(IDEX Online) - Watch and jewelry sales in the US for November were down 3.8 per cent year-on-year. October's figure, initially reported as a fall of 1.9 per cent, has since been revised down, based on actual through-the-till transactions rather than estimates, to 3.4 per cent, according to the latest figures from the Department of Commerce. Likewise September has been revised from a 1.3...Read More
(IDEX Online) - An Indian jeweler has set a world record with a watch made of 17,524 natural hand-cut diamonds.Renani Jewels, in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, has been recognized by Guinness World Records for its Srinika bracelet timepiece, for "the most diamonds set on a watch".The watch, inspired by ancient Indian mythology, weighs 373.030 gram and contains 54.70 carats of diamonds, all E or F color an...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Luxury French jeweler Boucheron is using recycled industrial waste - which includes asbestos - in a new collection.Material that is usually crushed and used for road-building is vitrified - turned into a glassy (and harmless) substance called Cofalit - through heat and fusion.Claire Choisne, the company's artistic director, saw the potential to cut and polish it for jewe...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Indian Jeweler CaratLane has launched its own range of Harry Potter jewelry in a deal with Warner Bros.There are already a number of licensed collections based on JK Rowling's seven novels and films.The Harry Potter x CaratLane 14-karat gold collection of 61 rings, bracelets, earrings, necklaces and watch charms - some with with diamonds, gemstones, pearls, enamel, and&nb...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Belgium's "carat tax" brought in $29.5m in 2020, far less than the $74m the government had expected.The new regime introduced in 2017, taxes the country's 1,200 or so diamond dealers on 2.1 per cent of revenue rather than profit.During the 2017 and 2018 tax years the carat tax brought in $84m and $104m, according to Belgian newspapers De Tijd and L'Echo.That's a...Read More
(IDEX Online) - BlueRock Diamonds says it has now overcome the problems that cut its processing production by over a third during deluges last April and May.The unexpected rainfall at its Kareevlei mine, in South Africa, hampered access to high-quality kimberlite, forcing it to use lower grade ore and delay roll-out of its mining development plan.But in a trading update the London-based AIM-listed...Read More
(IDEX Online) - An amethyst and diamond pendant famously worn by the late Princess Diana, is expected to fetch up to $145,000 when it is auctioned by Sotheby's London later this month. The Fleur?? (C)e cross, circa 1920, set with square-cut amethyst and accented by circular-cut diamonds belongs to London-based Garrard, official jeweller to the royal family for 160 years until 2007.Prince...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The world's richest diamond mine for the first three quarters of 2022 was Jwaneng, in Botswana, with 10.3m carats.Orapa, also in Botswana, was second-placed with 8.0m carats, according to newly-published figures from miningintelligence.com.Both mines are operated by Debswana, a partnership between De Beers and the government of Botswana.Third on the list is Udachny mine, opera...Read More
IDEX Online) - Diamond manufacturer Kalpesh Jetani has been reunited with polished gems he lost on the way to deposit them at a vault in Surat, India.The packet, valued at $8,500, was found by textile entrepreneur Dharmesh Sakhiya, who posted notices at diamond markets across the city's' Varachha district.Mr Jetani spotted one such notice at the Prince Safe Deposit Vault, made contact, a...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Botswana Diamonds (BOD), the UK-based explorer, says it is seeking joint venture opportunities to seek out new assets in Zimbabwe.The country relies on diamond mining for around 70 per cent of its foreign currency revenue, but is battling grinding poverty among its 15m population,John Teeling, chairman of BOD, said in a trading update: "There are significant geological opportunitie...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Price drops dominated yet again among rounds during December, but there price increases among fancies, as consumers opted for lower-priced goods. Manufacturers in Surat reportedly working at just half capacity. Consumer demand remains depressed, with pre-Christmas spending down 5.4 per cent year-on-year, according to the latest Mastercard SpendingPulse report. And inflation s...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Plans to develop the huge Bunder diamond mine in India, with a potential yield of 34m carats, are facing opposition from environmental groups.Local residents claim the revival of mining activity at Buxwaha, in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, will destroy forest land, cost jobs, displace tribal populations and damage the environment.Rio Tinto leased the site from the state gove...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The holiday season saw a 5.4 per cent drop in year-on-year jewelry sales in the US, despite a growth in overall spending of 7.6 per cent.Shoppers opted to spend their dollars on eating out - restaurants raked in 15.1 per cent more than in 2021, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse's report on US retail sales across all payment types.Spending on clothes also rose, by 4.4...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa says it expects to find more diamonds in Yakutia and beyond, which could take total reserves to an estimated 1.1bn carats.It also says rough production for 2022 is expected to total 35.5m carats, an increase on earlier forecasts of 34.3m.Russia's state-controlled miner, currently sanctioned by the US, says the most promising new territories are the north of Yakutia, in...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The global lab market is set to reach almost $50bn by 2030, according to a new report.That's an increase of almost two-and-a-half times on current estimates of the market value for 2020, of $19.3bn.For context, the total value of the retail diamond jewelry market last year was $85.5bn, according to Tacy's 2021 Diamond Pipeline.US-based Allied Market Research says growth i...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Contemporary artist Pablo Lucker has chosen the surface of a diamond as the "canvas" for his latest work.He used a laser to create a series of heart designs on the table of 12 one-carat stones, and a "crown jewel" of 2.75-carats.Lucker partnered with high-end jewelers Trophy by Gassan (both are based in Amsterdam) for what is being described as the smallest work of art on a diamond...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Two men indicted for the fatal armed robbery of a US jeweler have been found guilty by a federal court.Mark Vuono was shot dead in what police in Stamford, Connecticut, described as a "cold blooded murder".He was found lying in front of his open safe with a head wound at Marco Jewelers after a customer called police, in March 2020. Three men were arrested two days later after...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A flamboyant pastor who was robbed at gunpoint of $1m of jewelry during a live-streamed sermon has been indicted on fraud and extortion charges.Lamor Miller-Whitehead, 45, of Paramus, New Jersey, dubbed the Bling Bishop by newspapers, is charged with two counts of wire fraud and one count of extortion, all of which carry a maximum 20-year sentence. He's also charged with...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A new tracaeability check that will instantly confirm a diamond's country of origin from its Sarine ID number.Sarine, the diamond tech company behind the innovation, says traceability and sustainability have become just as important as an accurate 4Cs evaluation. Its Traceability Origin Check is being introduced as "a complimentary service for the natural diamond communit...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Gitanjali Gems, the company established by Mehul Choksi, the fugitive diamantaire, has been named India's biggest willful defaulter, with unpaid loans of Rs 7,848 crore ($947m). The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has announced a Top 50 of "can pay, won't pay" borrowers.Gitanjali once had 4,000 points of sale, and more than a 50 per cent share of India's overa...Read More