(IDEX Online) - Richemont reported significant increases in its US and European sales in the three months to June, but a plunge in its revenue from China.The Swiss-based luxury company, that counts Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Jaeger-leCoultre and Piaget among its 26 maisons, said total sales for the quarter were $5.27 billion, an overall growth rate of 12 per cent.Richemont reported 20 per ce...Read More
(IDEX Online) - India's gross exports of polished diamonds were $2.01bn in June, a dollar rise of 2.25 per cent on the same month last year.The figure for the three months from April to June was $6.27bn, a dollar increase of 1.09 per cent.Overall gross exports of all gems and jewlery were $3.2bn in June, a year-on-year dollar rise of 14.5 per cent, as India reaped the benefits of its Comprehe...Read More
RAPAPORT... Petra Diamonds' sales surged in the past fiscal year as the company benefited from stronger rough demand and the resumption of production at its Williamson mine in Tanzania.Revenue jumped 44% to $584.1 million for the 12 months ending June 30, the miner reported Tuesday. Prices climbed 42% on a like-for-like basis compared to the previous year."The most recent tender in June highlighte...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
RAPAPORT... India's polished-diamond exports rose 2% year on year in June, reflecting a sharp climb in the average price, according to recent data from the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC). The increase follows a 4% jump in shipments for May.India Trade Data for June 2022 Read More
RAPAPORT... Rio Tinto has lowered its output forecast for the full year following challenges arising from Covid-19.The miner now expects production from the Diavik mine in Canada to be between 4.5 million and 5 million carats, it said last week. That compares with the 5 million to 6 million carats it predicted at the beginning of the year.Diamond production climbed 35% year on year to 1.1 million...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Canadian junior miner Diamcor achieved an average of US$246.62 per carat at its rough tender from the Krone-Endora at Venetia Project, in South Africa.That's down over a fifth on the $330 per carat it achieved in February, when it sold 3,063 carats for $1,010,406.It sold a total of 1,939.81 carats sold earlier this month, generating gross revenues of USD $478,3...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Thieves who broke into an unattended Brink's security trailer in Southern California, USA, may have escaped with up to $150m in jewelry, gems, high-end watches, according to exhibitors.The vehicle was on its way from the International Gem and Jewelry Show in San Mateo, south of San Francisco, to an event at the Pasadena Convention Center, northeast of Los Angeles. Guards who h...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Four Canadian men have been charged at a court in Ohio, USA, with a pink diamond and jewelry investment fraud following an FBI probe.They are alleged to have cold-called potential investors in the US and Canada and persuaded them to make small investments in pink diamonds, which, they claimed, would increase in value. The defendants claimed to work for Paragon Int...Read More
RAPAPORT... A ruby and diamond ring by Cartier was the star of the most recent jewelry sale at Poly Auction in Hong Kong, fetching HKD 57.6 million ($7.3 million).The piece, which featured an 8.39-carat Burmese ruby surrounded by diamonds, also set a record for the highest price achieved by a ruby at auction, Poly Auction said last week. In total, the July 13 Magnificent Jewels sale garnered more...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A criminal investigation has reportedly been opened in Israel against "Tinder Swindler" Shimon Hayut, following a complaint from the Leviev family, owners of Leviev Diamonds.It follows Netflix's true-crime documentary which told how Hayut, 31, seduced numerous women over the Tinder dating app with his jet set lifestyle, then persuaded them to hand over money with claims that h...Read More
RAPAPORT... Hong Kong jeweler Luk Fook's sales slipped 1% in the first fiscal quarter as the health situation deteriorated in mainland China.Total same-store sales - at Luk Fook outlets open for more than a year - in China dropped 28% year on year for the three months ending June 30, the company said last week. Same-store sales of gold priced by weight fell 30%, while purchases of fixed-price jewe...Read More
RAPAPORT... It's official: Guinness World Records has verified the 7,525-carat Chipembele as the largest uncut emerald on record. The agency presented Israel-based Eshed-Gemstar with its sought-after certificate in April, after the company bought the stone from Gemfields last December for an undisclosed amount. Gemfields recovered the emerald a month earlier from its Kagem mine in Zambia, claiming...Read More
RAPAPORT... Until December 2021, De Beers cited Covid-19 as the reason for repeated delays to its talks with Botswana over a new sales deal. The old agreement was supposed to expire at the end of 2020. De Beers and the government extended the existing arrangement for a year. With the pandemic's logistical challenges remaining, they deferred it again for another six months.The miner is no long...Read More
RAPAPORT... A robust performance at Richemont's jewelry and watch brands boosted revenue in the first fiscal quarter amid a return to tourist spending as well as strong local demand in the US and Europe.Proceeds from the group's jewelry maisons - Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Buccellati - rose 20% year on year to EUR 3.02 billion ($3.04 billion) for the three months ending June 30, the comp...Read More
RAPAPORT... US retail sales saw soft growth in June as consumer prices climbed, especially for essential goods.Revenue rose 1% from the previous month, versus a 0.1% decrease in May, according to data the US Census Bureau released last week. June sales climbed 8% compared with a year earlier. Inflation is causing consumers to modify their spending behavior and prioritize essentials such as food, e...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The UAE accounted for almost a third of Israel's rough diamond imports and almost a fifth of its exports last month, according to new figures.There was no official trade of any kind between the two countries before the Abraham Accords, signed in September 2020, normalized relations.But in June, Israel imported approximately $64m of rough diamonds from the UAE, which is about 3...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A 38-carat Goloconda diamond that once belonged to socialite Christina Onassis is being offered for sale with a $7.5m price tag.The pear-shaped Type IIa, D-color, VVS1-clarity stone was set into a pendant necklace by Jacques Timey for the King of Diamonds, Harry Winston.The platinum and white 18K gold necklace (pictured) has an additional 20.00 to 25.00 total carats, of G col...Read More
RAPAPORT... US retail sales saw soft growth in June as consumer prices climbed, especially for essential goods.Revenue rose 1% from the previous month, versus a 0.1% decrease in May, according to data the US Census Bureau released last week. June sales climbed 8% compared with a year earlier. Inflation is causing consumers to modify their spending behavior and prioritize essentials such as food, e...Read More
RAPAPORT...The lab-grown diamond industry has seen a boom in interest in the past two years, with many in the mainstream jewelry trade embracing the product in their sales offerings. Yet how does this recent acceptance impact the natural-diamond sector, and how will the two products coexist? These themes took center stage in the first of a series of webinars sponsored by the International Gemologi...Read More