(IDEX Online) - Investigators in India probing an alleged $20m diamond scam are seeking help from authorities in Hong Kong.The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has sent judicial requests for assistance after diamonds were allegedly imported with vastly-inflated fake invoices as part of a money laundering racket.Three customs officers at Mumbai International Airport and another 14 individuals...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) has proposed the opening of a lab-grown diamond park that will help grow the sector and process an extra 150 million carats a year."Lab-grown diamonds have the potential to build and sustain a stronger and more self-reliant domestic cutting and polishing industry," GJEPC chairman Colin Shah said in meeting with Commerce Minister Pi...Read More
RAPAPORT... Traditional diamond grading can be inconsistent and inefficient, but is automation a viable alternative? Experts shared their views in the latest "Fast-Tracking the Future" webinar installment.Titled "Automated Grading and the AI Revolution," the final session of the three-part series featured panelists from four organizations: David Block, CEO of Sarine Technologies, the series'...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa's sales of high-value diamonds to wealthy investors in Russia have increased significantly since sanctions and hard currency restrictions were imposed.The miner, part-owned by the government, launched its Diamond Exclusive program, in partnership with private banks, three years ago.Instead of selling its largest and clearest fancy color stones and colorless gems over 3-...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers today announced 4th cycle rough sales of $604m, a year-on-year increase of 56 per cent.The UK-based miner said demand remained strong, but faced possible threats from Covid lockdowns in China, and sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.It was De Beers' second full sales cycle since the US and EU sanctioned Alrosa, part-owned by the Russian government, and its...Read More
RAPAPORT... The London Diamond Bourse (LDB) has elected David Troostwyk as vice president in a shakeup of its leadership team.Troostwyk, director of polished-diamond company Salotro, is already a member of the UK exchange's board and works closely with the Young Diamantaires group.The election took place on May 12 at the bourse's first in-person annual general meeting (AGM) since 2019, it sai...Read More
RAPAPORT... Lucapa Diamond Company has recovered a 204-carat rough from its Mothae mine in Lesotho, the second-largest high-quality stone it has found at the deposit.The white diamond is the third stone over 200 carats the miner has unearthed since it began commercial operations at the site in 2019, it said Wednesday. It discovered a 215-carat, D-color, type IIa rough in February 2021 and a 220-ca...Read More
RAPAPORT... De Beers' rough sales strengthened in May as the miner benefited from strong consumer demand, with proceeds reaching higher levels than normal for the time of year.The company grossed $604 million at its fourth sales cycle of the year, which included last month's sight in Gaborone, Botswana, it reported Wednesday. The figure was 57% higher than the $385 million it brought in durin...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Harrods, the landmark department store for the super-rich, in Knightsbridge, London, will no longer sell expensive jewelry, watches or other luxury goods to Russian customers.It has contacted all customers on its database with a Russian address, warning them they can no longer buy items priced at over ?, ?300 ($370) because of UK sanctions."The UK authorities have introduced furthe...Read More
RAPAPORT... US retail sales grew in April amid holiday spending, increased wages and higher tax refunds.Revenue rose 0.9% from the previous month, versus a 1.4% increase in March, according to data the US Census Bureau released last week. April sales climbed 6% compared with a year earlier."April's retail sales data is encouraging because it shows consumers are taking higher prices in stride and r...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Lucapa has announced the recovery of a 204-carat diamond at its Mothae mine, in Lesotho.It's the eighth +100 carat diamond, and third +200 carat, to be recovered since commercial mining started there in January 2019.The Australian miner owns 70 per cent of the kimberlite mine, the remainder belongs to the Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho.Mothae is the world's highest...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Indian manufacturers are working short weeks or closing their factories altogether as supplies of Russian diamonds run out.The rough supplied in normal times by Alrosa - mostly smaller stones - accounts for 40 per cent of their needs (by volume), but Surat is now feeling the full force of sanctions and banking restrictions.There will also be an inevitable knock-on effect in the US,...Read More
RAPAPORT... A 76.46-carat diamond necklace is expected to fetch up to $6 million at the upcoming Christie's New York Magnificent Jewels sale.The piece features a heart brilliant-cut, D-color, VVS2-clarity, type IIa diamond center stone, accompanied by 46 stones of the same shape ranging from 0.46 to 3.03 carats. It will be one of the top items at the June 8 jewelry auction, Christie's said last we...Read More
RAPAPORT... With Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine dominating headlines in recent years, it's easy to forget that undisclosed synthetics once ranked among the biggest threats facing the diamond industry. But while the number of cases may have dropped, the threat of fraudsters mixing lab-grown in parcels of natural remains, notes Trevor Poulter, product group manager for identification and classifica...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Russia crisis and India's summer break have led to a moderate drop in manufacturing that is likely to intensify in the coming months, Sarine Technologies said after reporting a decline in first-quarter sales."I'm not sure [I] can say there is a significant slowdown, but there is a slowdown, part of it probably because of the vacation, part of it because of Russian goods," Sari...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Sanctions on Russian diamonds could force jewelers to amend their designs, say De Beers boss Bruce Cleaver, as they struggle to source enough melee.Alrosa, part-owned by the Russian government, produces a disproportionate percentage of the world's stones under 0.2-cts (the GIA's definition of melee).As a result, designers may have to find other ways to accentuate the larg...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Four masked raiders smashed the display window at jeweler's store with sledgehammers and fled with $100,000 of merchandise.Police in Westchester County, New York State, USA, later arrested three suspects after they crashed their car during a chase and fled, leaving the loot behind.The smash and grab took place at Golden Square Jewelry, Yonkers, last Thursday.One of the co-owne...Read More
RAPAPORT... The diamond and jewelry industry is seeing a sharp rise in interest in traceability programs as companies across the pipeline seek to avoid supply from Russian sources, according to Sarine Technologies CEO David Block. "There has been huge interest from all the different players in the industry over the last month or two since the conflict broke out with regards to traceability," Block...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Investors will be able to buy a tiny share of a high-value fancy colored diamond, with the launch on Wednesday of Luxus.The US-based fractional ownership business will allow clients, who would otherwise be priced out of the market to buy 0.1 per cent or less, of a gem.The first diamond on offer is a 0.54-ct fancy pink diamond from the iconic Argyle mine, in Australia, valued at $40...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Fashion model Molly Sims dazzled at the Met Gala, wearing 120 carats of diamonds.She wore a $1m necklace in her hair, courtesy of Ring Concierge, the New York jeweler that specializes in designs "for women, by women".Sims, 48, has featured in campaigns for Jimmy Choo, Escada, Giorgio Armani, Michael Kors, and Chanel.She also wore two pairs of pear and marquise cluster earrings (16...Read More