(IDEX Online) - Alrosa's total rough and polished sales for February dropped 14 per cent to $346.6m, the company announced today.The Russian mining giant said coronavirus had reduced diamond demand and was likely to do so in the coming months. Sales in January totaled $405.0mAlrosa yesterday blamed weak demand for a 21 per cent drop in revenue and a 31 per cent slump in net profit for 2019 wh...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Diamond workers are being laid off in the Indian cutting and polishing capital Surat because of coronavirus.Smaller factories have been hardest hit by the downturn in demand, and payments being trapped in its main markets of China and Hong Kong, according to a Times of India report.Ranmal Jilariya, president of Gujarat Diamond Workers' Union, told the paper he'd met 40 di...Read More
Diamond miners Gem Diamonds delivered solid operational results for the year ended December 31, which, together with the targeted gains of a business transformation programme and continued emphasis on cost controls, affirmed it as one of the lowest-cost producers in the industry, CEO Clifford Elphick said on Wednesday.The operational results were characterised by the achievement of all guided oper...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Stargems and A.A. Rachminov are to pool their respective sourcing and marketing resources in a new joint venture.It will capitalize on Stargem's rough sourcing capabilities as an accredited DTC buyer and A.A. Rachminov's 80-year reputation for polishing, marketing and distribution.The stones will be sourced in South Africa and most of the manufacturing will be done...Read More
RAPAPORT... When lab-grown diamonds first started to make noise in the consumer jewelry market, much of the marketing power driving them forward was about cutting through the confusion. Are they real? Why do they cost so much? Why should I buy them? Shoppers had questions, and the only way to make sales was to answer them clearly, concisely, repetitively and in unison. The messages have start...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sales at Chow Tai Fook dropped 60% in Hong Kong and Macau and 42%in mainland China in the first two months of the year as stores shut for muchof the period."In response to the measures of local governments [to contain] the spread of [the] COVID-19 virus, the majority of our points of sale in mainland China were temporarily closed since late January 2020, and Hong Kong and Macau fr...Read More
The outbreak of a new strain of coronavirus, Covid-19, has weighed on diamond demand in February and will negatively impact on Alrosa’s sales outlook for 2020, CEO Sergey Ivanov said on Wednesday.The Russian miner reported rough and polished diamond sales of $346.4-million in February, down 14% on January’s sales.Advertisement“Though our January and February sales were healthy, c...Read More
RAPAPORT... Two additional industry events will not take place this month as fears of the coronavirus continue to escalate.Manufacturing Jewelers & Suppliers of America (MJSA) has postponed its Expo, while JA New York has canceled its upcoming show, both set to run in New York from March 15 to 17. Jewelers of America (JA) has not announced an alternative date for that event, but still expects...Read More
RAPAPORT... Two additional industry events will not take place this month as fears of the coronavirus continue to escalate.Manufacturing Jewelers & Suppliers of America (MJSA) has postponed its Expo, while JA New York has canceled its upcoming show, both set to run in New York from March 15 to 17. Jewelers of America (JA) has not announced an alternative date for that event, but still expects...Read More
RAPAPORT... A challenging rough market in the first half of the year led to a decline in Alrosa's profit in 2019, despite a stronger fourth quarter.Profit fell 31% to RUB 62.7 billion ($874.6 million) for the year, as an oversupply of polished stones hampered rough demand, the miner said Tuesday. Revenue dropped 21% to RUB 238.2 billion ($3.32 billion). Diamond sales slid 23% to RUB 215.4 billion...Read More
RAPAPORT... A challenging rough market in the first half of the year led to a decline in Alrosa's profit in 2019, despite a stronger fourth quarter.Profit fell 31% to RUB 62.7 billion ($874.6 million) for the year, as an oversupply of polished stones hampered rough demand, the miner said Tuesday. Revenue dropped 21% to RUB 238.2 billion ($3.32 billion). Diamond sales slid 23% to RUB 215.4 billion...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Star Diamond Corporation is to sue Rio Tinto over a joint venture, accusing it of "bad faith predatory practices".The two Canadian companies joined forces in 2017 to establish Star-Orion South, the first commercial diamond in Saskatchewan province.But Star Diamond, the smaller partner in the agreement, claims Rio Tinto has overspent on exploration, failed to share "any meaningful d...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The MJSA Expo and JA New York Spring events have both been canceled at five days' notice, because of coronavirus fears in New York.The MJSA Expo, the longest-running jewelry trade show in the USA, which last year attracted 3,000 buyers, says it hopes to announce new dates soon.JA New York Spring, which attracts 600 jewelry brands, designers and suppliers, says it has two...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa, Russia's leading diamond miner, today blamed weak demand for a 21 per cent drop in revenue and a 31 per cent slump in net profit for 2019.It released financial results days after announcing it would cut supply to match the falling demand due to the coronavirus epidemic.Sales were down 12 per cent because of "weaker demand in the rough and polished diamonds market," Alr...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A shopper splashed out more than $600,000 on a diamond engagement ring at Costco.The company said it was a cushion-cut 10-carat solitaire, according to New York Daily News, but didn't give further details. Costco, the world's second largest retailer after Walmart, is better known for selling groceries and household items in bulk, rather than high-value jewelry.But it...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The president of The World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) today warned that smaller businesses may struggle to survive the coronavirus outbreak.In a statement from his home in Milan, where he and his family are currently quarantined, Dr Gaetano Cavalieri calls for mutual help and co-operation within the jewelry industry at this time of crisis.He writes: "Many of the technology-bas...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Pionnering tech firm Sarine says it will revolutionize the diamond industry with the introduction of the first ever in-house grading system.Its AI-driven cloud-linked technologies will allow manufacturers, wholesalers and even retailers to automatically grade stones for the 4Cs on the premises, ending the need to send them to a third-party lab.The eGrading system then uploads...Read More
RAPAPORT... It may surprise many, but the diamond industry has emerged as quite tech-savvy in the past few years, says Alexey Tikhonov, Alrosa's head of projects for strategy and analytics.Rapaport Senior Analyst Avi Krawitz spoke with Tikhonov in episode 23 of the Rapaport Diamond Podcast about how the mining company is using data to improve efficiency in the rough-sales process. Captur...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sotheby's will hold an exhibition and sale of pieces Parisian jewelry house Mellerio made for royals including Marie Antoinette.The exhibition, which will showcase some of the jeweler's most important commissions, is set to take place from March 28 to 31. It will feature 17 items made by the 407-year-old brand, which have been worn by Marie de Medici, former queen of France, as we...Read More
RAPAPORT... Star Diamond Corporation has started legal proceedings against Rio Tinto, accusing the mining giant of failing to comply with the terms of a joint-venture agreement.In 2017, Rio Tinto closed a deal with the Canadian miner, giving it the right to acquire shares in the Star-Orion South exploration project in Saskatchewan. In November, five years earlier than its original deadline, R...Read More