RAPAPORT... Gem Diamonds reported a decline in first-quarter sales, marking a contrast after a stronger performance in pandemic-hit 2020.Revenue fell 7% year on year to $43.9 million during the three months ending March 31, the company, which owns the Let??eng deposit in Lesotho, said in a trading update Thursday. Sales volume dropped 8% to 26,916 carats.The slump in volume outweighed a 1% in...Read More
RAPAPORT... India is undergoing a severe Covid-19 crisis that will impact the global diamond trade. India manufactures about 92% of the world's diamonds. While the Indian government is doing everything possible to support continued diamond manufacturing and exports, shortages and price volatility are expected to intensify over the next few months. This is a good time to support Indian suppliers. T...Read More
RAPAPORT... De Beers reported a decline in rough-diamond production in the first quarter while maintaining its full-year guidance as demand recovered to pre-pandemic levels.Operational challenges drove a 7% year-on-year slump in output to 7.2 million carats, De Beers' parent company Anglo American said Thursday. Declines in Botswana, Namibia and Canada outweighed a strong recovery in South Af...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
(IDEX Online) - Prosecutors have launched an investigation into Eurostar Diamond Traders, one of the world's biggest traders until its collapse in 2019.The Antwerp-based company reported a $16bn turnover in 2016 but was declared bankrupt three years later, with bank debts of $560m.The investigation will focus on possible mismanagement surrounding the bankruptcy, in particular the role of the...Read More
RAPAPORT... Warren Buffett-owned jeweler Ben Bridge and the Black in Jewelry Coalition (BIJC) are sponsoring a scholarship for a minority candidate to receive a degree from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA).The jeweler will also provide the winner of the Lonia Tate scholarship with an internship at one of its locations after the candidate has completed the GIA graduate gemologist program,...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... Heritage Auctions has hired Brett O'Connor as senior director of private sales for jewelry and timepieces.O'Connor, who was most recently senior vice president and head of jewelry for North America at Bonhams, will focus on expanding Heritage's platform for private sales, the company said Tuesday. He also previously held senior roles at Sotheby's and Christie's."[Brett] brings a wealth...Read More
RAPAPORT... Beyonc?(C) Knowles-Carter has chosen the Black industry professionals who will win a scholarship for a graduate gemologist degree from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA).The performer selected Audriana Osborne and Shelton Bradford to receive The Beyonc?(C) Knowles-Carter x Lorraine Schwartz GIA Scholarship, the GIA said Tuesday. In their applications, the winners wrote abo...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Chinese police have seized diamonds worth over $6.1m and arrested 20 people suspected of smuggling them onto the mainland through Hong Kong.The customs' anti-smuggling bureau say 84 loose diamonds, 252 diamond items and more than 100 packages of smaller diamonds were hidden among goods being imported to the country.Officers believe gang members have been buying gems from...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Diamond manufacturers in Surat fear another exodus of migrant workers, as India suffers a second wave of coronavirus. The industry was crippled last March when as many as half its 750,000 artisans returned to their villages in Gujurat and beyond. The number of Covid cases across India is higher than ever. The daily average of new infections over the last week is 249...Read More
RAPAPORT... Kering's jewelry and watch divisions grew strongly in the first quarter amid a market recovery in the North America and Asia-Pacific regions.Revenue from the company's "other houses" segment, which includes jewelry and watches, rose 29% year on year to EUR 714.3 million ($857.8 million) for the three months ending March 31, the company said Tuesday."The jewelry houses achieved an excel...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sotheby's garnered $53.9 million from its Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels auction, with two bracelets stealing the show.A diamond and rock-crystal bracelet by Cartier, featuring a pear-shaped, 63.66-carat, D-color, internally flawless diamond, brought in $6 million, Sotheby's said Wednesday. The piece, which took nearly 2,000 hours to create, was originally estimated to fetch up to $8.4 m...Read More
RAPAPORT... Michael Hill's sales rose in the third fiscal quarter as robust e-commerce growth compensated for store closures in Australia and Canada.Group revenue climbed 12% to AUD 118.5 million ($91.5 million) in the three months ending March 31, the jeweler reported last week. During the quarter, the company was forced to close 72 stores in Australia, 16 in New Zealand and 46 in Canada temporar...Read More
RAPAPORT... Revenue at Lucapa Diamond Company soared in the first three months of the year as the miner benefited from a rebound in the rough market.Sales from the company's Lulo mine in Angola increased 22% year on year to $9.5 million for the quarter ending March 31, Lucapa said Monday. An 89% surge in sales volume to 5,313 carats outweighed a 35% drop in the average price to $1,796 per car...Read More
RAPAPORT... India's polished-diamond exports more than doubled year on year in March, reflecting a release of pent-up demand and a favorable comparison with the start of the coronavirus crisis in 2020. Shipments stood at $2.16 billion for the month, up from $965 million a year earlier, according to data the country's Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) released in recent days...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The biggest diamond ever auctioned in Australia has sold for a record USD $870,000.The square emerald-cut diamond weighing 25.02 carats (pictured) went to an absentee bidder at the Leonard Joel Important Jewels auction in Sydney yesterday.It just about broke the million dollar (AUD) barrier. The hammer price was AUD $900,000, but the buyer's premium and GST (goods and services...Read More
RAPAPORT... Arctic Canadian Diamond Company (ACDC) has become a member of the Natural Diamond Council (NDC) in an effort to promote the growth of the mined-diamond industry.ACDC, which owns the Ekati mine in Canada, comprises DDJ Capital Management, Brigade Capital Management, LP and Western Asset Management Company, the NDC said Tuesday. Those entities acquired Ekati from Dominion Diamond Mines i...Read More
RAPAPORT... Petra Diamonds' revenue rose in the third fiscal quarter as demand improved and rough prices returned to pre-pandemic levels.Sales climbed 16% year on year to $106 million for the three months ending March 31, while sales volume slipped 1% to 1.1 million carats, the company reported Tuesday. Prices for the miner's diamonds increased 12% on a like-for-like basis compared to the July-to-...Read More
RAPAPORT... Fresh Covid-19 measures in India have lengthened the grading turnaround time at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), adding pressure amid a backlog at the organization."The ongoing Covid-19 crisis has impacted our laboratory operations in Mumbai and Surat," the GIA said Saturday in a note to clients, seen by Rapaport News.Stones customers send to the Mumbai laboratory on Ap...Read More