Market quiet after positive first quarter. Indian manufacturersfacing liquidity squeeze as banks tighten credit after $2B Nirav Modi-Gitanjalifraud. Dealers still optimistic, with good US and China orders. Largeindependent jewelers doing better than majors as Signet and Tiffany announceturnaround strategies. Tiffany 4Q sales +9% to $1.3B, disappointing profit -61%to $62M. Smaller and shorter Basel...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers has announced that its Forevermark diamond brand will enter the German market after signing with an exclusive licensee partner, and is also in advanced-stage discussions with potential partners in France and Italy. The expansion into new European markets comes on the back of a successful global performance throughout 2017 and in 2018 to date, the company said. &nbs...Read More
A multipronged approach involving both the mining industry and government is required to better deal with illegal mining in South Africa, where bloody skirmishes pitting rival gangs profiting from this illicit pursuit and the illegal mineworkers themselves are a frequent occurrence, with police officers and security guards sometimes caught in the crossfire when they try to intervene.Fatalities als...Read More
(IDEX Online) - One of the highlights of the upcoming 4th Mediterranean Gemmological and Jewellery Conference (MGCJ), to be held May 18-20, in Budva, Montenegro, will be the introduction of an affordable synthetic diamond identification kit and other portable instruments that will enable users to help identify loose and mounted melee-sized synthetic diamonds, as well as larger stones. MGCJ...Read More
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Global diamond miner De Beers is expanding its Forevermark in key European countries, with the brand entering the German market and potentially also France and Italy.The Anglo American subsidiary is aiming to bolster the diamond brand’s visibility in key European countries, which attract a flow of international travellers from large diamond consumer ma...Read More
RAPAPORT... Forevermark ismaking a play for the European market, after achieving significant retail growth last year. The De Beers brand has signed an exclusive licensing deal with German jeweler Heinz Mayer to sell products in thekey nation, it said Thursday. The Idar-Oberstein-based diamond specialist willpresent the collection at the Baselworld show, which runs until Tuesday. Forever...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The ALROSA Group is launching its first national commercial device for the identification of natural and synthetic polished diamonds - the ALROSA Diamond Inspector. "The company expects that its relatively low price and high accuracy will allow the detector to be in demand both in Russia and abroad. It will help fight unscrupulous suppliers who mix synthetic stones grown in...Read More
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – TSX-listed diamond miner Lucara has announced that incoming Lucara CFO and corporate secretary Zara Boldt will join the management team as the company focuses on increasing the value of its core diamond mining business at Karowe, Botswana, and on supporting the development of Clara, the company’s new secure, digital diamond sales platform, said Lucara...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The International Gemological Institute (IGI) has announced screenings to determine the origin of diamond inventory for manufacturers operating out of SEEPZ (Santacruz Electronics Export Processing Zone) in Mumbai in order to ensure only natural diamonds are part of merchandise offered to consumers. IGI is the only full-fledged laboratory with state-of-the-art equipment for...Read More
RAPAPORT...Blue Nile has appointed Katie Zimmerman as chiefmerchandising officer, a role that entails overseeing bridal and fashionjewelry. "Katie brings a unique eye and thoughtful analysis tomerchandising," said CEO Jason Goldberger, to whom Zimmerman will report. "Herskill set is critical to unlocking the sourcing, assortment and sales wins thatwill further Blue Nile's position as the industry...Read More
RAPAPORT... Carol Pennelli has been appointed president of US-basedluxury jeweler David Yurman, where she will be responsible for everything exceptdesign and creative functions, the company said Tuesday. Pennelli (pictured) has worked at David Yurman for 15 years, mostrecently as chief commercial officer. "Carol has been critical to our business's growth across allcommerce points, and ha...Read More
RAPAPORT... Alrosa has launched a device that can identify both syntheticdiamonds and other imitations, the miner said Wednesday. The Alrosa Diamond Inspector analyzes individual stones, aswell as mounted jewelry, and can distinguish natural polished diamonds from treatedstones, synthetics, and simulants such as cubic zirconia and moissanite. "One of the main competitive advantages...is the use of...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sotheby's will offer the historic Farnese Blue diamond atits Geneva sale in May, the first time it has been on the market. The pear-shaped, 6.16-carat, fancy dark grey-blue stone - originallygiven to Queen Elisabeth Farnese of Spain as a wedding gift following hermarriage to King Philip V in 1714 - has spent 300 years in the private collection of Europe'sroyal families. The diamond wil...Read More
RAPAPORT... Carol Pennelli has been appointed president of US-basedluxury jeweler David Yurman, where she will be responsible for everything exceptdesign and creative functions, the company said Tuesday. Pennelli (pictured) has worked at David Yurman for 15 years, mostrecently as chief commercial officer. "Carol has been critical to our business's growth across allcommerce points, and ha...Read More
Canada-listed Fura Gems (TSX-V:FUR), a new gemstone mining and marketing company headed by the former COO of Gemfields (LON:GEM), has kicked off initial production at its Coscuez emerald mine in Colombia.The early output of 1,720 carats of emeralds, including 826 carats of top quality ones, was achieved through a bulk-sampling program carried out within eight weeks of the completing the acquisiti...Read More
Russian miner Alrosa (MCX:ALRS), the world's top diamond producer by output, has unveiled its synthetics detector, aimed at cracking down on dishonest suppliers that mix lab-made stones with mined diamonds.The portable machine, named ALROSA Diamond Inspector, screens polished diamonds and jewellery, identifying synthetics as well as treated stones or simulants.Alrosa expects the detector's rela...Read More
RAPAPORT... Increases in cyber theft and smash-and-grab robberies are contributing to higher crime levels in the US jewelry industry, the Jewelers' Security Alliance (JSA) saidin a report last week.The total number of jewelry crimes reported to the JSArose 12% to 1,394 in 2017, with smash-and-grabs climbing 15%.Cybercrime groups are growing in sophistication and becoming savvier,the JSA noted...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Crimes committed against U.S. jewelry firms reported to the Jewelers' Security Alliance (JSA) increased by 12% to 1,394 in 2017 from 1,245 in 2016, according to the JSA's Annual Crime Report for 2017. Total dollar losses from crimes committed against U.S. jewelry firms decreased by 0.4% to $72.1 million in 2017 from $72.4 million in 2016. In 2017 JSA recorded a l...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Jewelers Board of Trade (JBT) has appointed MichaelKaplan as chairman, replacing Todd Wolleman, the group said last week. Kaplan (pictured) has been involved in the JBT for 20 years,and was previously first vice chairman of the board. "We are very excited to have Mike as our chairman and lookforward to his oversight and guidance," said JBT president Richard Weisenfeld."Mike br...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Sales of fine jewelry and fine watches rose by 6.3 percent in the U.S. market in January 2018, when compared to the same month a year ago, as the graph below illustrates. Sales were an estimated $8.5 billion, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Commerce Department following the holiday season but ahead of Valentine's Day. The sales rise in January was l...Read More