RAPAPORT... Major jewelry outfits from Stuller to Graff have already fallen prey to cyberattacks, so it's only a matter of time until smaller jewelers become the next victims of digital fraud. Many may remember reports of Stuller's cyberattack in 2020 that shut down phones and delayed shipments, and then Graff's ransomware attack in 2021 breached customer names and addresses. "Big retailers s...Read More
RAPAPORT... Signet Jewelers saw its position soar on a 2022 National Retail Federation (NRF) list of the top 100 retailers, which ranks companies based on annual sales.The retailer - the only jewelry specialist to make the list - came in at number 66 after rating 78th last year, the NRF data showed last week. In 2020, Signet just cracked the list at 98. The jeweler owns a number of banners, includ...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Swiss watchmaker Richard Mille has launched the world's thinnest mechanical watch.It has a profile of just 1.80mm, shaving 0.05mm - about the thickness of a human hair - off the previous record holder, Bulgari's Octo Finissimo Ultra.The Richard Mille RM UP-01 Ferrari Ultra-Thin is the culmination of countless prototypes and more than 6,000 hours of R&D and laboratory...Read More
RAPAPORT... Graff paid $7.5 million in bitcoin to a Russian ransomware firm to stop the publication of client data, according to a lawsuit the jeweler filed against its insurer.The UK-based company suffered a cyberattack last year, when Conti encrypted and stole personal information from the luxury brand.Details of the incident became public after Graff sued Travelers, its insurance prov...Read More
RAPAPORT... US jewelry sales rose in June amid a surge in discretionary spending and a return to travel, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse.Revenue for the category jumped 16% year on year during the month, Mastercard reported last week. Many consumers are refreshing their wardrobes as they return to the social scene and make vacation plans. Jewelry purchases soared 87% compared to the same per...Read More
RAPAPORT... Watches of Switzerland's group revenue surged 37% for the full fiscal year as the company expanded its store network and saw strong demand for luxury timepieces.The UK-based retailer's sales came to GBP 1.24 billion ($1.48 billion) for the 52 weeks ending May 1, the company said last week. During the period, none of the group's stores were closed, versus 26 weeks in 2021 when vari...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Two men and a woman have been charged with a series of robberies on staff at jewelry stores across South Florida, USA, that netted merchandise worth millions of dollars. They are accused of conspiring to commit Hobbs Act robbery - taking property by means of actual or threatened force - in Miami Beach, Boca Raton, Lake Worth, Boynton Beach and Fort Pierce.The US Justice...Read More
(IDEX Online) - China's diamond trade declined by over 46 per cent in the first half of this year, as Shanghai was hit by a two-month long Covid lockdown.Total transactions for all rough and polished diamonds were $2.056bn from January to June.That's down from $3.82bn in the same period during 2021, according to the Shanghai Diamond Exchange (SDE), when China reported record high imports...Read More
RAPAPORT... Hong Kong-based colored-diamond specialist Kunming Diamonds has recruited Rahul Jauhari as its director of sales and marketing, the company said Thursday.Jauhari was previously senior vice president for global sales and marketing at Indian diamond manufacturer Star Rays. Before that, he served as HRD Antwerp's commercial director for India.Kunming, founded in the 1980s, is an auth...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The iconic London jeweler Graff is reported to have paid a $7.5m ransom to Russian hackers who stole confidential data about tens of thousands of super-wealthy clients last October.The payment, made in Bitcoin, came to light after Graff launched a legal action against insurers for refusing to cover the loss, according to a Bloomberg report. The Russian cyber-criminal ransomwar...Read More
News: Polished trading seasonally slow due to US summer vacations. Economic uncertainty fueling caution. Shift in sentiment with buyers setting market terms and polished inventories rising despite sanctions on Russian rough. 1 ct. RAPI -1.8% in June. Rough shortages expected to support prices in 2H. Expectations for strong De Beers sight next week. Kimberley Process reports 2021 global rough prod...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Petra Diamonds saw its fortunes reversed at its June tender as rough prices rose by 7.7 per cent.In May the UK-based miner reported like-for-like rough diamond prices down by 23.7 per cent. It blamed "ongoing uncertainty around the impact of the conflict in Ukraine".The company sold 569,496 carats at its June tender, raising a total of $93m. At the May tender it sold more - 635,806...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Fancy yellow diamonds have been discovered at the Ellendale mine, in Australia.Production ceased in 2015 when previous owner Kimberley Diamond Company went into liquidation, but India Bore Diamond Holdings (IBDH) and Burgundy Diamond Mines, both based in Australia, now have tenements there.IDBH said gravel from two separate layers of diamondiferous deposits had yielded a range of g...Read More
RAPAPORT... Diamond production recovered to pre-pandemic levels in 2021 as the market bounced back and mining nations in Africa expanded their operations.Global rough output rose 51% year on year to $13.99 billion, exceeding 2019's total of $13.57 billion, according to statistics the Kimberley Process (KP) released this week. By volume, production increased 12% to 120 million carats but trail...Read More
RAPAPORT... Mainland China's diamond trade tumbled in the first half of this year as the country's response to a fresh coronavirus wave hit consumer spending, according to the Shanghai Diamond Exchange (SDE).Total rough and polished transactions through the SDE slid 46% year on year to $2.06 billion for the six months, the SDE reported Wednesday. Polished imports dropped 36% to $1.01 billion...Read More
RAPAPORT... The European Union should ban Russian diamonds in its next sanctions package, German nonprofit Transparency International said this week in an open letter to officials."No profits from precious stones should directly or indirectly finance the Russian government and its aggression against sovereign states, and no Russian kleptocrat should be able to enjoy luxury goods while innocen...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sarine Technologies will introduce its Light Performance grading reports to mainland China through a co-branded partnership with the National Gemstone Testing Center (NGTC).The reports will establish a new industry standard in the China market, Sarine said Thursday. For the past two-and-a-half years, the NGTC has been carrying out extensive tests on diamonds of various cut qualities us...Read More
RAPAPORT... Retail has shifted since the start of Covid-19, and the drive toward digital has become more pronounced. Some 90% of jewelry retailers now have online platforms, according to Bain & Company's Global Diamond Industry 2021-22 report. "The pandemic rapidly accelerated e-commerce, even for independent US retailers," it states.The move is a direct result of retailers looking to mee...Read More
The more you know about your customers, the better you can connect with them, market to them and ultimately give them what they want.RAPAPORT... Creating a profitable retail business used to be a guessing game reliant on a bit of luck married with years of experience and observation. It required jewelry store owners to know not only which products their customers are interested in now, but which t...Read More
RAPAPORT... BlueRock Diamonds' stock price dropped 29% after it signed a financing deal that could dilute current shareholders' interest in the company.The miner, which runs the Kareevlei deposit in South Africa, made a deal with Teichmann Company that will potentially increase the investor's stock from 17.4% to 51%, BlueRock said Tuesday.The company will initially issue a GBP 1 million ($1.2...Read More