RAPAPORT... Lucara Diamond Corp. saw sales and profit recover in the first three months of 2021 as demand improved and a supply deal with a Belgian manufacturer bore fruit.Revenue jumped 56% year on year to $53.1 million for the period, the miner reported Thursday. Net profit stood at $3.4 million, compared with a loss of $3.2 million a year earlier."Lucara has bounced back in the first quart...Read More
RAPAPORT... Leading trade organizations have lashed out at Pandora's recent statements about lab-grown stones, claiming the retailer misrepresented natural diamonds and caused harm to the industry.Pandora announced it would no longer sell mined diamonds and would instead stock synthetics, linking the decision to its environmental goals. The launch of a lab-grown line will help "tran...Read More
RAPAPORT... A heart-shaped diamond ring was the top seller at a recent online sale by Heritage Auctions, while a Tiffany & Co. brooch sparked a heated bidding war.The 3.55-carat, D-color, internally flawless, type IIa diamond garnered $112,500 at the May 3 Spring Fine Jewelry auction, which saw participation from nearly 900 bidders, the Dallas, Texas-based auction house said last week. A marqu...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) has elected eight trade members to lead forums representing different parts of the supply chain.The group chose the new forum representatives at its virtual annual general meeting (AGM) on May 5, the RJC said last week. They will work closely with RJC executive director Iris Van Der Veken to expand responsible practices across the global jewelry...Read More
RAPAPORT... Jewelry sales in the US more than tripled in April as consumers anticipated a return to gatherings and events, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse.Sales in the category increased 255% year on year during the month, benefiting from a strong base comparison with April of last year when the Covid-19 pandemic forced many US stores to close, Mastercard said last week. Government stimulus...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Industry leaders have reacted angrily to Pandora's claim that lab-grown diamonds are ethically preferable to mined gems.The Danish jeweler announced last Tuesday that it would source only lab-grown stones and that it was launching its first range of jewelry featuring "sustainably lab created diamonds".An alliance of industry bodies is now calling on Pandora to withdraw its "fa...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The largest diamond ever cut in Russia is expected to fetch up to $20m at auction on Wednesday.The 100.94 carat emerald cut diamond, called the Alrosa Spectacle, has been graded by GIA as Type IIa, D color, IF.It was cut from a 207.29-carat rough stone unearthed in 2016 at the Zarnitsa kimberlite pipe in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) - Russia's first ever diamond mine. The...Read More
(IDEX Online) - One of the world's rarest watches, a Patek Philippe Reference 2523 with Eurasian Dial, sold at auction yesterday for a record $7.8m.Nine telephone bidders battled it out for the newly-discovered timepiece (pictured), one of just three known to exist globally. The buyer remains anonymous.The watch fetched more than double its $3.7m estimate at the Geneva Watch Auction, he...Read More
Diamond market activity slower due to spike in Covid-19 cases in India. Many small-scale Surat factories shut because of health concerns and lack of workers. Drop in polished production supporting prices. 1 ct. RAPI +2.5% in April. Cutters focused on larger, better-quality goods. Dealers struggling to replace inventory. Solid rough buying at De Beers sight as sightholders expect shortages; fewer g...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Letseng mine in Lesotho, has yielded a 254 carat Type II white diamond.The deposit, owned by London-based Gem Diamonds, is the highest dollar per carat kimberlite diamond mine in the world, and last year achieved an average value of $1,908 per carat.Its highest per carat value for a white rough diamond during the year was $38,827.The new stone (pictured) is the first major find...Read More
RAPAPORT... A marquise-cut diamond from the family of the original "Gibson Girl" will go under the hammer at Skinner Auctioneers later this month.The unmounted, 12.20-carat, G-color, SI1-clarity diamond came from the descendants of Irene Langhorne Gibson, who is thought to have modeled for husband and illustrator Charles Dana Gibson. The famed American artist created the Gibson Girl image, a...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The price index for all sizes and intensities of fancy color diamonds rose slightly, by 0.3 per cent, in Q1 of this year, after two quarters of decline. Blues were up 0.5 per cent across the board, and pinks rose 0.4 per cent, according to the New York-based Fancy Color Research Foundation (FCRF). Yellows fell 0.2 per cent. No figures were produced for for Q1 and Q2 of 20...Read More
RAPAPORT... The third installment of Swiss gem and jewelry show GemGen??ve is set to take place in November after a forced cancellation last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.The show, which will run from November 4 to 7 at Geneva's Palexpo, will include lectures, round tables, seminars and exhibitions, GemGen??ve said Thursday. It is open to jewelry designers, exhibitors, dealers, retailers an...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A former Israeli army officer has been arrested on suspicion of stealing diamonds worth more than $600,000 from a trader.He and three fellow gang members allegedly snatched the man's bag near his home in Kiryat Ata, outside Haifa, in the north of the country.They are said to have attacked him from behind and threatened him with a gun or a knife.Police believe they'd been...Read More
RAPAPORT... Prices of fancy-color diamonds increased in the first quarter as the American market showed renewed demand for high-end products, according to the Fancy Color Research Foundation (FCRF).The group's Fancy Color Diamond Index gained 0.3% compared with the previous three months, the organization reported Thursday. Prices of blue fancy-color diamonds jumped 0.5%, while pinks increased...Read More
RAPAPORT... Health concerns aside, the diamond trade is in better shape than it was a year ago. In fact, the market dynamic is arguably healthier than it has been at any point in the past decade. That's increasingly evident as polished prices continue to firm.The positive trend may come as a surprise considering the challenges Covid-19 has presented over the past year. But it is perhaps even more...Read More
RAPAPORT... Pandora has increased its forecast for the full year amid strong US and online demand at the start of 2021.The Danish jeweler now expects revenue for the year to increase more than 12% compared to 2020, adjusted from its initial prediction of more than 8%, it said Tuesday. The upgrade is "driven by the US stimulus packages, as well as stronger underlying performance," the com...Read More
RAPAPORT... Rough-diamond demand was robust at this week's De Beers sight despite the ongoing Covid-19 crisis in India, customers reported. Manufacturers snapped up the limited supply in anticipation of rough shortages, sources told Rapaport News. Sales will still be 10% to 25% lower than the previous cycle in March because of reduced availability, they estimated. That translates to...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Just three countries - Russia, Australia and the Democratic Republic of Congo - jointly produced almost 80 per cent of the world's diamonds last year.Russia was the single biggest diamond producer. It mined 19m carats - just over 35 per cent - according to new data analyzed by the finance website Finbold.Australia and Congo tied for second place, both producing a little over 2...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Sales of jewelry soared in Hong Kong during March compared with the same month last year, when China's special administrative region was in the depths of the Covid crisis. Revenue from jewelry, watches, clocks and other valuable gifts increased by 81 per cent year-on-year, the best performance in any retail sector, according to provisional figures released by the governme...Read More