RAPAPORT... Mumbai-based manufacturer Finestar Jewellery & Diamonds inaugurated its Namibia facility, part of a broader beneficiation drive in the country. The company began operating in the capital city Windhoek in April 2021 but delayed the factory's official opening so that Minister of Mines and Energy Tom Alweendo could attend.The minister urged the industry to cut and polish more Nam...Read More
RAPAPORT... Pandora plans to set up an office in New York that will enable it to expand and manage its US business.The Danish jeweler will open a temporary hub in Manhattan this September, followed by a permanent space in the summer of 2023, it said last week. The location will house approximately 150 corporate employees."New York is the largest commercial market in the US and one of the largest c...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Trans Atlantic Gem Sales (TAGS) sold around $35m at its July rough tender in Dubai, as it reported "fragility" in the market.That's an increase on sales in June of $25m, which were up from $20m in April. TAGS said it presented around $50m of goods in a full range of sizes, and sold around 70 per cent."Overall, prices in sizes -3grs held up well, 3-6grs performed less well as d...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A Bulgari sapphire and diamond brooch that belonged to Hollywood icon Liz Taylor is being sold.The British-born actress, best known for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Cleopatra and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, died in 2011, having amassed a huge collection of jewelry from her eight husbands.The majority of her collection sold at Christie's shortly after her death, netting over...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Sotheby's may be responsible for the loss of 45 vivid yellow diamonds, worth $4m, a federal judge in California, USA, has ruled.A consulting and brokerage firm, M&L Financial, took the gems to Sotheby's New York (pictured) for auction on consignment in 2109.The company, based in Dallas, Texas, told Sotheby's it was the exclusive owner of the diamonds.But the auct...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers has increased its production guidance for 2022 - from 30-33Mct to 32-34Mct - citing "robust demand and strong year-to-date operational performance".Sanctions against Alrosa, its biggest rival, have led to global shortages of rough. Last month De Beers reported $650m of rough sales at its fifth sales cycle of 2022, up over a third year-on-year. It reportedly hiked the price...Read More
RAPAPORT... The number of active US jewelry companies continued to decline in the second quarter, according to the latest data from the Jewelers Board of Trade (JBT).Some 161 businesses shuttered during the three months ending June 30, compared with 143 in the same period a year earlier, the JBT said last week. In total there were 23,796 companies active in the US industry, a drop of 1.8% compared...Read More
RAPAPORT... E-commerce giant eBay has expanded its authentication service for jewelry through a partnership with the Gemological Institute of America (GIA).The Authenticity Guarantee, which launched last week, will soon include new and pre-owned pieces from top designer brands such as Bulgari, Van Cleef & Arpels, David Yurman, Cartier, and Tiffany & Co., eBay said. Jewelry is the fift...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Gemfields says operations at its ruby mine in Mozambique are continuing, with increased vigilance, despite an attack in the vicinity as party of an Islamic State-linked insurgency.The London-based miner operates and owns 75 per cent of Montepuez Ruby Mining (MRM), which last month reported a record $95.6m revenue from online auction of its rubies.Thousands of people have died since...Read More
RAPAPORT... De Beers has increased its production outlook for 2022, citing positive demand and strong performance at its mines in the first half of the year.The company expects to recover 32 million to 34 million carats across the 12 months, up from its previous guidance of 30 million to 33 million carats, parent Anglo American said Thursday.Rough-diamond sales rose 19% year on year to 9.4 mi...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sotheby's garnered $18.1 million from its most recent Hong Kong auction, with a jadeite bead and diamond necklace selling for $2.3 million.The piece by designer Jacob & Co. was the star performer at the July 19 Important Jewels sale, Sotheby's said Wednesday. The auction house did not disclose the jewel's presale estimate. Another top seller was an emerald and diamond parure by Cho...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A platinum Cartier ring featuring a vivid red 8.39-carat Burmese ruby sold for $7.3m at Poly Auction, Hong Kong.It was the headline lot in the Magnificent Jewels sale garnered that achieved a total of $25.1m.The ruby in the Fleur de Lotus Ring was accented with two triangular diamonds of 1.07 carats and paved with 12 baguette-cut diamonds of 0.79 carat and 156 circular-cut diamonds...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A woman has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of a jeweler in his hotel room in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.Megan Hall, 28, was facing a count of second-degree murder, with a sentence of up to 25 years, over the death of Patrick J. Murphy, a married 62-year-old father-of-two.Murphy had been visiting the city after attending a jewelry convention in Arizona, according to prosecutors...Read More
News: Diamond trade sluggish amid growing market uncertainty. Disposable income squeezed by high inflation and rising interest rates. China's economy slowing due to Covid-19 lockdowns, crackdown on private sector, real-estate crisis and social protests. Manufacturing liquidity tight; some reducing prices to boost turnover. Polished inventory rising despite decline in rough supply. De Beers raises...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Surat's diamond industry has welcomed an announcement by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that it can pay for Russian diamonds with rupees.Transactions were done in dollars through intermediary banks in the US, until Russia invaded Ukraine in February.The RBI will now allow purchases to be settled in rupees, as a method of circumventing current banking restrictions. The measure...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa says it will make interest payments on two $500m Eurobonds in roubles after dollar payments proved to be "technically impossible".The Russian miner, sanctioned since the invasion of Ukraine in February, said in a statement yesterday that it was "fully committed" to its payment obligations.Corporations like Alrosa use Eurobonds - fixed-income debt instruments - to raise funds...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Petra diamonds reports a year-on-year revenue leap of 44 per cent, driven by price hikes in the rough market and the resumption of work at its Williamson mine, in Tanzania.The UK-based miner said prospects remained positive, despite short to medium volatility because of the war in Ukraine and sanctions on Russian producers and COVID-19.Revenue for financial year ending 30 June 2022...Read More
RAPAPORT... Increased US demand drove an increase in exports of Swiss watches in June as growth in the key market outweighed weakness in the Far East.Outgoing shipments of Swiss timepieces climbed 8% year on year to CHF 2.13 billion ($2.2 billion) globally for the month, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry reported Tuesday.Supply to the US, the sector's largest market, grew 18% to CHF...Read More
RAPAPORT... US authorities are investigating the theft of jewelry worth millions of dollars from a Brink's armored vehicle in California last week, one of the biggest gem robberies on record.The truck was transporting goods to the International Gem & Jewelry Show in Pasadena, California, exhibition director Brandy Swanson told Rapaport News on Tuesday. The victims were 16 to 18 vendors. T...Read More
RAPAPORT... Gem Diamonds has recovered a 114-carat rough from its Let??eng mine in Lesotho, its fourth stone above 100 carats in the past two months.The company unearthed the high-quality, white, type I diamond at the deposit on July 16, Gem Diamonds said Tuesday. The discovery closely followed that of an "exceptional-quality," 245-carat rough on June 11, a 125-carat diamond on May 31, and a high-...Read More