the top five lots ever sold at Chiswick Auctions.The piece was formerly owned by New York socialite Augusta McCagg, a relative of the Vanderbilt family, famous for its shipping and railroad empires. It brought in GBP 150,000 ($212,350) at the May 28 sale after highly competitive bid...Read More
RAPAPORT... A 10.59-carat diamond ring was the top seller at the Jewels and Jadeite auction at Phillips in Hong Kong.The square emerald-cut, D-color, flawless diamond went for $968,039, well above its estimate, at the June 5 sale, Phillips said Sunday. Another flawless diamond - an emerald-cut, 8.06-carat, D-color ring - also proved popular, fetching $568,449, at the upper end of its presale valua...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The revival of India's Bunder diamond mine is facing mounting opposition - over plans to axe more than 200,000 trees.Essel Mining, part of the multinational conglomerate Aditya Birla Group, bought rights to the site in 2019. It has estimated reserves of 34.2m carats.But opponents are asking an Indian court to intervene and protect 382 hectares of the Buxwaha forest, in the Chh...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers Canada has been charged with an environmental breach after releasing almost 1,600 gallons of diesel at its former Snap Lake mine.The fine for such a breach Environmental Protection Act is from C$100,000 to C$4m.A report by De Beers blames human error for the spill. A worker forgot to close the tank's outlet valve, a court was told.The miner invested over $2.2bn...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Diamonds worth $3.2m were seized by customs officers in Hong Kong, in what is being described as "the biggest-ever seizure of this kind".Over 1,300 undeclared diamonds, weighing 0.3-cts to 2.0-cts, plus 330 grams of melee, were found in two backpacks in the back a truck that was stopped for inspection at the Sha Tau Kok control point last Thursday. They were destined for Shen...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Antwerp-based Baunat has become one of the first diamond jewelry companies to accept payment by cryptocurrency.Customers can now pay for their purchases online using Bitcoin, Ethereum and others.Steven Boelens, the firm's executive director, said: "Baunat has always been an early adopter when it comes to technology and in today's economic climate it's easy to see the...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The IDEX Polished Price Index was up 1.37 per cent in May, an increase almost double that of April (0.73 per cent). The rise was pretty steady day on day, with the Index averaging 124.970 across the month and closing at 125.900.The Index is currently the highest it's been since November 2018. It has been climbing, albeit with some volatility, sinc...Read More
RAPAPORT... The New York office of the International Gemological Institute (IGI) is aiming to be the first carbon-neutral gemological laboratory by 2022."Our environment is an interdependent system where everyone has a role to play, and I am proud of the institute for stepping up and enacting real change," IGI North America president Avi Levy said Wednesday. "While we are pioneering the practice i...Read More
Supply shortages driving uptrend in prices. 1 ct. RAPI +0.8% in May. Inventory declining; number of 0.30 to 0.50 ct., RapSpec A3+ stones on RapNet -23% since April 1. Large US and Chinese retailers stimulating demand. Scarcities and rising prices making it hard for dealers to replenish polished goods. Major suppliers with inventory and efficient online systems are selling at strong premiums compar...Read More
(IDEX Online) - India's diamond exports are set to exceed $20bn this financial year - an increase of 20 per cent.That's according to an analysis of 70 diamantaires rated by CRISIL, the Mumbai-based Crisil ratings agency.In recent months pent-up demand and stimuli buoyed demand for diamonds and jewelry in the US and China, it says, which account for 75 percent of India's polished dia...Read More
RAPAPORT... The US has approved plans for fresh tariffs on a range of foreign goods, including jewelry, but has delayed the implementation to allow negotiations to continue, the government announced Tuesday.The new duties of up to 25% came in response to digital services taxes in Austria, India, Italy, Spain, Turkey and the UK that - according to the US - discriminated against American e-comm...Read More
RAPAPORT... Grib Diamonds has signed up for Sarine Technologies' provenance program, enabling the Antwerp-based trader to provide source verification for the rough it offers.Grib, which sells rough from AGD Diamonds' Grib mine in Russia, will use the traceability information to complement the Sarine technology it already offers customers, the Israel-based equipment provider said Wednesday. Th...Read More