This year, National Jeweler honored two single-store independent jewelers along with one multi-store independent. The 2019 inductees are Cathy Calhoun of Calhoun Jewelers, Julia and David Gardner of David Gardner's Jewelers & Gemologists, and Judy and Steve Padis of Padis Jewelry. "We are thrilled to welcome five jewelers into the National Jeweler Retailer Hall of Fame this year. We thi...Read More
ImaGem Inc. launched Varna-D, a portable device for color grading polished diamonds. Weighing only half a pound and about the size of a weighing scale, Varna-D was designed and built with the members of the diamond trade in mind, as they require accessible and easy to handle tools for accurate and repeatable grading of loose diamonds. The company said its color grading technology was developed and...Read More
For the third time in a row, the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) and the University of Antwerp (UA) will organize the Antwerp Summer University. Spanning two weeks at the end of August - early September, the academic program, is intended for an international group of masters and PhD students, graduates, researchers and (young) professionals from in- and outside the diamond industry. The...Read More
Sarine Technologies Ltd announced that New Art Cima Ltd. is the first retail chain in Japan to implement the Sarine Diamond Journey solution as a center piece of its new customer experience. The Sarine Diamond Journey solution vividly showcases a diamond's transformation from its rough origin to its polished form. The solution includes a three-dimensional model of the original rough stone th...Read More
Okavango Diamond Company (ODC) will be hosting diamond viewings for its registered customers at the AWDC Tender Facility from the July 1-5, 2019. At the viewing, the goods on-site will be single stones and sales lots comprising stones greater than +9.8 carats. These goods then will be sold as part of ODC's July online auction that is planned for July 25, 2019. Meanwhile, registration for the...Read More
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Sydney- and Johannesburg-listed exploration and mining development company Orion Minerals has found a formula to achieve empowerment that puts all shareholders at full participation and contribution.“What we’ve arrived at is a fantastic win-win scenario,” an overjoyed Orion CEO Errol Smart told Mining Weekly Online. (Also watch attached Cr...Read More
RAPAPORT... Production at Petra Diamonds fell in the third fiscalquarter due to operational challenges at its Finsch mine in South Africa, it said Monday. Output for the three months ending March 31 dropped 7% to924,228 carats. Production at Finsch plunged 30% to 387,370 carats, 55,000carats below the miner's expectation. The majority of the shortfall was due toequipment problems at the depos...Read More
RAPAPORT... Titan Company noted strong growth in the most recent fiscal year, as itlaunched new digital initiatives and collections that were popular with customers. Group sales rose about 21% for the 12 months ending March 31, the Indian retailer said in a trading update published earlier this month, while revenue for the jewelry division increased 22%. Thecompany reported high demand for it...Read More
RAPAPORT... Output at Lucapa Diamond Company's Lulo mine in Angola fellin the first quarter, as it focused on processing ore from lower-grade miningareas. Production declined 25% to 3,369 carats, compared with 4,507carats the previous year, the miner said last week. Sales volume for the periodplummeted 93% to 451 carats. However, sales value rose 12% to $12.1 million, as thecompany sold seven...Read More
JOHANNESBURG – Tiffany & Co has been expanding its workforce in sub-Saharan Africa – a region of almost one-billion people where the jewellery giant does not have a single store.More than a quarter of the New York-based company’s 1 500 global diamond cutters and polishers are now based in Africa, CEO Alessandro Bogliolo said in an interview in Cape Town. Tiffany has factories...Read More
RAPAPORT... Production at Petra Diamonds fell in the third fiscalquarter due to operational challenges at its Finsch mine in South Africa, it said Monday. Output for the three months ending March 31 dropped 7% to924,228 carats. Production at Finsch plunged 30% to 387,370 carats, 55,000carats below the miner's expectation. The majority of the shortfall was due toequipment problems at the depos...Read More
LONDON – African miner Petra Diamonds, which has high debt levels, aims to be cash flow positive in the second half of the year and will then be able to consider future developments, its new chief executive said on Monday.The company's share price has fallen 55% since the start of the year as weak diamond prices weighed and Petra grapples with debt following years of capital expenditure...Read More
RAPAPORT... Diamond resources at Mountain Province's explorationproject in Canada's Northwest Territories are 74% higher than the company originallyestimated, according to a revised evaluation. The Faraday 2 deposit, one of three pipes in the miner'sKennady North project, has 5.5 million carats of diamonds, a recent study byexternal consulting companies Aurora Geosciences and SRK Consulting f...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Diamond Empowerment Fund (DEF) has launched its firsteducational grants for young people in Canada's Northwest Territories (NWT). "Creating education and employment opportunities for youthwho live in areas where natural diamonds are found is at the heart of the DEF'smission," Anna Martin, DEF president and senior vice president of the GIA, saidlast week. The scholarships are...Read More
RAPAPORT... Trans Atlantic Gem Sales (TAGS) sold $38.4 million worth ofrough diamonds at a tender in Dubai earlier this month. A total of 41,347 carats of high-quality stones from minesin South Africa, Angola and Namibia yielded an average price of $928 per carat.The sale included a number of large, single stones and exceptional specials,the company said Wednesday. "This month saw a 5% incre...Read More
RAPAPORT... Bonhams has appointed former Christie's executive LeslieRoskind as senior jewelry specialist to help build its presence in the US. Roskind, who will be based at the company's New York office,has worked in the industry for more than 25 years, the auction house said lastweek. Most recently, she was responsible for the acquisition and sale of jewelsto private clients and at trade sh...Read More
RAPAPORT... Stornoway Diamonds will halt open-pit mining atits Renard deposit in an effort to cut costs. The Canada-based miner temporarily suspended activities and shut down aportion of its equipment starting this month, it said last week. Open-pit mining is conducted at only one of the three ore bodies currently in operation at Renard. The other two are both underground pipes, which p...Read More
Stornoway Diamonds published a clarification in response to recent media articles, stating that its Renard Mine will continue to operate. The company emphasized it did not announce the closure of its Renard Mine, but rather the temporary suspension of open pit mining operations at its Renard 65 ore body, one of the 3 ore bodies currently in operation at the Renard Mine, and the only ore body curre...Read More
Kelly Newton, CGA, of Newton's Jewelers in Fort Smith, Arkansas, is the recipient of the American Gem Society's (AGS) most prestigious honor, the Robert M. Shipley Award. Mr. Newton was presented with the award at the Society's annual Conclave in Seattle, WA, that was held earlier this month. "Kelly sets the standard for what an AGS Jeweler should be and what the Shipley Award stands f...Read More
The annual GIA London Jewellery Career Fair brought together nearly 200 gem and jewellery enthusiasts from across Europe on Friday, April 5 at the historic Goldsmiths' Hall in the City of London. Job seekers had the unique opportunity to network with international and local companies looking to fill more than 60 positions in all areas of the industry. They also heard from a panel of industry...Read More