(IDEX Online) - A legendary Cartier watch - one of only four ever made - could fetch $400,000 when it is auctioned at Sotheby's Paris next month.It was presented to Belgian motocross driver Gaston Rahier for a unique achievement, winning his class of the grueling Paris-Dakar Rally across the Sahara Desert in both 1984 and 1985.The Cartier Cheich (pictured) has a dial framed by a gol...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Natural Diamond Council (NDC) is promoting mined gems with 12 love-story podcasts in India.Pyaar Actually - Love Stories like No Other are narrated by TV and stage stars Shriya Pilgaonkar, Aahana Kumra and Akshay Oberoi, drawing on parallels between natural diamonds and real-life loving relationships.Richa Singh, managing director of the Natural Diamond Council in India an...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Canadian miner Star Diamond has announced a first-half net loss, up to 30 June, of $1.5m, down from $3.1m for the same period in 2021.It blamed ongoing operating costs and the fact that exploration and evaluation expenditures had exceeded interest and other income earned. Star Diamonds joint venture partner Rio Tinto Canada, which holds a 75 per cent stake in the Fort ?? la...Read More
Pandora has named Mary Carmen Gasco-Buisson as its new chief marketing officer to help the brand achieve growth.Gasco-Buisson has extensive consumer brand experience in several categories, including fragrances, beauty and women's health. She is currently global vice president of Unilever, where her achievements include heading the turnaround of men's personal-care brand Axe. She previously held le...Read More
RAPAPORT... The International Gemological Institute (IGI) will perform valuation services for the pieces listed on Luxus, a precious-gem and high-jewelry investment platform. Through this partnership, IGI's evaluation team will generate appraisal reports for each piece of jewelry on the Luxus platform, the parties announced Tuesday. The institute will include the item's retail replacement val...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sarine Technologies has started enabling manufacturers to carry out automated diamond grading on-site using artificial intelligence (AI).The company has launched its e-Grading product for an "expanded number" of cutting firms, it said Monday.The Israeli producer of equipment for the diamond industry unveiled its plans for in-house grading in March 2020 and began testing it with se...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Raiders broke open the safe at an Indian polishing unit and stole over 16,000 diamonds.They struck while it was closed for the Raksha Bandhan festival on 11 August.The factory in Dediapada, 70 miles from Surat, employs 100 workers in an area dominated by tribal communities.The raid came to light when a manager went to open the factory after the festival and found the main doors had...Read More
RAPAPORT... Titan Company's diamond-sourcing costs have jumped in the past eight months, prompting the Indian retailer to pass price increases on to shoppers, its top jewelry executive said.The jeweler raised consumer prices in November 2021, January 2022 and March 2022 in response to higher procurement expenses, reported Ajoy Chawla, CEO of the company's jewelry division, in an August 5 inve...Read More
RAPAPORT... Pandora will introduce lab-grown diamonds in North America later this month following a trial in the UK, the jewelry retailer announced Tuesday.The line will be available from August 25 across 269 of its stores in the US and Canada, as well as online, the company said. Prices will start at $300, with stones ranging from 0.15 carats to 1 carat. It will include 33 pieces comprising...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Tiffany & Co has announced a gender-neutral range of diamond and gold bracelets.It follows the launch last May of its first range of engagement rings for men, recognizing the rise in same-sex marriages.The new Lock collection, released on Tiffany's e-commerce site last Friday, is designed a round a padlock motif as a symbol of togetherness.The four bracelet styles, priced...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Pandora today announced the launch of a lab grown diamond collection in the US and Canada, following its announcement last May that it would no longer use mined gems.The Danish jewelry giant also says the 33-item collection, branded as Pandora Brilliance is its first using 100 per cent recycled silver and gold.Pandora, the world's largest jewelry brand, with 6,800 points of sa...Read More
(IDEX Online) - An Australian professor is using laser technology to identify "stray" Argyle pink diamonds.John Watling, a former Argle physicist and Professor of Forensic and Analytical Chemistry at University of Western Australia has set up a lab in Perth that "fingerprints" diamonds.It allows him to trace them back to their original source - not just the mine, but the individual kimberlite pipe...Read More
RAPAPORT... Richemont chairman Johann Rupert has urged shareholders to vote against an investor's proposal to appoint a former LVMH executive to the group's board.Bluebell Capital Partners has called for the selection of its cofounder Francesco Trapani as representative of Richemont's class "A" shareholders on the board. Category "A" shares have higher financial value but give holders fewer v...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Customs officer in the US seized three shipments of counterfeit jewelry and watches from Hong Kong which would have been worth $6.88m if genuine. The first shipment had a declared value of $319, but contained 275 assorted Cartier Love bracelets, with retail prices, if genuine, totaling $3.27m. It was addressed to a private residence in Richmond, Virginia, but was inte...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Income tax officials in India posed as a 250-strong wedding party in a series of raids that netted undeclared gold, diamonds and cash worth $49m.The Income Tax department (IT) used 120 vehicles in the operation, decked out for a baarati, or the wedding procession that accompanies a bridegroom to the venue.They raided premises, warehouses, and farmhouses linked to two steel, clothin...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Hard drives and documents have been seized in a raid on the Alexander Bay Diamond Company, in Johannesburg, South Africa.It's part of an investigation into alleged corruption at Alexkor, the state-owned diamond firm, and its links to the super-wealthy Gupta family - described by the US Treasury as "members of a significant corruption network".Alexkor appointed the Alexander Ba...Read More
(IDEX Online) - At least 43 diamond workers have been sacked at the Murowa mine, in Zimbabwe, say union leaders.They protested after subcontractors failed to pay their wages for five months, according to the Zimbabwe Diamond and Allied Minerals Workers Union (Zdamwu).The mine workers arrived at the premises of their employer, subcontractors Capfire Private Limited, but were barred from entry and s...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Buyers placed orders worth $88m at India's second Lab-Grown and Jewellery Exhibition, say organizers.The four-day event in Mumbai attracted over 100 exhibitors and 25,000 visitors. "We see great potential in the lab grown diamond industry," Rajesh Bajaj, convenor of the Lab-Grown Diamond and Jewellery Promotion Council (LGDJPC) told the Indian Express."Even buyers from Ho...Read More
RAPAPORT... Revenue rose strongly at Brilliant Earth in the second quarter as the US retailer expanded its online-offline model and benefited from higher sales of fine jewelry.Sales jumped 18% year on year to $108.8 million for the period, the digital-focused jeweler reported Thursday. Net profit dropped 56% to $3.8 million, reflecting an increase in operating expenses."We continue to see out...Read More
News: Diamond market cautious amid China slowdown and US economic uncertainty. Polished prices declining. Inventory remains high. IIJS show reflects upbeat Indian jewelry market and spurs optimism for Diwali. Cutters maintaining lower production and anticipate strong demand for De Beers rough at next week's sight. Speculation that large manufacturers able to purchase Alrosa rough through non-doll...Read More