(IDEX Online) - Caravanner Carmel Ash found a 424-carat yellow sapphire, valued at up to $200,000 (AUS$300,000), while "specking" - looking for gems, especially after a downpour - in Australia.She said she was "absolutely astounded" when what initially appeared to be a black rock turned out to be a huge and valuable gemstone.Carmel, 71, who describes herself as "half-blind", was walking with husba...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A woman reportedly agreed to sell every piece in her jewelry collection to pay her husband's gambling debts - only to discover that all but one were fake.She says he showered her with valuable gifts, including a Rolex watch, during their 25-year marriage, according to a report in the Israeli newspaper Maariv.But she claims that when she took them to be valued, the jeweler said...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A dazzling 19th century brooch, once owned by British royalty and featuring around 200 carats of old mine-cut diamonds, is to be sold in the US, priced at $2.65m.Antique jeweler M.S. Rau, based in New Orleans, describes the ribbon node brooch as "monumental".It says it is "both a captivating treasure and a piece of history". Henry Pelham-Clinton, the 5th Duke of Newcastle, com...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Half of India's diamond workers are struggling financially as a global drop in demand forces factories to cut hours and wages.The country's estimated 500,000 cutters and polishers are paid either per carat - around $12 to $18 - or an a per-piece basis.But many factories, especially the smaller units, are operating reduced days, or fewer days per week, which means workers...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The owner of a US jewelry store is offering a $50,000 reward to help catch the armed gang that cleared him out of merchandise worth $1.7m.Brad Boozer says he'll pay the reward from his own pocket. It's been more than a month since the heist at Boozer's Jewelers, in Waco, Texas, on 17 June.Two masked raiders, a man and a woman, walked into his store with a gun, zip-ti...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa's new CEO, Pavel Marynichev, has been sanctioned the US, as his predecessor Sergey Ivanov was before him.The US State Department announced last Thursday that it was imposing additional sanctions on individuals and entities to degrade Russia's current and future military capabilities.It said Marinychev was being designated for "operating or having operated in...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Rio Tinto yesterday reported another drop in quarterly diamond production at its Diavik mine, in Canada, down 16 per cent on Q2 2022 to 970,000 carats.It said output was lower because of "the completion of an underground pipe and area of the open pit during the period."In February, Rio Tinto, the world's second-largest metals and mining corporation, announced plans to invest $...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers today reported a five per cent drop in its Q2 production, but said its full-year forecast remained unchanged at 30m to 33m carats, subject to trading conditions.Output was down largely because of the planned transition of the Venetia mine in South Africa from open-pit to underground.South Africa's production was down 62 per cent compared with Q2 2022. Botswana, by far...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The vast new Surat Diamond Bourse (SDB) - stretching across nine 15-story towers - has become the biggest office building in the world.It has over 7.1m square feet of floor space, compared with just over 6.6m at the Pentagon, HQ of the US Defense Department.The bourse, built at a cost of $388m, is due to be officially opened by India's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, in De...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Petra Diamonds reported a 44 per cent drop in revenue for FY2023 as recoveries and sales fell, especially among exceptional stones.The UK-based miner is closing its loss-making Koffiefontein mine, in South Africa, but says it's ahead of schedule to re-open Williamson, in Tanzania, after the breach of a tailings dam last October.It also reports operational turnarounds at its Cu...Read More
(IDEX Online) - India's gross exports of polished diamonds slipped again in June, down 31.5 per cent on the same month last year, to $1.382bn.That's broadly in line with April's year-on-year decline of 33 per cent, but well down on May, which appeared to show some recovery with a more moderate fall of 17.5 per cent.Polished exports for April to June are down 29.3 per cent to $4.426b...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Indian diamond and jewelry manufacturers are to take part in a new trade event in Brazil aimed at strengthening ties between the two countries. The inaugural two-day BSM (Buyer Seller Meeting) Brasil 2023, takes place in Sao Paulo in August.Among the exhibitors from India are UniDesign Jewellery, Hari Krishna Exports, Dharmanandan Diamonds, AuroStar Diamonds, Jewel Art b...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Mountain Province Diamonds reported a 40 per cent drop in Q2 rough sales, down from $74.5m to $44.6m.It said the figures were skewed because it held three sales in the previous quarter, rather the normal two.The number of carats sold from its Gahcho Kue mine, in Northwest Territories, Canada, was down 38.5 per cent, from 586,567 in Q2 2022 to 360,308. Average per carat price slippe...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Richemont saw its Q1 sales climb by 14 per cent overall, driven by a 19 per cent increase at its Buccellati, Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry maisons (excluding currency movements).The Swiss luxury conglomerate said yesterday that total sales in the three months to 30 June were $5.97bn (EUR 5.32bn).Total jewelry sales were $4.04bn (EUR 3.599bn). Sales of specialist watche...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Phillips Geneva, known for its luxury watch auctions, is to hold its first jewelry sale in November. The British auction house says it's building on the success of its jewelry departments in New York, London and Hong Kong, where it achieved historic annual sales totals in 2021 and 2022.The inaugural Geneva auction, on 6 November will feature a private collection of over 1...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Lucara says the underground expansion plan at its Karowe diamond mine, in Botswana, will take longer and cost more because of technical problems.In an update issued yesterday, the Canadian miner said it now expects the project to cost $683m, an increase of 25 per cent on the original $547m estimate.Production from the underground project is now expected to start in the first half o...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Police officers patrolling a beach came to the rescue after a man lost the engagement ring he was about to present to his girlfriend.It fell out of his pocket at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA, as he prepared to get down on one knee and pop the question.The unnamed man flagged down a passing police officer, who called in colleagues, including a police dog, to help search the san...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The 13th international conference on gold and diamonds is being held by Initiatives in Art and Culture (IAC) in New York.The two-and-a-half day event focuses on maintaining purpose - what constitutes luxury in an age of responsible practice.Industry leaders, jewelers and innovators will discuss issues around sustainability and the realization...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Botswana's President Mokgweetsi Masisi says the new De Beers deal will make his country "truly the global capital of diamonds for the first time".In an interview with Bloomberg TV he welcomed the sales and mining agreements thrashed out two weeks ago."We're very happy with the outcome. It could have been better but you know with a partnership you've always got to giv...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Tel Aviv Museum of Art has pulled out of hosting a conference on Holocaust restitution organized by Christie's, in protest at its sale in May of almost $200m of jewelry belonging to Heidi Horten, widow of a Nazi party member.The British auction house provoked anger with its sale of over 700 items owned by the late Austrian heiress. Her first husband Helmut Horten, bui...Read More