RAPAPORT... TrueFacet, a platform for pre-owned luxury watches andjewelry, is offering nearly $10 million in shares in its latest fundinground. The New York-based marketplace has raised $7.1 million of thetarget so far, according to a December 26 filing with the US Securities and ExchangeCommission. Including that amount, it has procured $21.8 million oversix rounds, according to investment s...Read More
US consumer confidence positive,despite volatile stock markets, government shutdown, and rising interest rates.Holiday jewelry sales +3.7% and overall retail +5.1%, driven by effectiveomni-channel strategies, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse. Online shoppingsurges 19% as Amazon sees record season. Diamond market quiet, with Belgium andUS dealers closed for the holidays. Industry consolidation...Read More
Polished market slow, with very few foreign buyers in Mumbai. Shortage ofselect in-demand items supporting prices. Good demand for 1 ct., G-J,SI1-I1, RapSpec A3+ diamonds. Trading confidence improving as exchangerate stabilizes around INR 70/$1. Rough market seasonally quiet, with factoriesmaintaining steady below-capacity production until the New Year. POLISHED:Read More
RAPAPORT... Alrosa will sell about $88 million worth of non-coreoperations during 2019 so it can focus on its diamond business. The miner will auction off more than 80 assets, includingland, construction sites, heating and electricity services, vacation resorts, andhousing projects, the company said Thursday. Alrosa's supervisory boardapproved the plan at a meeting on December 14. It will hol...Read More
RAPAPORT... As the year comes to a close, Rapaport News takes alook back at the largest rough stones miners unearthed in 2018, and thediamonds that fetched the highest prices at auction.Colossal findsThe 910-carat Lesotho Legend, which Gem Diamonds recoveredin January, claimsthe top spot this year. The D-color, type IIa stone - whichthe miner says is the fifth-largest gem-quality diamond ever foun...Read More
RAPAPORT... De Beers shocked the industry in May by announcing it would launcha line of fashion jewelry featuring laboratory-grown diamonds. Lightbox Jewelrystarted selling the products online in September, and it's now looking atexpansion options. The main opportunity to develop the business will come oncethe miner has finished building a $94 million synthetic-diamond facility inOregon in 2020. T...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Holiday sales increased 5.1% to more than $850 billion this year - the strongest growth in the last six years with a robust shopping season from before Thanksgiving through Christmas, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse. Online shopping also saw large gains of 19.1% compared to 2017. "From shopping aisles to online carts, consumer confidence translated into holiday...Read More
RAPAPORT... US retailers enjoyed their strongest growth in six years this holiday season, although jewelry was slightly off pace, a report by Mastercard SpendingPulse revealed. Jewelry sales increased 3.7% year on year for the period from November 1 to December 24, a company spokesperson confirmed with Rapaport News, marking a slowdown from the 6% growth reported for the category during the 2...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Antwerp Belgian sightholder Pluczenik said he is appealing to the UK Supreme Court regarding a dispute between the firm and veteran diamantaire Willie Nagel who is based in the UK. The England and Wales Court of Appeal recently ruled in favor of Nagel, saying the firm must pay $3.3 million to its former broker W Nagel Ltd. after the court agreed with a ruling of a lower cour...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Two organizers of important watch industry tradeshows - the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) and Baselworld - have agreed to coordinate their dates from 2020 to 2024. The SIHH will be staged from April 26 to 29 in Geneva in 2020, with Baselworld taking place from April 30 to May 5. Next year, SIHH will be held from January 14 to 17, while Baselworld w...Read More
With more than 25 years' experience in the diamond industry - including 19 with De Beers - Stuart Brown was looking for a new opportunity. He found it as the president and CEO of Mountain Province Diamonds (TSX: MPVD; NASDAQ: MPVD)."I was quite excited by this," he said. "I think the mine has good potential, because it's just starting off. I thought I could add a lot of value with my prior rel...Read More
RAPAPORT... US retail sales increased 5.1% this holiday season, buoyedby a rise in online purchasing, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse. Revenues across all retail categories climbed to more than $850billion for the period from November 1 to December 24, recording the strongestgrowth in six years, the report said Wednesday. Online purchases jumped 19% forthe same period. "From shopping a...Read More
RAPAPORT... The US saw a sharp increase in imports and exports of polisheddiamonds in October, according to data from the US Census Bureau. Inboundshipments hit a record level for any month other than May,which is boosted by preparations for the annual JCK Las Vegas fair, Rapaport archives show. Rough tradingslowed.US Diamond Trade Data for October 2018 Millions unless stated otherwiseRead More
RAPAPORT... A five-year dispute between diamond manufacturer Pluczenik and broker W. Nagel is set to continue, despite a recent court ruling. Pluczenik has submitted an appeal to the UK Supreme Court, seeking to overturn a directive for its Belgium-based business to pay Nagel $3.3 million over a breached pact made nearly 25 years ago. The sides had different interpretations of the nature of a 1994...Read More
RAPAPORT... Two of the largest suppliers of better-quality, small polished diamonds have combined their operations, signaling further consolidation in the diamond-manufacturing sector. A joint venture between Niru Group and EZ Diamonds will bring EZ's supply of round diamonds below 0.70 carats into Niru's infrastructure, the companies announced this week. Niru will adopt EZ's online portal, a...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Diamond firms Niru Group and EZ Diamonds are combining their polished diamond operations into a joint business. Both manufacturers are specialists in small high-quality diamonds typically used by watch and jewelry makers with thousands of calibrated assortments. EZ Diamonds' round stones of 0.70 carats and below will move into Niru's The companies say they...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers has announced its sales dates for next year, while ALROSA has published its sales results announcements for 2019. De Beers Sales Cycles 2019: Sight 1: January 21-25 Sight 2: February 25 - March 1 Sight 3: April 1-5 Sight 4: May 13-17 Sight 5: June 17-21 Sight 6: July 22-26 Sight 7: August 19-23 Sight 8: September 23-27 Sight 9: November 4-8 Sight 10: December 9-13 &...Read More
RAPAPORT... De Beers and Alrosa have released the dates of theirrough-diamond sales for 2019. Next year, De Beers will not hold a sight inOctober, replacing it with a sight in August instead. Alrosa sales also includegoods from its subsidiaries, Alrosa-Nurba, Severalmaz and Almazy Anabara.De Beers holds 10 sales, or sights, in Botswana every year, atwhich it sells about 90% of its rough suppl...Read More
RAPAPORT... Eurostar Diamond Traders has entered restructuringproceedings in Belgium, having amassed substantial debts, according to the company'scourt-appointed administrator.The Antwerp-based diamond manufacturer owes morethan $500 million to creditors across its global operations, Alain Van den Cloot, a lawyer at de ClippeleAdvocaten, estimated in an email to Rapaport News. Two Antwerp cou...Read More
RAPAPORT... Diamcor Mining's rough-diamond sales rose 62% year on yearto $1.4 million in the third fiscal quarter. The company sold 7,162 carats during the period which ends December 31, for an average price of $196 per carat, it said last week. At its December tender, the last of the quarter, the miner garnered$303,138 from the sale of 1,905 carats, at an average price of $159 per carat.Dia...Read More