News: Dealers unsure where market is headed and hope upcoming Las Vegas shows will provide clarity. Trade starting to feel impact of Russia crisis amid lower supply and cautious demand. Chinese slowdown fueling uncertainty. Manufacturing down due to Surat summer vacation and withdrawal of Alrosa rough. De Beers positioned to gain from Russian sanctions as May sales +57% to $604M. Shortages expect...Read More
RAPAPORT... The US jewelry industry continued to downsize in the first quarter, according to the latest data from the Jewelers Board of Trade (JBT).Some 187 companies exited the sector during the three months ending March 31, compared with 142 in the same period a year earlier, the JBT reported Wednesday. In total, there were 23,852 companies active in the US industry, 1.8% fewer than the same per...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) - 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
(IDEX Online) - Mountain Province Diamond (MPD) says it has found kimberlite in three out of four locations during a winter exploration program at its Kennady North project in Northwest Territories, Canada, on the edge of the Arctic Circle.It has released interim results on its search for new kimberlites, based on a detailed analysis of ground and airborne geophysics, kimberlite indicator minerals...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. At 7:30 AM EDT S&P 500 futures were down 34 points in pre-opening trade. Several U.S. economic data points are scheduled for release this morning that could influence equity prices:May Philly Fed Index to be released at 8:30 AM EDT is expected to slip to 17.2 from 17.6 in April.April U.S. Existing Home Sales to be released at 10:00 AM EDT are...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... 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
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... 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) - 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
(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
(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) - 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
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 28 points in pre-opening trade.Equity index futures were virtually unchanged following release of U.S. April Housing Starts at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was a slip to 1.783 million units from 1.793 million units in March. Actual was a drop to 1.72 million units.The Canadian Dollar was virtually unchanged at US78.04 cents...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