(In association with Quantumrock) Professional investors are being offered a new and lucrative opportunity to put their capital into rough emeralds and ultra-rare alexandrite.Quantumrock, an pioneering investment solutions company, says it aims to achieve value increases in excess of 25 per cent a year, over a two-year term.It has launched what it describes as the first structured, professional in...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Okavango Diamond Company (ODC) has halted all rough sales as global demand remains at record low levels.It says it has cancelled its November auction and may do likewise in December."For the first time, we have had to build up inventory as we do not want to just irresponsibly release goods into a market which is already oversupplied," managing director Mmetla Masire said in an inte...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A man spent the night locked inside a jewelry vault at the World Diamond Tower, at 580 Fifth Avenue, New York.An employee is understood to have closed the doors at around 8.45pm on Tuesday night (24 October), unaware the man was inside accessing his safety deposit box.Firefighters spent 10 hours trying to penetrate the 30-inch steel-reinforced concrete walls, in the basement of the...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 18 points at 8:35 AM EDT.Index futures recovered 10 points following release of preliminary third quarter GDP at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was an annualized increase of 4.7% .Actual was an increase of 4.9%.IBM gained $1.62 to 138.70 after reporting higher than consensus third quarter revenues and earnings. Hasbro dropped...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The US jewelry sector shrank yet again in Q3 of this year, with the overall loss of 485 retailers and almost 140 wholesalers and manufacturers, as measured by Jewelers Board of Trade (JBT) listings. The total number of businesses fell by 2.6 per cent compared with the same three months in 2022, according to new statistics and trend data published earlier this week by JBT...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 9 points at 8:30 AM EDT.The Bank of Canada will update strategy on its lending rate to Canada's banks at 10:00 AM EDTMicrosoft advanced $14.88 to $345.31 after reporting higher than consensus fiscal first quarter revenues and earnings. Texas Instruments dropped $6.62 to $140.30 after reporting less than consensus thir...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Groups representing the diamond and jewelry industries have issued messages of support after Hamas terrorist massacred 1,400 people in Israel.The American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) said it stood in "full support of Israel and our Israeli friends, family, and colleagues during these trying times".It put out a joint statement with the Diamond Manufacturers and Importers Associatio...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 25 points at 8:30 AM EDT.General Electric added $5.38 to $112.07 after reporting higher than consensus third quarter earnings. The company also raised guidance. Cadence Design Systems dropped $8.92 to $231.00 after the company lowered guidance. Crane gained $3.32 to $86.00 after reporting higher than consensus third qu...Read More
(IDEX Online) - India's polished diamond exports could fall by as much as 35 per cent this financial year, the ratings agency Crisil, to $14bn to $15bn.It blames weak consumer demand in the US, EU and China (which together account for 75 per cent of foreign sales), rough supplies disrupted by the war in Ukraine and the plunging price of lab growns.The Mumbai-based agency notes that Israel...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A 20.19-carat fancy intense VVS1 pink diamond will lead the Phillips' inaugural Geneva Jewels auction next month, with an estimate of $11m to $16.5m.It is one of the four largest fancy intense pink diamonds ever to be auctioned and is the most valuable jewel ever presented by Phillips.The cut-cornered rectangular modified brilliant-cut diamond (pictured) is accented with...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Zimbabwe's biggest diamond producer is now conducting almost all its sales in Dubai, in a move it has described as a "game changer".The state-owned ZCDC (Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company) has sold 4m carats there so far this year, up from 850,000 carats in the whole of 2022."For us, Dubai has been a game changer," sales and marketing manager Enock Moyo told Bloomberg News...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Production at Canada's three diamond mines hit a record high of US $1.58bn (CAN $2.17bn) in 2022, according to the government department Natural Resources Canada (NRCan).That's a 28 per cent increase for Ekati, Diavik and Gahcho Kue, all located in Northwest Territories.But it's unlikely the figure will be exceeded. Diavik, operated by Rio Tinto, is ramping dow...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Tiffany says it bought the largest fancy vivid yellow diamond ever found in Canada - for an undisclosed sum - and has created from it two emerald-cut gems, weighing over 15 carats and 20 carats.The octahedron diamond, weighing 71.26 carats, was found at the Ekati mine, in Northwest Territories, in 2021.Tiffany bought the rough stone last summer, and showed it to VIP clients at priv...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 16 points at 8:30 AM EDT.Index futures responded to a six basis point increase in the yield by U.S. Treasuries to 5.00%.Hess added $0.96 to $163.98 after Chevron offered to buy the company for $53 billion cash. Each Hess share will convert into 1.025 shares of Chevron.Walgreens Boots added $0.69 to $21.95 after JP Mor...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers CEO Al Cook has written an open letter to G7 leaders urging them to adopt the World Diamond Council's (WDC) proposal to outlaw Russian diamonds.It is one of four frameworks being considered - the others are from Belgium, India and France - to enforce sanctions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.The G7 nations, responsible for 70 per cent of g...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Rio Tinto is to hold The Beyond Rare Tender, showcasing polished pink and red diamonds from the now-closed Argyle mine in Australia, and yellow stones from Diavik, beneath a frozen lake in northern Canada.A total of 48 lots will be offered for sale in a series of invitation-only events staring next month.The first collection comprises 87 diamonds, weighing 29.96 carats in total, an...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A man stood motionless in a storefront window, posing as a mannequin, then stole jewelry and other items after it closed.Police in Warsaw, Poland, released this picture (above) of the 22-year-old suspect holding a handbag in a clothing store, with two genuine dummies.They arrested the man, who is accused of stealing items from the store's jewelry counter, as well as a change o...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Prada has launched its first jewelry collection featuring lab grown diamonds.The luxury Italian fashion house says it uses gems that are grown to order in the new edition of its Eternal Gold collection, and has them "Prada-cut" in the shape of its triangular logo It also says it is now committed to using lab growns across all its fine jewelry collections by the end of the year...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Rio Tinto reported a 37 per cent drop in Q3 production at its only diamond mine, Diavik, in Canada's Northwest Territories.It said the completion of an underground pipe, and an area of the open pit at the mine, 200 miles from the Arctic Circle, were to blame for the lower output.Rio Tinto said Q3 production for the three months to 30 September was 757,000 carats, down from 970...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The G7 nations are today due to consider four options to implement a ban on Russian diamonds.They will discuss the technicalities and legalities of preventing goods, primarily from Alrosa, entering the supply chain.Belgium, India, France and the World Diamond Council have all put forward proposals.Belgium wants mandatory third-party blockchain technology to certify the provenance o...Read More