(IDEX Online) - TAG Heuer has unveiled a new version of its most expensive watch, the Carrera Plasma, to mark its diamond anniversary, incorporating 15.5 carats of lab growns.The gems are step-cut into "imaginative shapes" and set into both the black aluminum case and into the strap. The watch's dial is a polycrystalline diamond plate - a sum of crystals grown as one, and the crown is a...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Israel's diamond industry suffered another steep decline in monthly polished diamond exports during November as the war continued in Gaza.But year-on-year average per carat prices were far higher, and foreign sales for the month dwarf those of 2022.Net polished diamond exports for November were just over $107m, according to the Ministry of Economy and Industry, a 75 per cent d...Read More
(IDEX Online) - India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi today (17 December) officially opened the new Surat Diamond Bourse, with a promise that it would create 150,000 new jobs. The $355m bourse has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the biggest office building in existence (7.1 million sq. ft of floor space), eclipsing The Pentagon, HQ of the US Defense Department."One more...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Breitling has bought Universal Geneve, the lesser known but highly-prized luxury Swiss watch brand, with a promise to revive the company from "hibernation" to its former glory.It acquired the company from Stelux Holdings, the Hong Kong holding company that bought the brand in 1989. Breitling reportedly paid $70m, in a move that surprised industry experts.Universal Geneve was founde...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Petra Diamonds may have found a buyer for the loss-making Koffiefontein mine, in South Africa, that has been on care and maintenance since November 2022.The UK-based miner says it has has entered into a non-binding term sheet on an exclusive basis with an unnamed interested party.The mine was expected to reach the end of its life in 2025, before operations were halted. A 2021 asses...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Bucherer, the Swiss watch retailer, is to sell Rahaminov diamonds online and in its US stores.The move comes after Rolex acquired the Lucerne-based family business, with its 100 outlets, from 87-year-old chairman Jorg G. Bucherer in September.Rahaminov, known for diamond cutting, sales and trading was founded in Italy in the 1940s by the Rahaminov brothers, who were diamond cutters...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa has reported a 7 per cent drop in net profit during the first nine months of 2023, down to $975m (RUB 87.9bn).Russia's state-controlled miner said Q3 revenue was $871m (RUB78.5bn), down 7 per cent on the Q2 revenue of $936m (RUB 92.51bn) previously reported. But it was up 55 per cent on revenue for Q3 2022.Alrosa halted rough sales during September and October in a move...Read More
(IDEX Online) - India's voluntary two-month ban on rough purchases saw a dramatic reduction in imports during November, down 69 per cent from $1.02bn in October to $314m, according to new figures from the GJEPC (Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council). The moratorium ended on 15 December and is seen as a major reason for the recent uptick in diamond prices.IDEX's Polished...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Three people died and two were injured after a release of methane gas at Russia's biggest diamond mine.A criminal investigation is taking place into a possible violation of safety rules at Alrosa's Udachny deposit, in the Daldyn-Alakit kimberlite field, Yakutia.A commission led by a representative of Rostekhnadzor, Russia's Federal Service for Environmental, Technolo...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Anglo American, parent company of loss-making De Beers, is being tipped as a takeover or merger target after its valuation dropped by over $30bn in under two years. Both the diamond and platinum markets have been in decline of late, and on Friday (8 December) Anglo announced it had drastically cut production forecasts for copper and had revised down predictions for other metal...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Diamond Worker Union Gujarat (DWUG) claims over half the state's 2.5m diamond workers are being denied minimum wage benefits guaranteed by labor laws. It is threatening a major protest unless its demands are met before Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially opens the new Surat Diamond Bourse (SDB) on Sunday 17 December.The DWUG claims wages have been cut by as much a...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Celebrity jeweler Benny Nisanov was held at gunpoint as raiders stole goods worth $1m from his New York store.Nisanov, 33, who trades as Benny Da Jeweler, is the go-to jeweler for rapper Casanova, as well as Ice Spice, Pop Smoke, P Diddy, Mary J Blige, Bobby Shmurda, Davido, French Montana, Lil TJay and Jake Paul. He told police the robbers threatened to shoot after bursting i...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Indian manufacturers are concerned about the G7's rollout of diamond sanctions on Russia, which is responsible for 30 per cent of global supply.The GJEPC (Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council), representing almost 10,000 members, says there should be more flexibility to miminize the impact of the new restrictions."We are not happy with the announced timeline for implemen...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Plunging lab grown prices mean some brides-to-be are now embarrassed by the size of their engagement ring, according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).Rocks of two, three or more carats are becoming more and more common, leaving couples with a dilemma. Do they pretend they have the funds to buy a huge natural diamond, or admit it's a lab grown.The average retail pri...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The rough diamond market appears to have bottomed, said Petra, as it announced a 20 per cent hike in like-for-like prices at its October tender.The UK-based miner sold a total of $58.7m, a 45 per cent increase on the $40.5m it achieved for a similar number of carats at its previous tender.It said like-for-like prices were up by around 20 per cent and average per carat prices were u...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A guest at the five-star Ritz Hotel, in Paris, has been reunited with her $800,000 diamond ring, after it was found in a vacuum cleaner bag.The owner, an unnamed Malaysian businesswoman, contacted police on Friday (8 December) after it disappeared from a table while she went out shopping at Place V?(C)ndome. She returned at around noon and found the ring was missing.The immediate s...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Lucapa says it has sold four diamonds from the Lulo mine, in Angola, for a total of $17m.The Type II gems, with a combined weight of 609 carats, achieved an average $28,000 per carat at tender.The Australian miner, which holds a 40 per cent stake in the alluvial deposit, said it was a very positive result.It said a 208.78 carat diamond fetched the highest price, although it did not...Read More
(IDEX Online) - India's diamond industry is to lift the voluntary ban on rough imports that was brought in on 15 October to stabilize the price of polished diamonds.The two-month suspension had shown "a positive impact" on prices, said the GJEPC (Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, as it announced the ban would end on 15 December.IDEX's Polished Price Index, the best indicator o...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers is facing $100m of cuts to its annual overheads in the face of ongoing weak demand for diamonds.Parent company Anglo American said in an investor update on Friday (8 December) that the company has been loss-making in the second half of this year but was positioning itself for an expected bounce in demand.Despite early signs of a recovery, Anglo American's chief execut...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Vladimir Putin's press secretary has dismissed G7 sanctions on Russian diamonds as "hardly news".Dmitry Peskov (pictured) told reporters that Russian companies had been preparing for introduction of Western sanctions against its diamonds that were announced last Wednesday (6 December)."The sanctions on diamonds are hardly news," he said, according to a report by Tass, the stat...Read More