(IDEX Online) - India's recovering diamond industry is reportedly running short of rough, as coronavirus restricts air travel.Demand is growing but after three voluntary trade embargoes at the peak of the pandemic, the country's collective $2.7bn inventory is "almost exhausted".Small and medium diamantaires in India can't get to South Africa or Belgium to physically inspect rough di...Read More
RAPAPORT... WD Lab Grown Diamonds has hired heads of marketing, merchandise and operations as the US-based producer expands under private-equity ownership.Brittany Lewis joined WD earlier this year to lead marketing and merchandising, the company said last week. Her background is in branding, marketing and digital transformation for startups.Meanwhile, Caleb Wood has come on board as chief op...Read More
RAPAPORT... Petra Diamonds has called off its formal sales process, as its lenders have acquired majority ownership in the company in exchange for writing off sizeable debts.The groups reached the agreement following discussions on a long-term restructuring plan for the company that would allow it to pay back the $650 million in secured debt it currently owes, Petra said Tuesday. The miner had bee...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Plumb Club, an alliance of jewelry suppliers, has launched a collaboration with New York's Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) to help design students enter the industry.The project connects students in FIT's jewelry-design program with Plumb Club members, offering them mentoring, internships and exposure to potential employers, the trade organization said Monday. Students w...Read More
RAPAPORT... Patrick Merrin has stepped down as interim CEO of Dominion Diamond Mines, deeming it "appropriate" to focus on his position at the rough producer's parent company.Merrin, who is chief operating officer at the Washington Companies, took on the lead role at Dominion when Shane Durgin left in February. The miner's full executive team will run the company temporarily until a solution is fo...Read More
IDEX Online) - Exports of polished diamonds from India, the world's biggest producer, could fall by as much as a quarter, from $18.665bn in the year to March 2020. Colin Shah, chairman of the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council, warned they could reach the lowest levels since the global depression of 2008/9. India's diamond industry, which accounts for 90 per cent of gems cut an...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Lab-grown diamonds should be sold with second-tier reports, giving details of their manufacture, rather than 4C gradings, says CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation.It is keen to preserve the distinction between manufactured diamonds and natural stones - for which "rarity is a critical factor".CIBJO has released a Laboratory Grown Diamond Guidance document, the final stage of a...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Two pieces of diamond jewelry given by Queen Victoria to her goddaughters around 150 years ago are to be auctioned in England.The first lot is a locket (pictured) gifted to aristocrat Lady Victoria Scott on her wedding in 1865, which is set with diamonds, emeralds and rubies.The second is a 19th century pearl and diamond brooch/pendant given to Lady Victoria's daughter Victori...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sales at Luk Fook slumped in the second fiscal quarter as the Hong Kong-based jeweler suffered from a continued slowdown in tourism and local demand in its home city.Group-wide same-store sales - at branches open for at least a year - fell 55% year on year during the three months ending September 30, the retailer reported Friday. This reflected a 63% slide in Hong Kong and Ma...Read More
RAPAPORT... Production at Gahcho Ku?(C) rose in the third quarter as Mountain Province mined from a higher-grade portion of the deposit.Ore from the asset yielded 2.19 carats of rough diamonds per tonne in the three months ending September 30, 27% higher than the same period a year ago. Total output rose 17% to 1.8 million carats, Mountain Province, which owns 49% of the asset, said last week. De...Read More
RAPAPORT... The board of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) has elected Chaim Pluczenik as president, a spokesperson for the trade organization said Monday.Pluczenik, owner of Antwerp-based dealer Pluczenik Diamond Company, replaces Nishit Parikh, who chose not to run for reelection following two years in the position. The new vice presidents are Bart De Hantsetters, representing the man...Read More
RAPAPORT... Alrosa gave a positive assessment of the diamond market ahead of the holidays after rough and polished trading picked up in the third quarter.The Russian company's rough-diamond sales climbed to $552.9 million during the three months ending September 30, compared with $74.1 million in the second quarter, it reported Friday. Sales declined 8% year on year, a less severe s...Read More
RAPAPORT... The US jewelry industry continued to downsize in the third quarter, with 101 companies leaving the business, according to new data from the Jewelers Board of Trade (JBT).Nine firms went bankrupt, while 37 dropped out due to mergers or takeovers, the JBT reported Thursday. A further 55 closed for other reasons.The number of exits plunged 65% compared with the same period of 2019. H...Read More
RAPAPORT... US retail sales rose in September, marking the fourth straight month of year-on-year gains, and nearly doubling August's increase, government data showed.Overall retail sales grew 5.4% compared to the same period last year, and 1.9% from the previous month, as consumers began purchasing for the holiday season, according to figures the US Census Bureau released Friday. That followed a 0...Read More
RAPAPORT... LVMH's jewelry and watch sales declined in the third quarter, even as a recovery in China buoyed sales, the company said last week.Revenue for the category fell 14% to EUR 947 million ($1.11 billion) for the three months ending September 30."A rebound in China was observed in the third quarter, but did not prevent the overall activity from dropping...in the period," the luxury group no...Read More
RAPAPORT... Rio Tinto's diamond production dropped in the third quarter amid lower mining grades at its Argyle deposit, the company reported Friday.Output at the Australian mine fell 10% year on year to 3.2 million carats in the three-month period ending September 30. Production was hampered by lower grades, as the company prepares to complete operations before the end of the year and shut the min...Read More
RAPAPORT... Retail sales at Chow Tai Fook grew 2.6% year on year in the second fiscal quarter as a strong recovery in China outweighed continued weakness in Hong Kong.Sales rose 21% on the mainland while slumping 52% in Hong Kong and Macau during the period ending September 30, the jewelry retailer reported Thursday. Same-store sales - at branches open for at least a year - increased 11%...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Lucapa is considering an expansion of its Mothae mine, in Lesotho, southern Africa, after a significant increase in diamond resource estimates.The Australia-based miner says a total JORC classified indicated resource has been estimated for 9.2 million tonnes containing ~280,000 carats of diamonds at a diamond grade of 3.10 carats per one hundred tonnes and an average un-escalated m...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Mountain Province Diamonds announced a 17 per cent increase in carats recovered from its Gahcho Kue mine.It said it had adapted to COVID-19 work practices and concentrated its efforts on a pit yielding higher grade diamonds.The Canadian miner recovered a total of 1,794,408 carats in Q3, up from 1,528,494 carats for the same period in 2109.It holds a 49 per cent stake in the mine (p...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa has effectively canceled its rough trading session for October to avoid over-supplying the market.The Russian miner reported totals sales of $336m in September, up almost a quarter on the same month in 2019, as it maintained a policy of offering discounts and flexibility.But while uncertainty persists over coronavirus it says it is keen to service only genuine demand from bu...Read More