RAPAPORT... Weak rough demand and a devaluation of assets pushed Rio Tinto's diamond division further into the red in the first half of the year, the miner reported Wednesday.The unit recorded a net loss of $40 million for the six months ending June 30, compared with a loss of $5 million a year ago. Diamond sales fell 48% to $141 million for the period."The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly...Read More
RAPAPORT... Kering reported weak jewelry sales during the first half of 2020 as a slowdown at its Europe-focused brands outweighed stronger figures in Asia.The group's Boucheron and Pomellato brands suffered from their exposure to the Western European market during Covid-19, Kering reported Monday. However, sales at Qeelin grew for the six months as demand recovered in mainland China when the...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Diamond Club of Antwerp has reelected Thierry Polakiewicz as its president and named 13 other officers and board members.The club, founded in the 1890s, is one of the city's four bourses, and is primarily for traders of polished diamonds. It held its latest election earlier this month, confirming the following officers:President: Thierry PolakiewiczVice president: Philippe Bar...Read More
RAPAPORT... Weak rough demand and a devaluation of assets pushed Rio Tinto's diamond division further into the red in the first half of the year, the miner reported Wednesday.The unit recorded a net loss of $40 million for the six months ending June 30, compared with a loss of $5 million a year ago. Diamond sales fell 48% to $141 million for the period."The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly...Read More
RAPAPORT... Kering reported weak jewelry sales during the first half of 2020 as a slowdown at its Europe-focused brands outweighed stronger figures in Asia.The group's Boucheron and Pomellato brands suffered from their exposure to the Western European market during Covid-19, Kering reported Monday. However, sales at Qeelin grew for the six months as demand recovered in mainland China when the...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Climate change is threatening Russia's diamond trade, says a new report by the investment banking company Morgan Stanley.Ninety per cent of the country's diamond reserves are produced in areas covered by a thick Arctic permafrost, which is rapidly melting."Climate change in permafrost areas . . . leads to the release of large amounts of methane and carbon dioxide, reduces...Read More
RAPAPORT... India's diamond shipments continued to fall in June, albeit at a slower rate than in April and May as the coronavirus crisis eased in some of its export markets. Polished exports slumped 47% to $898 million for June, and dropped 53% to $5.28 billion for the first half of the year, according to data from the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council and Rapaport calculations.Exp...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Swarovski is to axe around 1,600 jobs as it battles tough competition and COVID-19 losses.The family-owned Austrian business empire, known for its crystal jewelry and swan logo, will cut a third of the 4,600 jobs at its Tyrol headquarters, according to the APA news agency.A month ago, the company announced it would be shedding 600 jobs in response to a "massive" decline in sales.No...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A New York diamond dealer is accused of defrauding two investors out of $170,000 in a get-rich-quick scheme.Brian L. Schumacher, 55, former head of Rochester-based Integra Diamonds, has been charged with wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy and faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 if convicted.Both alleged victims invested $100,000. One was promised a minimum $60,0...Read More
RAPAPORT... Rio Tinto has given customers flexibility with their rough purchases since the Covid-19 crisis began, allowing them to buy only what they needed."We provided full flexibility for all our customers and worked constructively with individual Rio Tinto select diamantaires during the pandemic to understand, and operate in line with, their needs," a company spokesperson told Rapaport Ne...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Veteran diamantaire Edi Faltz is offering a lifeline to those in the industry who have been shunned by traditional banks.He says he is aware of the plight of many diamond dealers who have been refused banking facilities or actually had their accounts closed.He is part of a group that opened Digital International Bank, Inc. based in the US territory of Puerto Rico, in 2016, and is a...Read More
RAPAPORT... LVMH, which owns Bulgari and Chaumet, saw sales of watches and jewelry slump in the first half of 2020 as the coronavirus reduced tourist spending and affected demand from wholesale customers.The category endured the worst performance of the luxury group's major product types, with revenues falling 38% year on year to EUR 1.32 billion ($1.55 billion), LVMH reported Monday. The di...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) has urged the government to establish an international free-trade area in the bourse complex, arguing that the tax-free zone would attract foreign companies and boost the local industry.The plan would help the Israel sector recover from the unprecedented slowdown that the coronavirus has triggered, IDE president Yoram Dvash told a meeting of the p...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Federation of Belgian Diamond Bourses has closed all four of Antwerp's trading floors following a spike in coronavirus cases in the city.The national government tightened social-distancing rules on Monday to prevent a repeat of the full lockdown it instituted during the first virus wave. The province of Antwerp is responsible for more than half of the country's new infections,...Read More
RAPAPORT... Rio Tinto has given customers flexibility with their rough purchases since the Covid-19 crisis began, allowing them to buy only what they needed."We provided full flexibility for all our customers and worked constructively with individual Rio Tinto select diamantaires during the pandemic to understand, and operate in line with, their needs," a company spokesperson told Rapaport Ne...Read More
RAPAPORT... LVMH, which owns Bulgari and Chaumet, saw sales of watches and jewelry slump in the first half of 2020 as the coronavirus reduced tourist spending and affected demand from wholesale customers.The category endured the worst performance of the luxury group's major product types, with revenues falling 38% year on year to EUR 1.32 billion ($1.55 billion), LVMH reported Monday. The di...Read More
RAPAPORT... The coronavirus pandemic had a significant impact on the diamond supply chain in the first half of 2020, with businesses unable to operate and demand slumping. As retail sales dropped, jewelers had enough inventory to satisfy demand. This caused a dramatic reduction in polished and rough trading, which left mining companies with large inventories of diamonds they couldn't sell. In Rapa...Read More
RAPAPORT... Two industry groups have raised more than $27,000 to help jewelers whose stores sustained physical damage during the recent lootings in the US.Members of the industry donated to the Jewelers Relief Fund, a GoFundMe account created by the Diamond Council of America (DCA) and Jewelers of America (JA). The money was distributed directly to 10 independent jewelry stores whose premises...Read More
RAPAPORT... Baselworld owner MCH Group has established Houruniverse, a new trade fair for the watch, jewelry and gemstone industries that will run virtually throughout the year and feature an annual live event.Buyers and sellers can use the show's website to network and exchange information during the year. The live event, which will replace the canceled Baselworld show, will take place in Ap...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has teamed up with IBM Research to develop an automated system for grading the clarity of a diamond.The artificial intelligence (AI) technology uses data from tens of millions of diamonds GIA laboratories have examined in the past, applying the institute's existing grading standards. It's already in limited use at the GIA's New York and C...Read More