RAPAPORT... The De Beers Cullinan Blue is probably one of a select group of rare diamonds originating in the deepest parts of the earth, according to researchers at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA).The stone has important similarities with the Hope and Wittelsbach-Graff diamonds, two other blue, type IIb diamonds, according to an article in the summer 2022 edition of Gems & Gemo...Read More
RAPAPORT... De Beers' sales rose year on year in August, defying global economic uncertainty amid solid rough demand.Proceeds came to $630 million at the seventh sales cycle of 2022, up 21% compared with the $522 million the company registered in the equivalent period of 2021, De Beers reported Wednesday. Sales slipped 1% versus the sixth cycle, which took place in July and saw rough revenues...Read More
RAPAPORT... One of the purest pink diamonds in history will go under the hammer at Sotheby's later this year, carrying a presale estimate of HKD 170 million ($21 million).The cushion-cut, 11.15-carat, fancy-vivid-pink, internally flawless stone, named the Williamson Pink Star, will appear at a stand-alone sale in Hong Kong on October 5, Sotheby's said Wednesday. It is the second-largest diamo...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers today reported a robust performance at cycle 7, with sales (provisional) of $630m, up more than 21 per cent year-on-year.Actual sales at sight 6, announced at the end of July, were $638m, up 23 per cent on the same period in 2021.Bruce Cleaver, CEO, De Beers Group, said: "Rough diamond sales continued at a steady level in the seventh sales cycle of 2022."In line with norma...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Pandora is urging women to buy their own lab grown diamonds, in a campaign fronted by "champions of self-empowerment" - Rosario Dawson and Ashley Graham.The Danish jeweler has ditched all mined diamonds and pledged to use only recycled silver and gold.Dawson, 43, (pictured) the US actress best known for the Sin City movies, and Ashley Graham, 34, the US supermodel, entrepreneur and...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 14 points in pre-opening trade. The Canadian Dollar slipped 0.08 to US76.16 cents following release of Canada's second quarter real GDP. Consensus was growth at a 4.5% versus a gain of 3.1% in the first quarter. Actual was a gain of 3.3%HP Inc dropped $1.15 to $29.95 after reporting less than consensus quarterly...Read More
RAPAPORT... The De Beers Blue is probably one of a select group of rare diamonds originating in the deepest parts of the earth, according to researchers at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA).The stone has important similarities with the Hope and Wittelsbach-Graff diamonds, two other blue, type IIb diamonds, according to an article in the summer 2022 edition of Gems & Gemology, the...Read More
RAPAPORT... Michael Hill reported record sales in fiscal 2022, driven by strong growth in Canada as strategic moves helped the company offset coronavirus-related challenges.The retail jeweler saw revenue rise 7% to AUD 595.2 million ($411.5 million) for the year ending June 26, while net profit grew 14% to AUD 46.7 million ($32.3 million). Digital sales reached AUD 42 million ($28.8 million),...Read More
RAPAPORT... India's diamond industry should pivot toward more expensive stones, said Vipul Shah on Tuesday, following his appointment as chairman of the country's Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).Shah - who had been serving as the trade body's vice chairman, as well as CEO of diamond manufacturer Asian Star - will take over in September for a two-year term, the GJEPC annou...Read More
RAPAPORT... California-based retailer Brilliant Earth has expanded its US brick-and-mortar reach with two showrooms in the midwest, which will carry its latest collection of traceable jewelry. The opening of the locations in Detroit, Michigan, and St. Louis, Missouri, comes as the jeweler debuts its Truly Brilliant line. The new collection includes both natural and lab-grown diamonds - the fo...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Dubai Diamond Exchange (DDE) has reported a record $19.8bn of trade in the first half of 2022. In February it claimed it had overtaken Antwerp as the top trading hub globally for rough diamonds - over $22.8bn in 2021. And its H1 2022 figures for polished trade show a year-on-year rise of over 52 per cent, to $6.7bn. The most up-to-date figures from Antwerp, with...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Security firm Brink's is locked in a legal battle with victims of what has been described as one of the biggest gem heists in US history. Brink's insist the total insured value is $8.7m But 13 "mom and pop" jewelers who had their stock plundered in July, say the actual value is closer to $100m.Thieves stole 22 bags of jewelry from a tractor-trailer while two gu...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Canadian rapper Drake has splashed out on an "all-diamond" ring, set with a dozen huge VVS-clarity oval gems all the way round, an even bigger center stone.The Grammy-winning artist, aged 35, has a fortune estimated at over $200m.He commissioned the so-called Godfather Ring, a tribute to Marlon Brando's character in the 1972 movie, from New York jeweler Alex Moss.It is m...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Police have arrested a suspect following the theft of jewelry worth almost $500,000 from Macy's. He was allegedly caught on security video pawning an item from the raid at the Macy's department store at Oak Court Mall, Memphis, Tennessee, USA. Rashad Bonds, 30, is accused of theft of property worth between $60,000 and $250,000, according to WREG-TV . Police say five...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 26 points in pre-opening trade. Best Buy added $1.99 to $75.69 after reporting higher than consensus second quarter earnings.Twitter slipped $0.37 to $39.67 after Elon Musk issued a letter to terminate his takeover offer.Big Lots added $0.49 to $22.04 after reporting higher than consensus second quarter earnings.Bank o...Read More
RAPAPORT...US polished-diamond imports rose 55% year on year to $2.2billion in June, capping off a strong first half of 2022, according to recent datafrom the country's Department of Commerce. Imports for the six months gained38% year on year.US Trade Data for June 2022 Read More
RAPAPORT... Heritage Auctions has unveiled a 1.21-carat, fancy-orangey-red diamond that will go under the hammer at its Fall Fine Jewelry Signature auction on September 29. "This gem is one of only a few diamonds to display enough saturation and intensity to be graded as a true red," said Jill Burgum, Heritage Auctions' executive director of fine jewelry. "Adding to the allure, the cause of a red...Read More
(IDEX Online) - An Indian jeweler has received national recognition after landing a Guinness World Record for a ring made with 24,679 natural diamonds.The Touch of Ami (pictured) took 90 days to make at SWA Diamonds, in Malappuram Inkel Educity, Kerala.The company has now received a Makers of India award for taking the title Most Diamonds Set in One Ring.Renani Jewels, based in Meerut, India, prev...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Diamond billionaire Beny Steinmetz today (Monday) launches an appeal after he was convicted of bribing officials in Guinea for valuable iron ore mining rights.He was sentenced to a five-year jail term and ordered to pay a $52m fine by a judge in Switzerland in January 2021.The court heard that Steinmetz, 66, a French and Israeli citizen, and others, paid $8.5m in a series of bribes...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A jewelry collection owned by US heiress and philanthropist Mary Anne Sammons Cree is expected to raise over $1.5m for charity.Highlight of the 125-lot auction is a 17.6-carat yellow diamond ring (pictured), with an estimate of $300,000 to $400,000. Cree, who died last July aged 91, was the daughter of the late billionaire Charles Sammons, from Dallas, Texas.In 1938 he founded...Read More