RAPAPORT... Firestone Diamonds observed positive pricing in its third fiscal quarter as the company depleted its rough stockpiles amid the continued closure of the Liqhobong mine in Lesotho.The miner sold the second of two inventory batches that it had been offering to customers as a test of the market's recovery. Some 19,942 carats of mainly smaller, run-of-mine goods fetched $900,000 at an avera...Read More
RAPAPORT... Vivrelle, a club that provides its members with a shared closet of luxury goods, has raised $26 million to finance its multipronged expansion plans.The Series-A venture-capital funding will help enlarge the company's product offering, amplify marketing initiatives, and scale up operations, Vivrelle said in a statement on Monday.The club, established in 2018 by newlyweds Blake and...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Diamond Club West Coast (DCWC), an affiliate of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB), has reelected Moshe Salem as its president.Kalpesh Jhaveri and Antranig Ayvazian have been voted in as vice presidents of the Los Angeles-based trade group, which was founded in 1946 and has a membership of about 275 merchants. The DCWC selected Rahul Parikh as treasurer and Vatche...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Istanbul Jewelry Show (IJS) has been postponed for a fourth time because of the coronavirus pandemic.It was originally scheduled to take place in March 2020, but has now been re-arranged for March 2022.Organizers said in a statement that the safety and success of their colleagues, partners, customers, and exhibitors was their top priority, and the reason they had again postpone...Read More
(IDEX Online) - An unrivalled collection of 19 pieces by the German jewelers Hemmerle fetched $1.4m, almost double the pre-sale estimate, at Sotheby's New York.The single most expensive lot was a pair of copper and diamond ear studs (see pic), featuring two old European-cut diamonds of 8.81carats and 8.80 carats. They sold for $201,600, surpassing their $100,000 to $150,000 estimate.The piece...Read More
RAPAPORT... Switzerland's watch trade saw a sharp increase in exports in March, benefiting from a favorable comparison with the onset of the coronavirus crisis and the first rise in shipment volumes in more than 30 months.Orders advanced 37% year on year to CHF 1.87 billion ($2.05 billion), the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry said last week. Last March, Swiss exports slumped 22% to CHF...Read More
RAPAPORT... A fancy-intense-pink diamond ring with a high estimate of CHF 11 million ($12 million) is set to feature at the Magnificent Jewels sale at Christie's in Geneva.The oval-shaped, 15.23-carat piece, surrounded by diamonds, will be offered alongside the 100.94-carat Alrosa Spectacle diamond at the May 12 auction, Christie's said last week.Other notable items include a heart-shaped, 53.33-c...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) has unveiled a task force to help benchmark the progress of its members in the implementation of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).The group, which includes 26 industry leaders together with representatives of nongovernmental organizations, trade bodies and academia, will establish a platform to coordinate the joint...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Romantic William Hunn bought five engagement rings for his girlfriend - so she could have a choice when he made his surprise proposal. He took Brittney Miller on a helicopter ride around Atlanta, Georgia, USA, before dropping to one knee and asking her to marry him."You can try all five or pick one," he told her, in a video he posted to Instagram (see pic).He'...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The planned expansion of Botswana's flagship Jwaneng mine should help to create over $920m of extra revenue in the next four years, said operator Debswana.The company, a joint venture between De Beers and the government, will begin underground mining after 50 years of open-cast operations at Jwaneng, the richest diamond mine in the world by value."Early access is expected by 2...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) has unveiled a task force to help benchmark the progress of its members in the implementation of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).The group, which includes 26 industry leaders together with representatives of nongovernmental organizations, trade bodies and academia, will establish a platform to coordinate the joint...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Sales of watches and jewelry remained strong in February, up 22.0 per cent year-on-year. That's in line with January's performance, originally reported as 26.1 per cent, but since revised down to 22.7 per cent based on actual till transactions. Despite that sharp reduction, the two months together suggest a sustained recovery. The year-on-year increases exceed any s...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A New York jeweler has been reunited with the 36 engagement rings he left behind on a train.An honest conductor on the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) found the jewelry - worth $107,000 - and handed it in for police to return to the owner.Ed Eleasian, a Midtown jeweler, forgot the tray of the rings on a Thursday evening train between Manhattan and Port Washington.Conductor Jonathan Ye...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Women's Jewelry Association (WJA) Foundation has launched a fund enabling members to gain an education in issues related to responsible sourcing."Now is the time to develop sustainability champions at every level of our industry to help create positive impacts on people, to protect the planet, and to move our businesses and industry forward," said Brandee Dallow, WJA Foundatio...Read More
RAPAPORT... US consumers are expected to spend a record amount on jewelry this Mother's Day in an effort to treat their loved ones after more than a year apart, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF)."There is a lot of consumer optimism around Mother's Day this year as more people are getting vaccinated and stimulus checks are being distributed," NRF CEO Matthew Shay said last week. "Fo...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Diamcor achieved an average $278 per carat in its second tender of the year, after Covid forced the closure of its mine.It said prices held firm, demonstrating its potential to generate "excellent" dollar per carat results from processing quarry material at the Krone-Endora mine at Venetia Project, in South Africa.The Canadian junior miner acquired the deposit from De Beers in Febr...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The company behind diamond "coins" for investors will embark on the automated purchase of about 50,000 gems on Tuesday.The coins (see picture) will be the world's first regulator-approved, exchange-traded, fungible diamond commodity offering. New York-based Diamond Standard is buying inventory to produce the first batch of 5,000 diamond standard coins, each containing "a...Read More
RAPAPORT... A US advertising regulator has rebuked the Natural Diamond Council (NDC) over its environmental claims following a complaint by Diamond Foundry, a lab-grown producer.The National Advertising Division, part of industry self-regulator BBB National Programs, has called onthe NDC to stop using certain assertions that compare natural stones with synthetics, it said Thursday. These incl...Read More
RAPAPORT... The US government has placed sanctions on Myanmar Pearl Enterprise, a key state-owned economic resource for Myanmar's military regime, amid "violent" repression of pro-democracy protests in the southeast Asian nation.The company is a "political subdivision, agency, or instrumentality" of the government in Myanmar, which is also known as Burma, the Department of the Treasury said i...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The GIA says it needs to re-assess a number of green diamonds that passed through its labs.It says concerns about potential treatments have prompted it to recall stones submitted for grading between January and June 2020."Recent research and investigation into potential treatment methods caused us to request the return of the subject diamonds for further analysis," said Tom Moses,...Read More