(IDEX Online) - A visitor to a state park in Arkansas, USA, discovered the "piece of glass" he picked up was actually a 4.87-carat diamond.Jerry Evans and his girlfriend were visiting the Crater of Diamonds State Park, near Murfreesboro, which charges day trippers $10 a day to sift the soil - and lets them keep any gems they find. "I thought it might be a piece of glass, it was so clear. I re...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Al Cook, CEO of De Beers Group, says the G7 sanctions on Russian diamonds, due to take effect next week, may prove impractical to implement."With the best will in the world, the average customs agent will not be able to look at one diamond and another diamond and go, 'That's the Russian one'," he said in an interview with the Financial Times.Cook (pictured) questione...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa, Russia's state-controlled diamond miner, produced 34.6m carats during 2023, in line with its forecasts, according to the Tass news agency.That's a slight drop on its 35.6m carat production in 2022, but suggests US sanctions and voluntary bans on buying Russian goods have so far had a negligible impact.Alrosa's biggest rival, De Beers, produced 34.6m carats in...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The government of Namibia says G7 plans to channel all diamonds into the EU via a single point of entry will be costly and complicated.Tom Alweendo, the Minister of Mines and Energy, is calling on G7 nations to reconsider their plan, due to some into effect in a few days time, on 1 January 2024."We are deeply concerned about the potential consequences of these restrictive measures,...Read More
IDEX Online) - A Special Notified Zone (SNZ) - designed to ease rough imports from big miners - is to be launched at the newly-opened Surat Diamond Bourse (SDB).The Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), representing almost 10,000 manufacturers, says it will be the biggest diamond SNZ in India.The 4,500 sq ft premises will feature 15 cabins, a high-security monitoring room, and a 24/...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The G7 sanctions on Russia, which take effect a week from now, will harm the entire diamond pipeline, says the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB).It says the likely implementation of a single-entry point for all rough diamonds (probably Antwerp) will be expensive and time-consuming, and suggests multiple points of entry, including Mumbai, Israel, Dubai and African diamond-p...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Burgundy Diamond Mines has reported a 40 per cent increase in Q4 sales from Ekati, in Northwest Territories, Canada.It sold 1,975,198 carats (a 55 per cent year-on-year increase) for $170m, as retail demand recovered and the industry took "responsible actions" to manage the supply chain. In the previous quarter, Q3 2023, it sold 784,000 carats for $90m.Australia-based Burgundy...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Mejuri, a luxury jewelry startup based in Toronto, has become the latest brand to market lab growns alongside mined diamonds.Its first lab grown collection of stud earrings, tennis bracelet and necklaces, priced from $648 to $10,500, will initially be offered to Mejuri+ loyalty members and to all customers in March 2024.The company, founded in 2015, plans to introduce new styles an...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A grading lab in Italy has issued a fraud warning after three one-carat diamonds, all submitted on the same day, were found to be CVD lab growns.The stones, all round brilliant F / VS1, were all accompanied by paper GIA grading reports from different dates in May 2023 which described them as natural.The weights, dimensions and GIA inscriptions all appeared to match, but there was a...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A 66-year-old man has been convicted and sentenced in connection the murder of jeweler in Connecticut, USA.Thomas Liberatore was handed a 32-year sentence for his role in what police described as the "cold-blooded murder" of Mark Vuono, 69, in March 2020.Two accomplices, Paul "Tony Pro" Prosano, 63, and Robert Rallo, 59, were sentenced previously to 30 years and 40 years respective...Read More
(IDEX Online) - India is reported to be calling on the G7 to delay the introduction of sanctions on Russian diamonds, the first of which are due to take effect from 1 January 2024.It is particularly concerned about restrictions on diamonds that are cut and polished outside Russia - mostly in India - that will come into force on 1 March.It says they will prove impractical to implement in such a tig...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Rolex has been fined $100m by France's Competition Authority for prohibiting the sale of its watches online.The Swiss company has long claimed that restrictions on its authorized retailers are necessary to prevent counterfeiting and parallel trade in its watches. But the Autorite de la Concurrence, France's antitrust agency, ruled that it restricted competition.It sa...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Japan, as one of the G7 nations, will join the ban on importing of non-industrial diamonds from Russia.But the move is more symbolic than anything, given that total imports amounted to under $400,000 in 2022.The Japanese government announced the diamond sanctions as part of new round of sanctions being implemented in view of what it described as "the current international sit...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers reported rough diamond sales of $130m of during its last sight of the year, as the polished market started to show some signs of recovery.The UK-based miner expressed cautious optimism that rough trading conditions were gradually improving.Average sales across all 10 cycles this year were $362m. So despite a 51 per cent increase from October's record low of $86m, Nove...Read More
(IDEX Online) - India's polished diamonds exports fell again in November, as manufacturers cut back on rough purchases in line with a two-month voluntary ban. Total foreign sales continued their decline, from $1.67bn in September to $1.26bn in October and now down to $1.1bn in November. The figure is down 12 per cent on the previous month and 12 per cent down on November last ye...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A buyer who thought they'd bagged a bargain 12.15-carat Kashmir sapphire was devastated to learn it was a near-worthless synthetic.The unnamed customer bought the oval modified step cut gem, set in a white metal ring, while travelling in Indonesia, complete with a "reputable" lab report.But they sent it for a lab test at GSI Mumbai after taking it for alterations at local jewe...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Storm Mountain Diamonds (SMD)has agreed to sell one of the world's largest pink diamonds, weighing 108.39 carats, to Antwerp-based Choron for an undisclosed price.The Type IIa gem, recovered in March, is the biggest pink diamond ever at the Kao mine, in Lesotho, and eclipses the 47.81-carat Pink Eternity, which was recovered from the mine last year and which sold for an undisc...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Indian government say the G7 diamond sanctions only stones over one carats, and will therefore cause minimum disruption to its industry.The vast majority of stones cut and polished in Surat and other diamond hubs are well under the 1.0-cts threshold. "We should be able to export our diamonds without disturbing the proposed sanctions on Russia," said the Commerce Secretary...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Botswana Diamonds says it has identified anomalies within 6km of its existing KX36 project that could indicate new diamond reserves.KX36, about 260km north west of Gaborone, in the Kalahari Desert, has been described as the most significant diamond discovery in Botswana since the huge Debswana-owned Orapa and Jwaneng mines."Kimberlites occur in clusters, currently only KX36 has bee...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The owner of a New York jewelry store was shot twice during a heist.Three masked raiders dressed in black burst into the premises in Corona, Queens, last Tuesday evening (12 December).The unnamed victim, a 59-year-old man, was hit in the right thigh and grazed by a bullet to the head. His injuries are not described as life-threatening. Police responded to a 911 call and took him to...Read More