(IDEX Online) - The total value of the raid that netted $10m from a Watchmaster vault has now been put at $32m.Sebastian Buchner, spokesman for the Berlin public prosecutor, told reporters on Friday that valuables worth a total of $22m were stolen from lockers rented to private customers at the same venue.Police say the perpetrators, disguised as security guards, sprayed paint on surveillance came...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Diamcor today announced a huge increase in carats sold this quarter, as it saw average per-carat prices fall by more than half.The Canadian junior miner said it sold 8,327 carats of rough from its Venetia mine in South Africa, during the the current quarter, ending December 31. That's an increase of 121 per cent on the 3,776 carats sold in the previous three months.But gross r...Read More
(DEX Online) - British actress Lily James has visited Botswana in her new role as global ambassador for the Natural Diamond Council.The 33-year-old Emmy-nominated star, known for roles in Pam and Tommy and Downton Abbey, visited Lucara's Karowe Diamond Mine, as well as the De Beers Global Sightholder Sales facility in Gaborone, the capital of Botswana. She also went to the KGK Diamo...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Lucapa reports the "best kimberlite diamond recoveries to date" from ongoing explorations at its Lulo mine, in Angola.The Australian miner says bulk sampling of diamond-bearing kimberlites had yielded 20 stones with a total weight of 15.51 carats.Among them were five +1.0-ct diamonds, including one of 1.95-cts. A number of stones have been classified as Type IIa."While the processi...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The world's largest internally flawless diamond, a 303.1-carat fancy deep brownish-yellow stone, sold yesterday for $12.4m at at Sotheby's New York.It became the third most valuable yellow diamond ever sold at auction, but fell short of its $15m high estimate. Sotheby's described the price as "strong".Quig Bruning, head of jewelry for Sotheby's Americas, said th...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The mined diamond sector is being "cannibalized" as almost three quarters of jewelry retailers now sell lab growns, according to new research by The MVeye, market research specialists in gems and jewelry. Most of them say margins are 20 per cent to 40 per cent higher than mined diamonds. The survey found 72 per cent sell lab grown, and half of those who don't currently ar...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Zimbabwe's central bank is to buy up excess diamonds in a government-structured deal aimed at outlawing smuggling and corruption.The government hopes the arrangement with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) will help it clear an $80m debt owed to the Trade and Development Bank (TDB), formerly the PTA Bank, according to the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper.It said the bank had con...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Sergey Ivanov is to step down early as CEO of Alrosa, Russia's state-controlled diamond miner, according to media reports.He will reportedly join the private investment firm Volga Group, owned by Gennady Nikolayevich Timchenko, a billionaire and long-time friend and ally of Russia's president Vladimir Putin.Mr Ivanov (pictured) was appointed as Alrosa's youngest ever...Read More
(IDEX Online ) - Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group - a private army that has been sanctioned by the US - are reported to be selling blood diamonds from the Central African Republic (CAR). The Belgian newspaper De Standaard claims they've been offered for sale on Facebook, and says some of the stones have reached Antwerp. The Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) reacted angril...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers is extending sightholders' three-year contracts for an extra year as global uncertainties persist.The UK-based miner said it was seeking to provide them with flexibility. Existing contracts, which determine allocations of rough, will now run until the end of 2024, instead of the end of 2023. In January 2021, De Beers introduced new contracts dividing buyers into...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Romantic Scott Clyne planned a sunset marriage proposal on a boat off Florida's Gulf Coast - but managed to drop the engagement ring into the sea.Video of the ring box bouncing off the deck into the water - and of him instinctively diving in to find it - has gone viral and racked up well over 8m views on TikTok and beyond."Dropped the ring in the gulf during my proposal," read...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Watch and jewelry sales in the US are now lower than a year ago, according to the latest figures from the Department of Commerce. They fell by 1.9 per cent year-on-year during October, the first month of negative growth since May 2020, when Covid lockdowns devastated the industry. Growth in sales has been slow - below six per cent for every month since May - but has always managed...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The IDEX Polished Price Index fell 2.62 per cent in November, its biggest monthly drop since April of this year. Uncertainties over the US economy, where inflation is expected to hit 10 per cent, together with the war in Ukraine and persistent Covid lockdowns in China - as well as protests against such moves - are dampening demand and squeezing prices The decline during...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Prices of used Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet and other luxury watches are sliding.They were down 6.7 per cent in November according to the Subdial50 Index, which tracks prices for the 50 most traded luxury watches.Among the biggest losers were the Rolex Oyster Perpetual 41 Reference: 124300, down 10.8 per cent to $8,283 and the Patek Philippe Nautilus Reference: 5712/...Read More
(IDEX Online) - One of Britain's oldest jewelry stores is to finally cease trading, after almost 230 years.Martin Wilkinson Jewellers, in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, (pictured) will close when owner Andrew Campin retires after 60 years of service.The store, founded in 1794 during the reign of King George III, became renowned for servicing bomber command wrist watches during World War II."With...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Diamond miners in Zimbabwe are now paying half their royalties to the government in rough stones, 40 per cent in local currency and 10 per cent in foreign currency.Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube gave details of the new policy last week, saying the government needed to build its national reserve of precious stones and metals, including gold, platinum and lithium.It previously accepte...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The FBI has recovered $1m of Forevermark diamonds that were stolen by notorious conman James Sabatino - from his prison cell.Sabatino, 46, serving a 20-year term in Miami, USA, posed as a music executive and used a smuggled phone to persuade the De Beers subsidiary to provide gems, supposedly for a video of Justin Timberlake and wife Jessica Biel.Nine pieces of jewelry, among...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Watchmaster, the online retailer that had $10m of luxury watches stolen from a vault in Berlin, yesterday filed for insolvency.The company says it's appointed an insolvency administrator to restructure the business, and hopes it will be able to continue trading.Its insurance only covers the purchase value of the watches, but not its investment in processing, certifying a...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Rounds fell yet again during November as the recession showed no sign of easing. Consumers turned to cheaper goods, pushing up some fancy prices. Rounds The decline that began in March continued, with price drops dominating almost every size category shown in 0.40-cts to 1.00-ct goods. There were very few price rises of any sort in goods below 1.25-cts. There...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Petra Diamonds today said its Williamson mine, in Tanzania, is likely to remain closed for longer than expected following the dam breach a month ago."Interim deposition options are being developed that may enable the Williamson mine to resume production around the middle of 2023," said the UK-based miner.A week after the breach, Petra said a preliminary estimate suggested productio...Read More