(IDEX Online) - A man stood motionless in a storefront window, posing as a mannequin, then stole jewelry and other items after it closed.Police in Warsaw, Poland, released this picture (above) of the 22-year-old suspect holding a handbag in a clothing store, with two genuine dummies.They arrested the man, who is accused of stealing items from the store's jewelry counter, as well as a change o...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Prada has launched its first jewelry collection featuring lab grown diamonds.The luxury Italian fashion house says it uses gems that are grown to order in the new edition of its Eternal Gold collection, and has them "Prada-cut" in the shape of its triangular logo It also says it is now committed to using lab growns across all its fine jewelry collections by the end of the year...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The G7 nations are today due to consider four options to implement a ban on Russian diamonds.They will discuss the technicalities and legalities of preventing goods, primarily from Alrosa, entering the supply chain.Belgium, India, France and the World Diamond Council have all put forward proposals.Belgium wants mandatory third-party blockchain technology to certify the provenance o...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Rio Tinto reported a 37 per cent drop in Q3 production at its only diamond mine, Diavik, in Canada's Northwest Territories.It said the completion of an underground pipe, and an area of the open pit at the mine, 200 miles from the Arctic Circle, were to blame for the lower output.Rio Tinto said Q3 production for the three months to 30 September was 757,000 carats, down from 970...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Petra saw revenue almost halved at its latest tender.The UK-based miner sold a total of $40.5m at its Tender 2 (September/October), down 49 per cent on $79.3m at Tender 1 in August.Three quarters of the goods by volume - 344,554 carats - were sold in September, ahead of the Indian moratorium (15 October to 15 December) for $30.2m. The remaining 99,475 carats have now sold for...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Leonardo DiCaprio has invested $2m in ID Geneve, a new and environmentally-conscious Swiss watch brand.The Hollywood actor, who starred in the 2006 movie Blood Diamond, has previously provided financial backing for Diamond Foundry, the US lab grown company.ID Geneve is Switzerland's first luxury watchmaker to be awarded B Corp Certification based on its entire social and envir...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa could sell its 41 per cent stake in the Catoca diamond mine, in Angola, according to media reports.The sanctioned Russian miner is said to be negotiating an exit from its joint venture with Endiama, Angola's state-owned miner, which also holds a 41 per cent stake, according to the Africa Intelligence website.The remaining 18 per cent is owned by Leviev International - L...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Ukraine has removed the Indian diamond manufacturer Shree Ramkrishna Exports (SRK) - one the largest in the world - from its list of international sponsors of war.The Mumbai-based company was accused last month of "continuing to cooperate with the aggressor, purchasing diamonds in Russia," despite Western sanctions.SRK responded by insisting it had not bought rough diamonds f...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A necklace featuring a huge 93.94-carat Paraiba tourmaline is to be auctioned by Sotheby's Geneva, with a $1.44m to $2.44m estimate.The Blue Lagoon comes from Mozambique and is described as "slightly greenish blue, richly saturated with very fine clarity".It has been set by Geneva-based Adler Joailliers in a diamond lariat necklace with 36.50 carats of marquise cuts,13.95 cara...Read More
(IDEX Online) - More than 40 per cent of the estimated 1,500 diamond factories in Botad, India, have shut down because of the slump in global demand.And another 20 per cent are expected to follow suit when the Navratri festival (15 to 24 October) ends, according to the Botad Diamond Association.Around 70,000 people in Botad and its surrounding villages work as diamond cutters and polishers.It is f...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Israeli authorities are expected to confirm that diamond boss Isaac (Itzik) Siton and his wife were among over 1,400 victims of the Hamas massacre on Saturday 7 October.Isaac, manager of the Grandview Klein factory, in Namibia, was on a family vacation at kibbutz of Be'eri, in southern Israel.More than 120 people were murdered there and more are feared to have been abducted an...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Namibia's state-owned diamond marketing company has reported a 63 per cent hike in revenue to a record $210m.Namdia sells 15 per cent of the run-of-mine production from Namib Desert Diamonds (Namdeb), a 50/50 joint venture between De Beers and the Namibian government. Revenue for 2021/22 was ?130m.The split is due to be renegotiated when the current 10-year deal expires...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Another LVMH luxury brand is embracing lab growns, with the launch by Fred of a range high jewelry pieces featuring bright blue gems, surrounded by white, natural diamonds.In April TAG Heuer said it was producing a Carrera Plasma watch, incorporating almost 12 carats of lab growns, with a $376,000 price tag.Paris-based Fred says it took years of research to develop its Audacious Bl...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Police searched three properties in Antwerp and seized diamonds valued at $1.5m as part of a probe into Grib Diamonds.The public prosecutor's office is investigating allegations that the Russian-owned company laundered money and violated European rules, according to the Dutch-language newspaper Gazet van Antwerpen.Grib, which sells wholesale diamonds from the Grib diamond mine...Read More
(IDEX Online) - LVMH reported a slowdown in growth generally for Q3, and for watches and jewelry in particular.Revenue for the sector was ?,,2.52bn ($2.65bn), up three per cent on the same period in 2022. That compares to growth in Q1 of 11 per cent and in Q2 of 14 per cent. Overall growth for the first nine months of the year was nine per cent.The French luxury conglomerate reported nine per cent...Read More
(IDEX Online) - WD Lab Grown Diamonds, the second largest lab grown producer in the USA, has filed for bankruptcy.The Washington DC-based company is the first major casualty of the plunge in lab grown prices.It filed for Chapter 7 protection last Wednesday (11 October) in a Delaware bankruptcy court, with disclosed liabilities of $44m with assets of $3m.WD pioneered chemical vapor deposition (CVD)...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Sodiam sold $22.3m of +10.8-cts rough diamonds from its mines in Angola in a tender which was, for the first time, coordinated by Dubai-based TAGS (Trans Atlantic Gem Sales).A total of 1,329.89 carats were sold from five mines owned by the Angola's national diamond trading company. Bids were made remotely using TAGS' online platform.Highlights included a pink stone from t...Read More
(IDEX Online) - HB Antwerp has unveiled "ground-breaking" software for diamond polishing, to be used at its new facility in Botswana.It says The Navigator will provide its polishers with "unparalleled control and accuracy", with its 3D capabilities."The Navigator is not just a technological advancement; it's a game-changer for the mineral industry," said Tom Munters, R&D director at HB.&n...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Luxury brands are still buying Russian diamonds, despite their claims to the contrary, according to an investigation by the Ukraine-based Kyiv Independent.It says melee from Alrosa is routinely included in mixed parcels at what it calls the "Dubai laundromat"."Clients of jewelry brands like Tiffany and Cartier have no idea the money they spend on diamonds may contribute to Russia&#...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The US could lift sanctions on the mining billionaire Dan Gertler, according to a Wall Street Journal report, to access "clean energy" supplies of cobalt and copper.Gertler, an Israeli citizen who first made his fortune in diamonds, had his US assets frozen in 2017 over allegations about his business activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).The Treasury Department accus...Read More