(IDEX Online) - A student has been charged over a $500,000 credit card scam at the jewelry store where she worked in Burlington, Massachusetts, USA.Police allege Ariel Foster, 19, spent over $35,000 on a Tesla car, almost $6,000 with Delta Airlines, more than $20,000 on an hotel in Maui, Hawaii, and almost $5,000 in Louis Vuitton purchases.Their investigation found items scanned at the register ha...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Botswana's President Mokgweetsi Masisi said it was "only logical" that his country should want more and get more from its deal with De Beers.He ramped up the rhetoric in his latest comments on the 54-year-old joint venture agreement, under which three quarters of its rough is currently sold by De Beers."Besides the fact that the diamonds are ours, it doesn't make sense fo...Read More
(IDEX Online) - India's cut and polished diamond exports surged during February, up by almost 20 per cent to ?, ?2.37bn.In rupee terms the increase was even bigger, at just under 32 per cent, according to new figures from GJEPC (Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council).Vipul Shah, the council's chairman, pointed to the recovery in China after Covid restrictions, the lunar New Year, an...Read More
(IDEX Online) - HRD Antwerp is under investigation by a court in Belgium over allegations that it routinely upgraded diamonds, according to the De Tijd newspaper.It says it obtained e-mails, internal procedures, slides, audit reports and filmed board meetings and other material revealing a long-standing practice, described by one former senior staff member as "a way to commit market fraud".It alle...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A 35-carat Leviev diamond ring beat its $2.5m high estimate yesterday when it sold for $2.7m at Bonham's New York.The type IIa emerald-cut, D-color, VVS1-clarity diamond was accented by a round brilliant-cut diamond-set gallery and shank with a total weight of 1.90 carats. The platinum, ring was signed Leviev.Bonhams said it was a "white glove sale" - with buyers found for eac...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Izzy Itzkowitz, who co-invented the princess cut in 1979, has passed away at the age of 68, his son said in a Facebook post.During a lifelong career in diamonds he also developed iconic private label designs for De Beers, Tiffany & Co, and Graff, as well as the "invisible set".Itzkowitz, born and bred in Tel Aviv, he also invented the Asscher Cut Princess and the Asscher Queen....Read More
(IDEX Online) - Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro is being investigated over claims he failed to declare diamond jewelry valued at $3.2m.The items, including a Chopard diamond necklace, earrings and watch, were a gift from the Saudi government to him and his wife Michelle.Customs officials seized them from an aide's luggage at Sao Paulo international airport after a presidential v...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Four defendants in the 2103 diamond heist at Brussels Airport were yesterday acquitted on appeal. It follows the acquittal of 18 other defendants in a 2018 trial and means just one person has been convicted and jailed over the theft of diamonds valued at the time at $50m. The appeals court in Brussels ruled there was insufficient evidence to convict the four. The shipment of...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Hong Kong's sales of watches, jewelry, clocks and other valuable gifts leapt 23.1 per cent in January, buoyed by an early lunar Chinese New Year and Covid relaxations. It follows a yo-yo 2022, marked by dramatic monthly drops (-35.9 per cent in April) and increases (30.1 per cent in July). Sales for January 2023 were $566.8m, the highest figure for three years, according to th...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers today announced slower sales during Cycle 2, down 24 per cent on last year, as uncertainty persists and many sightholders delayed purchases. Total sales were $495m (provisional) compared with $652m during Cycle 2 of 2022. They were up nine per cent on the previous Cycle. De Beers reportedly raised the prices of smaller goods at its latest sight, amid speculat...Read More
(IDEX Online) - US and EU officials are to consult diamond industry leaders on further measures against Russia for its "unprovoked war in Ukraine".James O'Brien, head of the Office of Sanctions Coordination in Joe Biden's administration, will seek the views of diamond retailers, manufacturers, laboratories, and industry trade associations.The US currently sanctions rough diamonds from Ru...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Gem Diamonds yesterday recovered a 122-carat D color Type II white diamond at its Letseng mine, in Lesotho.It's the first +100-ct diamond of the year at the highest average dollar per carat kimberlite diamond mine in the world.Recoveries of large diamonds last year were below average - four +100-cts compared with an average since 2008 of eight per year, which was a factor in t...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Botswana Diamonds says it expects to see the first recoveries from its Marsfontein project, in South Africa, later this month.Work began at the end of January and the British-based diamond exploration and development company says about 1,500 tons of eluvial gravels from the main Marsfontein pipe have been excavated and are awaiting processing. The Marsfontein Mine, in Limpopo...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Watch and jewelry sales in the US fell for a fourth consecutive month in January. A mood of caution persists within the industry and, to some extent, among consumers. Trade is slow and production is low. The January fall is provisionally recorded at 2.1 per cent by the US Department of Commerce, though that is likely to revised next month. December was initially reported a loss of...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Al Cook, the new CEO at De Beers, says workers' safety is his first priority as he visits the company's operations."Over 27 years in the energy business, including three years in offshore operations, I've learned that we have to put safety first," he said on LinkedIn, marking his first day in the post.Cook takes over from Bruce Cleaver, was executive vice president o...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A US jewelry buyer who spent $645,000 on diamonds using a Russian-linked debit card is taking legal action - claiming she received neither the goods nor a refund.Maria Zurabova, from Florida, says made her purchase at jeweler Royal Star Inc, in Manhattan's Diamond District, paying paid with a card linked to Alfa Bank - Russia's biggest private bank - whic...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The IDEX Polished Price Index showed signs of stabilizing in February, with its smallest decline in a year, of just 0.55 per cent. Some short-term shortages appear to be forcing up the prices of smaller goods. Melee prices were reportedly up as much as 10 per cent at Sight 2 (20 to 24 February), although the prices of some larger goods were reduced. Russian goods have largely been...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Three people have been arrested in a series of raids in India at premises linked to the manufacturer and exporter Sagar Diamond Limited.The Directorate of Enforcement (ED)said it was investigating money-laundering claims relating to a China-based app called Power Bank, listed on Google Play Store, which offered investors returns of up to 10 per cent, then blocked their accounts.A n...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Trans Atlantic Gem Sales (TAGS) says it sold around $20m of South African rough at its February tender, in Dubai.That's an increase on the $14m it sold in December, but still far short of the record $75m it sold last March."We presented a relatively conservative volume of goods in line with recent events," the company said. "The overall reaction this month would indicate a sli...Read More
(IDEX Online) - British miner BlueRock Diamonds has put its Kareevlei Mining subsidiary into business rescue amid mounting debts.It follows the suspension of its shares on the AIM last week.Kareevlei Mining currently owes $4.1m to Teichmann South Africa, the construction and mining service group, though it said it had paid its February salaries and diesel bill.Business rescue temporarily protects...Read More