HRD Antwerp NV is collaborating with MAGILABS (Rome/Helsinki) and offering and advanced, two-day workshop on spectroscopy. This course is aimed at diamond traders and experts; appraisers and graders; jewelers and designers; sales managers, buyers and job seekers. In its invitation for the course HRD Antwerp wrote: "Within the world of diamonds, one of the hot topics continues to be the one of labo...Read More
Botswana is reportedly ready to give Zimbabwe a loan of $600 million to develop and support its diamond industry. The report on the loan was initially published by the Herald, the state-owned new paper and online daily, but apparently has since been removed. Reuters reported that Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Botswana's President Mokgweetsi Masisi are expected to sign the loan agree...Read More
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Diamond miner Lucapa Diamond Company has generated a further A$5.3-million in revenue from the sale of 5 411 ct of rough diamonds recovered from its Mothae operation, in Lesotho, during January.The diamonds were recovered during the ramp-up of the 1.1-million-tonne-a-year plant in the fourth quarter of 2018, and in the first month of commercial mining operations in...Read More
Botswana has offered to lend Zimbabwe $600 million to support its diamond industry and local private firms, a state-owned newspaper reported on Tuesday, amid a severe dollar crunch in the southern African nation.There are few signs the flow of foreign currency is improving in Zimbabwe after it ditched a discredited 1:1 dollar peg for its dollar-surrogate bond notes and electronic dollars, merging...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Swiss Gemmological Institute (SSEF) has launched aservice for linking polished gemstones to their original rough, it saidTuesday. GemTrack creates a fingerprint that documents the stone'sjourney from mine to market, based on analyses of the stone's crystallographic,structural, chemical and microscopic features. "Given the growing demand for provenance and traceability inour i...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Women's Jewelry Association (WJA) has appointedJacqueline Cassaway, the vice president of merchandising for Starboard CruiseServices, as president-elect. Jenny Luker will remain president and Sara Yood will continue as treasurer.Corporate secretary Rebecca Moskal, vice president of chapter affairs LaurenThompson and past president Brandee Dallow will also stay in their roles....Read More
RAPAPORT... De Beers will combine its mining ventures in South Africaand Canada to streamline operational management and increase sustainability, itsaid Monday. The new business, De Beers Group Managed Operations, willoversee the Venetia and Gahcho Ku?(C) mines, as well as the De Beers Marineproject. The consolidation comes after the closure of the Snap Lake andVoorspoed deposits, as well as...Read More
RAPAPORT... De Beers claims it doesn't need to disclose treatments to its lab-grown diamonds, placing itself at odds with many synthetics traders pushing for full transparency in the sector.The company's synthetics brand, Lightbox, applies post-growth enhancements to its colored lab-grown diamonds, it confirmed with Rapaport News. However, it doesn't need to tell consumers, because...Read More
The Swiss Gemmological Institute SSEF has announced the launch today of GemTrack?,,?, a new service providing expert scientific opinion linking a cut gemstone to the rough stone from which it originated, thus enabling gemmologically the documentation of part of the stone's journey from mine to market. The GemTrack?,,? service involves the combination of crystallographic, structural, chemical...Read More
The company sold 121 rough diamonds with total weight of 1,950 carats. Firms from UAE, India, Belgium, Israel, Hong Kong, Russia and the USA participated in the auction, and 31 firms were recognized as winners in different positions. "ALROSA and Dubai have a longstanding partnership. Since 2014, we have been cooperating with the Dubai Diamond Exchange on industry issues; we have our trading compan...Read More
Business Insider reported that four US retail chains have filed for bankruptcy. They are Payless Shoesource, Charlotte Russe, Gymboree and FullBeauty Brands . "As the US retail industry emerges from one of its worst multi-year default cycles yet, companies are getting ready for a second, though less virulent round among smaller, weaker names," Business Insider quoted a report by Moody's Inves...Read More
The new WJA board members include: Kristyn Beausoleil, national director of partner development, Forevermark; Susan Chandler, chief merchandising officer, Citizen Watch America; Morgan Miller, account executive, Couture Show; Tina Olm, director enterprise business development, Jewelers Mutual Insurance Group; Jacqueline Raffi, vice president of business development (retail and national accounts),...Read More
ALROSA currently has a small market share in the USA. It counts Signet and Tifffany's among its rough diamond clients, but now the firm is aiming at boosting its polioshed sales in what is still the biggest diamond market in the world. In an exclusive interview with Yahoo Finance UK, Rebecca Foerster, the newly appointed head of ALROSA's US operations, said she "doesn't believe the negative headl...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Swiss Gemmological Institute (SSEF) has launched aservice for linking polished gemstones to their original rough, it saidTuesday. GemTrack creates a fingerprint that documents the stone'sjourney from mine to market, based on analyses of the stone's crystallographic,structural, chemical and microscopic features. "Given the growing demand for provenance and traceability inour i...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Women's Jewelry Association (WJA) has appointedJacqueline Cassaway, the vice president of merchandising for Starboard CruiseServices, as president-elect. Jenny Luker will remain president and Sara Yood will continue as treasurer.Corporate secretary Rebecca Moskal, vice president of chapter affairs LaurenThompson and past president Brandee Dallow will also stay in their roles....Read More
RAPAPORT... The Women's Jewelry Association (WJA) has appointedJacqueline Cassaway, the vice president of merchandising for Starboard CruiseServices, as president-elect. Jenny Luker will remain president and Sara Yood will continue as treasurer.Corporate secretary Rebecca Moskal, vice president of chapter affairs LaurenThompson and past president Brandee Dallow will also stay in their roles....Read More
De Beers Group has decided to merge its mining assets in Canada and South Africa under the name De Beers Group Managed Operations. The change is expected to create a more sustainable business and to streamline operations in both countries.De Beers announced the change as its mining footprint in both countries is shrinking due to the closure of the Snap Lake mine in Canada's Northwest Territory and...Read More
RAPAPORT... Profit at Sarine Technologies plunged sharply in the fourthquarter, amid weaker industry sentiment that impacted consumer spending, theequipment maker said Sunday. Profit dropped 85% year on year to $93,000 for the threemonths ending December 31, as uncertainties in China and tightening bank creditto India's manufacturing sector resulted in lower capital-equipment sales andreduced...Read More
RAPAPORT... Actress and singer Lady Gaga sported a 128.54-carat yellowdiamond and platinum Tiffany necklace at the 91st Academy Awardsshow Sunday night. The Oscar winner wore the 141-year-old cushion-cut TiffanyDiamond - which originated in the Kimberley mines in South Africa - was last seen on Audrey Hepburn at the publicity shoot for the 1961 movie Breakfast at Tiffany's. It's th...Read More
RAPAPORT... Signet Jewelers is offering employees at its Ohioheadquarters benefits and assistance to leave the company voluntarily, in aneffort to reduce costs. The Voluntary Transition Program (VTP) is available tosupport-center and field team members at the district-manager level or above,who have been with the company for more than two years, chief people officerMary Liz Finn told employee...Read More