(IDEX Online) - Hybrid diamond jewelry - a mix of natural and lab grown stones - is the new reality.That's according to the latest edition of the Tacy Diamond Pipeline, published by IDEX Online, which has provided an independent and unbiased view of the industry since 1988.Hybrid jewelry offers the best of both worlds, say authors Pranay Narvekar and Chaim Even-Zohar, bringing greater transpa...Read More
(IDEX Online ) - A gambler who raised over $13m in a Ponzi scheme telling investors their money would be used in the sale of gold, jewelry and diamonds, has been jailed.But John Quadrino, age 57, of Oceanside, New York, never invested their money. Instead he used to pay off gambling debts.He was sentenced at at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York (pictured) to 41 months in prison and...Read More
(IDEX Online) - India is now importing mote diamonds from Russia than before the invasion of Ukraine and the introduction of US sanctions, according to the GJEPC (Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council). It bought $818m in 2022-23, compared to $855.83 in 2021-22, an increase of just under eight per cent.India relies heavily on Russian imports, especially of smaller stones. Banking restri...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A 4.83-carat fancy vivid blue diamond ring sold for $8.8m at Christie's Hong Kong as the Magnificent Jewels sale brought in a total of almost $60m.The brilliant-cut IF Type IIb gem (pictured) was surrounded by fancy-cut diamonds, in a gold setting. It sold between the low and high estimates of $7m to $10.2m.The blue diamond led the sale, followed by two items which both sold f...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 24 points at 8:30 AM EDT. Microsoft advanced $4.06 to $336.95 after Wedbush raised its target price from $340 to $375.Constellation Brands added $1.87 to $234.75 after Roth MKM upgraded the stock from Neutral to Buy.Broadcom improved $15.29 to $828.02 after KeyBanc Capital raised its target price from $720 to $820.Cohe...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Police are hunting three raiders who burst through the wall of a jewelry store, attacked the owner, and fled with gold necklaces and bracelets and loose jewelry.They broke in overnight to a vacant premises next to Ramallah Jewelry in Oak Lawn, Illinois, USA, and removed one layer of a dry wall dividing the two properties.When Elias Mseeh opened up for the day, they kicked through t...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The World Diamond Council (WDC) has held "open and robust discussions" towards updating its definition of conflict diamonds.Feriel Zerouki, who has taken over from Edward Asscher as WDC president, said she was positive about progress made at the four-day 2023 Intersessional Meeting of the Kimberley Process, in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe."We believe that an expansion on the definition...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The big three auction houses - Phillips, Sotheby's, and Christie's - sold watches for a combined total of $108m in a single weekend, dispelling concerns of a slowdown in the pre-owned market.Phillips sold all lots offered at its Geneva Watch Auction XVII, in association with Bacs & Russo, bringing in over $52m, with two watches selling for over $3m each.Christie'...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Direct flights between Surat and Dubai would further boost trade between the manufacturing and trading hubs, says Ahmed Bin Sulayem, chairman of the Dubai Diamond Exchange (DDE).He's calling on the government-owned budget airline Flydubai to introduce a service and enhance existing ties."I am pushing Flydubai, and I'll push harder even to have a direct flight to Surat bec...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A diamond and platinum bandeau tiara, signed Boucheron Paris and owned for over a century by a British aristocratic family, is to be sold at Christie's London with a high estimate of $185,000.It's the most valuable of three tiaras offered at Christie's Jewels Online: The London Edit, which runs from 2 to 15.The double bandeau, featuring old- and rose-cut diamonds, co...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers today issued a flat denial over a "damaging" and "unsubstantiated" newspaper allegation that it had violated sanctions on Russian diamonds."Let us be clear - this allegation is not true," it said, in response to claims in the The Sunday Standard of Botswana.The paper ran a front-page story today (28 May) headlined "De Beers' sanction busting scandal snarls up Botswana...Read More
: As Monday is a U.S. holiday, Tech Talk will next appear on Tuesday, May 30th.Pre-opening Comments for Friday May 26thEditor's Note: Next Tech Talk report is released on Tuesday May 30th. Monday is a U.S. holiday and trading activity on the TSX is minimal.U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 2 points at 8:35 AM EDT.Lots of economic news released at...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A Patek Philippe owned by the last emperor of China sold for $6.2m at Phillips Hong Kong, smashing its pre-sale high estimate of $3m.It belonged to Aisin-Gioro Puyi, last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, who was forced to abdicate when he was just six during the Xinhai Revolution, and whose life and times are dramatized in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor.The platinum Refc96...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The withdrawal of the 2,000 rupee bank note is expected to fuel a consumer spending frenzy in India on diamonds, gold and other luxuries.The Reserve Bank of India announced on 19 May that its highest-value note - worth around $24 - will no longer be legal tender after 30 September.The notes can be deposited or exchanged, but economists say many people will be wary that the tax auth...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 27 points at 8:35 AM EDT.Index futures eased slightly after 8:30 AM EDT following release of second estimate of first quarter annualized U.S. GDP. Consensus was unchanged growth at 1.1%. Actual was growth at 1.3%.Fitch lowered its U.S. Credit Rating from AAA to AAA negative watch.Nvidia jumped $56.87 to $362.25 after g...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Natural Diamond Council (NDC) is backing the coins and bars produced by New York-base Diamond Standard as an investable asset.NDC says it will actively promote Diamond Standard products, showcasing them in jewelry stores through a retailer affiliates' program, and providing publicity material to emphasize the role of diamonds in diversified portfolios.Diamond Standard laun...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Manufacturers in Surat are reportedly extending their summer vacations as the recession hits and consumers in the US and Europe boycott Russian goods.Slow demand is forcing many units to lay off staff, reduce working hours or insist on longer vacations to avoid overproduction.There are also concerns that the G7 and EU countries - which have not so far sanctioned Russian goods...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Five members of the same family have been found guilty of the theft of historic jewels worth $129m from The Green Vault museum, in Dresden, Germany.They made off with a total of total of 4,300 diamonds in November 2019, in what has been described as the world's biggest gem heist.They started a fire before the raid to cut the electricity supply, and used axes to smash dis...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 14 points at 8:30 AM EDT.Bank of Montreal and Scotia Bank are expected to open lower after announcing larger than expected loan loss provisions in their fiscal second quarter report. Intuit dropped $23.80 to $426.00 after reporting lees than consensus fiscal third quarter revenues. Agilent fell $8.43 to $120.21 after...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A woman has been reunited with her diamond ring, 13 years after she accidentally flushed it down the toilet.Mary Strand, 71, was astonished to learn that workers at a wastewater plant near her home in Minnesota, USA, had found it while fixing a machine.Metropolitan Council, the authority that operates the plant, launched a "needle in a haystack" Facebook campaign to find the owner,...Read More