RAPAPORT... Time Century Jewelry Center, a new mall under construction in the diamond district in downtown Miami, Florida, is looking to add a jewelry-design school to the project.Yair Levy, the real-estate developer behind Time Century Jewelry Center, said Monday he was prepared to offer a "significant" rent discount to the "right candidate." Located in the second-largest jewelry and diamond...Read More
RAPAPORT... Diamond resources at Lucapa Diamond Company's Lulo deposit in Angola have surged 35%, the miner said Wednesday.The resource level climbed to 135,900 carats as of December 31 from 100,700 carats a year earlier, the company noted, citing independent estimates from South Africa's Z Star Mineral Resource Consultants.The jump in mining potential reflects additional resources identified...Read More
RAPAPORT... Prices of smaller rough exceeded expectations at Grib Diamonds' March sale, with demand rising for certain goods."Bigger sizes are extremely strong for now; smaller goods less so," Grib head of sales Antony Dear told Rapaport News on Monday. "[However,] we noted that the smaller goods were much better than expected in last week's sale, with some areas even rising co...Read More
RAPAPORT... Former De Beers executive Jonathan Kendall will serve as vice president of the World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO), the organization announced Tuesday. Kendall has had a long-standing association with CIBJO, including as president of its Marketing & Education Commission, where he authored a series of guides on responsible business practices, advertising and human-resource managem...Read More
RAPAPORT... Three rings featuring diamonds with fancy-vivid color will head up the Christie's Magnificent Jewels auction in New York next month.The trio of jewels, called the Perfect Palette, comprises a 2.13-carat, fancy-vivid-blue diamond ring, estimated at $2 million to $3 million, Christie's said Tuesday. Also included are a 2.34-carat, fancy-vivid-orange diamond ring and a 2.17-carat, fancy-v...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Zimbabwe's state-owned diamond miner is reportedly "on the brink of collapse" after the country's president allowed Chinese mining giant Anjin to resume operations.The Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company is currently "facing critical challenges that severely threatened its viability," according to an investigation by the Zimbabwe Independent business weekly.The late for...Read More
(IDEX Online) - India's exports of gems and jewelry could fall by a fifth this fiscal year because of the global pandemic.Coronavirus wiped out sales between April and July 2020, said Colin Shah (pictured), of the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), but online sales had made up for some of those losses and revenue is now back at pre-Covid levels.Gross exports of the year endi...Read More
RAPAPORT... A rare 41.50-carat diamond will headline the spring Magnificent Jewels sale at Sotheby's in New York, the auction house said Tuesday.The round, D-color, flawless, triple Ex, type IIa diamond is expected to garner up to $5.5 million at the April 15 sale, Sotheby's noted.Other highlights include items from the private collections of the late American actress Rhonda Fleming and of Mi...Read More
RAPAPORT... Lucara Diamond Corp. has secured financing of up to $220 million to fund a planned underground expansion at its Karowe mine in Botswana.The deal will supplement revenues from the open-pit site over the next five years and help extend the life of the mine to at least 2040 from 2025 currently, the Canada-based company said Wednesday. The expansion is likely to last for five years an...Read More
RAPAPORT... Gibb River Diamonds has sold the Ellendale mine in Australia as it veers away from diamonds to focus on its gold project.Australia-based Burgundy Diamond Mines will pay Gibb River a total of AUD 6.7 million ($5.1 million) in cash, 16 million company shares, and a 1.5% gross-revenue royalty on any diamonds obtained from the site, Gibb River said Wednesday. The deal is structured as a th...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A necklace featuring 120 carats of rare Golconda diamonds mined over 200 years ago is on the market, priced at $1.366m.It was originally made for a royal family in India in the 1900s, according to sellers Lotus Arts de Vivre, in Bangkok, Thailand.They are also offering for sale a number of other Golconda pieces, priced between $32,000 and $315,000.The famed Golconda mines operated...Read More
RAPAPORT... When Covid-19 hit Europe and the United States just over a year ago, the watch world took an immediate beating. Sales plummeted globally, and not long after that, Swiss manufacturing facilities had to close for several weeks or more, causing a loss of production. Luckily, a year later, the industry seems to have stabilized - thanks in part to customers having more disposable incom...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Signet Jewelers has achieved the targets of its three-year turnaround plan it says, as it reported increased revenue in Q4 of 2020 and a 70 per cent surge on online sales. The world's largest retailer of diamond jewelry achieved better-than-expected results and announced a new strategy - Inspiring Brilliance, which will focus on innovation and sustainable grow...Read More
RAPAPORT... Lucapa Diamond Company has increased output at its Mothae mine by 45% following an expansion of the site and the installation of a new processing plant.The project will allow the miner to raise its ore-processing capacity to 1.6 million tonnes per year, from 1.1 million tonnes, it said Monday. Lucapa has also added new machinery to the plant to aid in the process.The company is working...Read More
RAPAPORT... Informa, which runs the September Hong Kong show, has joined together with the Italian Exhibition Group (IEG) to launch a new fair in Dubai.The first edition of Jewellery, Gem & Technology (JGT) Dubai will take place from February 22 to 24 at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), the companies said Monday. The event - a partnership with the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) - wi...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Elsa Peretti, the Italian fashion model turned iconic jewelry designer has died aged 80.She was probably best known for her signature bone cuff bracelet, and for making silver popular again during her long tenure at Tiffany & Co.She was working as a model in New Work when she decided to try her hand at making jewelry, inspired by a piece she spotted at a flea market.She became...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Israel's Washington ambassador and the head of its Mossad intelligence agency were both reportedly involved in lobbying for sanctions to be lifted on mining magnate Dan Gertler.They were successful, albeit briefly. The Trump administration froze his US assets in 2017 over allegations about his business activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo.It reversed that decis...Read More
RAPAPORT... Spending on engagement rings in 2020 was only moderately affected by the Covid-19 pandemic as increased disposable income boosted consumers' budgets, according to a survey by The Knot.Last year, consumers spent an average of $5,500 on an engagement-ring purchase, a 6% dip from the $5,900 they were willing to lay out in 2019, the recent study found. Responses from 86% of those surv...Read More
RAPAPORT... Nathan "Nate" Light, who was responsible for the growth of Sterling Jewelers, died on March 12 at the age of 86.Light joined Sterling in 1977. As CEO, he helped turned the company from a 32-store chain into a retail giant with more than 1,000 branches and 14,000 employees. It's now a subsidiary of Signet Jewelers, the US's largest diamond retailer.Tributes on an online memorial pa...Read More
RAPAPORT... Christie's garnered $799,125 from its online sale of jewelry by designer Michele della Valle, with 100% of items finding buyers.The top lot at the auction was a pair of yellow sapphire, tsavorite garnet and diamond lemon earrings, which went for $75,000, smashing its $10,000 high estimate, Christie's said last week. Another set of earrings - containing 52 round and 12 baguette-cut diam...Read More