(IDEX Online) - The sale of IGI (International Gemmological Institute) to asset manager Blackstone has been completed in a deal worth $569.65m in total.The network of 29 grading labs and 18 gemology schools, employing almost 1,000 people, primarily in India, was 80 per cent owned by China-based Fosun International Ltd. The remaining 20 per cent belonged to CEO Roland Lorie - whose father Marc...Read More
IDEX Online) - Alrosa says it has resumed mining at its Zarya kimberlite pipe for the first time in 16 months. The new 300-meter deep deposit in Yakutia, eastern Russia, cost $188m and is one of the company's biggest investment projects in recent years.Alrosa announced on its Telegram channel that the processing plant re-opened earlier this month.Zarya pipe produced 38,000 carats, in 201...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The UK announced sanctions on Russian diamonds on Thursday (18 May) ahead of the ongoing G7 summit, where news of further trade restrictions is expected. "For the sake of global peace and security, we must show that brutal violence and coercion does not reap rewards," said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (pictured). "We must redouble our efforts to defend the values of freedom, democrac...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa yesterday announced the appointment of Pavel Marynichev as its new CEO.He replaces Sergey Ivanov, who was sanctioned by the US, together with his father, after Russia invaded Ukraine last February.Ivanov, who was due to serve until 2025, is stepping down early after six years at the helm. He told Kommersant, the politics and business newspaper that he'd focus on high-te...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The ultra-rare 11.16-carat pear-shaped Bulgari Laguna Blu - certified as the highest grade blue diamond ever by the GIA - was auctioned for just over $25m at Sotheby's Geneva on Tuesday.It became the most valuable gem ever to be sold by Bulgari, after a four-minute bidding war between three parties on the phone and one in the showroom.It was the highest price paid in the Magni...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Blackstone, the world's largest alternative asset manager, is reportedly poised to buy IGI (International Gemological Institute) in a deal worth up to $550m.Fosun International Ltd, one of the first enterprises in China to develop overseas markets, bought an 80 per cent stake in the network of 20 grading labs and 14 gemology schools back in September 2018 for $108.8m.Roland Lo...Read More
(IDEX) - UK miner Vast Resources says it is finalizing the recovery of a parcel of 129,400-carats of rough diamonds in Zimbabwe after a 12-year dispute. The company successfully sued the country's Mines and Mining Development ministry early this year and now plans to sell the diamonds through a tender. It surrendered gems from the Marange diamond fields amid claims it had exploited...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers Group today announced a 20 per cent drop in rough sales for cycle 4, as global uncertainty persists and China's post-lockdown recovery falters.Provisional revenue from sightholder sales and auctions was $480m, down from $604m for the same period in 2022. Sales for cycle 3 were $542m, up from $497m in cycle 2.De Beers has postponed its main and interim auctions - which...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Harry Levy, the mathematics lecturer who became a gem trader and went on to chair the London Diamond Bourse (LDB) has died, aged 83."He was a true gentleman, soft-spoken, gentle, polite and with an iron-clad moral compass," said Gaetano Cavalieri, president of CIBJO (World Jewellery Confederation). "He also was completely dedicated to the mission of creating harmonised standar...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The World Diamond Council (WDC), established to rid the industry of conflict diamonds, has a woman president for the first time in its 23 year history.Feriel Zerouki, senior vice president of corporate affairs at De Beers Group, takes over from Edward Asscher, who has completed the second of two non-consecutive terms as WDC president.Zerouki, (pictured) born in the United Arab Emir...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers has postponed its Cycle 5 and 6 auctions amid dwindling demand from Indian manufacturers.The consumer slowdown in the US and China has also resulted in the cancellation of rough sales by auction houses in Antwerp and Dubai.De Beers said in a statement: "After careful consideration and analysis of the current market situation, we decided to combine both Cycle 5 and 6 Interi...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Rolex is selling its watches on the US second-hand market for the first time, as demand surges.It's rolling out the Certified Pre-owned Program it launched in several European countries last December.Rolex certifies its own second-hand watches as authentic and provides a two-year guarantee, rather than the five-years offered on new purchases. It means buyers no longer hav...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Lab growns over 10 carats are to be auctioned in what's being described as the first sale of its kind.Hundreds of stones will be offered for sale in The Size Matters online event by Virtual Diamond Boutique (VDB), the sourcing and trading app.It says it's the "first-ever auction dedicated to laboratory-grown diamonds of such rare and large sizes".Among the vendors in...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Lucara reported a drop of almost 40 per cent in its Q1 sales of diamonds from its Karowe mine, in Botswana.The Canadian miner said rough revenue fell from US$67.2m in Q1 2022 to $41.3m, but it sold more carats - up from 80,295 to 83,374, a reflection of ongoing weakness in the market."As anticipated, Q1 delivered lower revenues than in the comparative period, owing to the change in...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Plans to revive the mothballed Ellendale mine - once the world's largest producer of fancy yellow diamonds - have been boosted by "excellent" valuations of bulk samples, says owner Gibb River Diamonds.An independent appraisal of diamonds from the Ellendale 9 Lights stockpile, one of four bulk samples, averaged US$1,443 per carat.The company said updated valuations across a num...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi has won the first round of a legal battle to prove he was kidnapped against his will from his new home on Antigua and Barbuda, in the West Indies.Choksi, 64, claims India was involved in an elaborate plot to bring him back to his home country, where he is due to stand trial over the alleged $1.8bn Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud. &nbs...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Indian government will renew diplomatic efforts to have the Britain return the Koh-i-Noor diamond.It follows the coronation of King Charles III earlier this month. Queen Camilla pointedly had the iconic 105.6-carat oval-cut Golconda gem removed from her crown, to avoid heightening tensions."The thrust of this effort to repatriate India's artefacts comes from the personal c...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The second part of the controversial Heidi Horten auction raised over $42m on Friday, bringing the total so far to $198m.That surpasses the original estimate by Christie's Geneva that the total sale of 700 items, including an online sale that closes tomorrow, would raise $150m.Christie's said earlier that her gems represented the most valuable jewelry collection ever to b...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Sotheby's Geneva is to auction the ultimate bicycle, decorated in gold leaf and embedded with a 2.03-carat round brilliant-cut Fancy Brown-Yellow diamond at the top of its steering tube.The estimate has not been disclosed, but the opening bid in an online auction (closing 18 May) is for $67,000.Colnago, the iconic Italian racing bike firm, has produced the one-off bike to mark...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The first auction of Heidi Horten's jewelry - a sale marred by publicity over her Nazi-era fortune - yesterday raised $156m, well above its $139m low estimate.That's despite two star items falling short. The 25.59-carat Sunrise Ruby (pictured) which the Austrian billionaire bought for $30min 2015, sold for $14.6m (low estimate was $15.7m).And the 90-carat "Briolette of In...Read More