RAPAPORT... Titan Company's jewelry sales grew by a "double-digit"percentage during India's September and October festivals, the retailer said.Dussehra and Diwali, two of the main holidays in the year,occurred in different fiscal quarters at the end of 2017, meaning related saleswere split between the two reporting periods. However, this only had a limitedimpact on sales for the third fiscal quart...Read More
RAPAPORT... Kering has appointed Nathalie Diamantis as head of itsjewelry operations in North America and Latin America, the luxury group said. As president of Kering Jewelry for the Americas, Diamantiswill oversee growth of the Pomellato, Boucheron and Dodo fine-jewelry brandsacross the region, succeeding Alain Huy, the company confirmed with Rapaport NewsWednesday. Diamantis previously spe...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sales of jewelry, watches and other luxury items in HongKong rose in the first 11 months of 2017 as tourists returned and localconsumer sentiment recovered, the city's official data authority said.Retail sales for the category grew 5% year on year to $8.49billion (HKD 66.35 billion) for the January-to-November period, Hong Kong'sCensus and Statistics Department said in a statement Wedn...Read More
Dear friends,Greetings and best wishes for the New Year.I am pleased to write that the overall outlook for diamond demand is positive and improving. The US holiday season performed very well, and expectations are high for the Chinese New Year. Given the new US tax law and potential US fiscal policy stimulus in the form of huge infrastructure spending, we expect the positive trend to continue throu...Read More
Prince Harry's recent engagement combined with the massive success of Netflix's series The Crown has reignited people's and media's interest in the British monarchy.This is probably why newspapers and news sites around the UK paid special attention this week to the fact that later in 2018 the Clogau St David's mine, located near Bontddu in North Wales, might reopen after two decades of inactivity....Read More
RAPAPORT... Robust retail sales during the recent holiday period willlead to growth in Hong Kong's export market in 2018, the Hong Kong TradeDevelopment Council (HKTDC) said. Strong sales figures at the end of 2017 in both traditionaland emerging markets will result in higher shipments of products from Hong Kongto these locations, the organization predicted in a study it released last week. US ho...Read More
RAPAPORT... The president and chief financial officer of Alex and Anihave left the jewelry brand, according to reports. The one-year contracts of company president CindyDiPietrantonio (pictured) and chief financial officer Bob Woodruff expired, ProvidenceJournal reported last month. Both of them joined Alex and Ani in 2016:DiPietrantonio was chief operating officer until her promotion to president...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The international auction house Bonhams has appointed Jean Ghika as its new Global Head of Jewellery. As part of her new role, Ghika will oversee sales in Bonhams offices in London, New York, Hong Kong and Los Angeles. She has worked at Bonhams for 25 years and is a leading jewelry expert, the auction house said. She was appointed Director of Jewellery for UK &...Read More
RAPAPORT... This year's edition of the Miami Beach Jewelry & WatchShow will move to a new venue, organizers said. The event, scheduled to run from February 1 to 4, will now takeplace at the waterfront location of One Herald Plaza, a popular area in Miami known for prestigious art fairs, the Palm Beach Show Group noted. Last year's event was at the Deauville Beach Resort.Organizers had pla...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Sarine Technologies Ltd said that its Galaxy (R) family of scanning and inclusion mapping systems surpassed the milestone of having scanned 10 million stones worldwide in one year in 2017. Since its release into the market in late 2009, Sarine's internal inclusion mapping technology, the Galaxy family of systems (today encompassing the Galaxy, Galaxy XL, Galaxy Ultra, Solari...Read More
RAPAPORT... Bonhams has appointed Jean Ghika as global director of finejewelry, the London-based auction house announced. She will supervise sales inLondon, New York, Hong Kong and Los Angeles.Ghika's promotion comes after 25 years at Bonhams, where shewas most recently director of jewelry for the UK and Europe. She has beenresponsible for several world records the company achieved during her...Read More
RAPAPORT... Bonhams has appointed Jean Ghika as global director of finejewelry, the London-based auction house announced. She will supervise sales inLondon, New York, Hong Kong and Los Angeles.Ghika's promotion comes after 25 years at Bonhams, where shewas most recently director of jewelry for the UK and Europe. She has beenresponsible for several world records the company achieved during her...Read More
The European Union has taken over the chairmanship of the Kimberley Process for 2018, a decade after it last directed the initiative. Federica Mogherini, who is an Italian politician and the High Representative of the bloc for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, will be heading the operation. Kimberley is a process started in 2003 following the United Nations General Assembly's Resolution 55/56....Read More
International diamond trading network Rapaport Group released a report that states that, following a better-than-expected holiday season, polished diamond prices stabilized in December 2017.Even though the company's RapNet Diamond Index, known as RAPI, slid 1.7% for 3-carat diamonds in the last month of the year, it edged up 0.3% for 1-carat diamonds, 1.2% for 0.30-carat diamonds, and 0.6% for 0.5...Read More
RAPAPORT PRESS RELEASE, January 2, 2018, New York... Polished diamond prices stabilized in December following a better-than-expected holiday season. US consumer sentiment was boosted by economic growth, record-high stock markets and a drastic tax overhaul that is expected to raise disposable income and discretionary spending. The RapNet Diamond Index (RAPI?,,?) for 1-carat diamonds edged up 0.3% i...Read More
RAPAPORT... The European Union (EU) has taken over the chairmanship ofthe Kimberley Process (KP) for 2018, with Italian politician FedericaMogherini heading the operation.The leadership of the KP switches every year, with Australiataking charge in 2017 and the United Arab Emirates in 2016. India is the vicechair this year, and will become chair in 2019. "For the European Union, the Kimberley Proce...Read More
RAPAPORT... Christmas was not white enough for jewelry buyers in NewHampshire, after a local retailer had promised to refund in-store purchases ifenough snow fell.Springer's Jewelers said it would return up to $10,000 toanyone who bought products between November 24 and December 9, as long as itsnowed at least 6 inches outside its Portsmouth store on December 25. But with only 4.3 inches falling,...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The European Union has taken over as chair of the Kimberley Process (KP) as of today under the leadership of High Representative Vice President Federica Mogherini. The EU was vice-chair last year when Australia headed the body. India is the vice-chair this year and will chair the organization in 2019. Mogherini said: "For the European Union, the Kimberley Process is p...Read More
RAPAPORT... As the silly season comes to a slowend, here's another list of stories we feel are worth revisiting. They didn't quite make our list of most-read stories of 2017, but they were certainly among our favorites and made their mark during the year:1. CanLady Gaga Save Tiffany & Co?2. SarineVentures into Diamond Grading3. NewDiamond Ads Refocus on Love Moments4. Israel Takes I...Read More
(IDEX Online News) - There was a small rise in the IDEX polished diamond price index during December following a flat performance in November. The Index began the month at 120.02 and ended at 120.90. Outlook Sentiment in the diamond centers was generally positive in the global diamond centers, with diamantaires looking forward to strong holiday sales and the Chinese N...Read More