(IDEX Online) - US watch and jewelry sales suffered a seventh consecutive month of decline in August, according to the latest Department of Commerce figures.They were down 3.4 per cent, a slight recovery from 4.3 per cent in July, and 4.5 per cent in June.The global economy shows no clear signs of recovery and that's impacting consumer spending.Signet, the world's largest diamond jewelry...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Indian mining billionaire Harpal Randhawa, his son, and four others died when their plane crashed en route to the Murowa diamond mine, in Zimbabwe.The Cessna 206 aircraft belonged to Randhawa's RZM Murowa, a company that part-owns and operates the mine. It also produces gold and coal and refines nickel and copper.Randhawa and his 22-year-old son Amer set off from Harare on Fri...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Two senior members of Lucara's management team are stepping down, days after the Canadian miner walked away from its sales agreement with HB Antwerp.Zara Boldt has quit as chief financial officer and John Armstrong has resigned as vice president of technical services, the company said in a statement. They will both leave in December.Their departures come as Lucara navigates ch...Read More
(IDEX Online) - HB Antwerp today (2 October) said it had reinstated Oded Mansori as managing partner, a month after removing him over a "sharp difference in strategic vision and approaches to business".His removal was swiftly followed by Canadian miner Lucara's withdrawal from a 10-year deal to sell its specials (+10.8-cts) through HB, citing "a material breach of financial commitments"."We w...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Polished diamond prices suffered their single biggest monthly drop of the current decline in September - down by 3.07 per cent.In addition, after 18 months characterized by near-straight line decreases, we see more volatility, with prices levelling then suddenly dropping again.The Index is now 30 per cent down on its March 2022 peak, the month after Russia invaded Ukraine.Increasin...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Botswana government is rethinking its proposed deal with HB Antwerp, after Canadian miner Lucara last week announced it was pulling out of a 10-year sales agreement with the company.The government said in March that it would be buying a 24 per cent stake in HB, a new venture that pledged to reinvent the diamond supply chain.But that was only an agreement in principle, and...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Trans Atlantic Gem Sales (TAGS) sold less than half the rough on offer at its September tender in Dubai, amid ongoing weak demand.The company didn't want to provide an exact figure but said it had offered around $40m of goods.It said most sales were of +10.8-ct stones, which remained least affected by negative market sentiment."Unfortunately, we were obliged to withdraw a high...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers and the Botswana government today (1 October) said they had taken a significant step towards finalizing their new sales and mining deals, with the signing of Heads of Terms.The document provides further detail and clarity on the commercial and operational aspects of the outline agreement, De Beers said in a statement.The current agreement, under which Botswana receive...Read More
(IDEX Online) - G7 representatives have completed a fact-finding mission to explore how India's diamond industry can comply with forthcoming sanctions on Russian stones.They aim to cause "minimal or no disruption to the sector", according to a statement issued issued by the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), which hosted the delegation. G7 members - Canada, Franc...Read More
(IDEX Online) - It was "more of the same" during September, as round prices again suffered wholesale losses, but fancies fared somewhat better.Markets remain weak, sentiment remains slow and Alrosa has halted sales for two months in a move aimed at stabilizing the market.Lab growns are set to overtake natural diamonds, and currently account for almost half of unit sales. And the global economy rem...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Israel's diamond trade suffered another blow in August, with rough imports down 69 per cent year-on-year and rough exports down by 80 per cent.The figures were significantly worse than July, when imports and exports fell by 46 per cent and 44 per cent respectively.Israel imported a total of 314,371 carats, at a cost of $49.8m in August, according to new figures released by the...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A jeweler has been arrested after customers complained that natural diamonds in items left for repair had been replaced with lab growns.Douglas Wayne Gamble, 57, is also accused of selling lab growns as natural diamonds, and of failing to return items sent for repair at his Timeless Jeweler store in Sale, Oregon, USA.Police believe he cheated customers out of at least $250,000. Gam...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Crowds gathered in Surat after reports that angry traders had emptied parcels of diamonds onto the street below, in protest at plunging lab grown prices.As many as 300 people rushed to scour an area outside Mini Bazaar, in the Varachha area of the city, on Sunday (24 September), according to press reports.It later emerged that the "diamonds" were actually plastic fakes used for emb...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Lucara has ended its rough diamond sales agreement with HB Antwerp, accusing the company of "a material breach of financial commitments".It was less than a year into a 10-year deal. The move comes less than a month after HB removed Oded Mansori, one of its three co-founders, citing "a sharp difference in strategic vision and approaches to business". He responded by launching legal...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Industry leaders in India are calling for a voluntary two-month ban on all rough diamond imports, to "better manage the balance between demand and supply".They say exports were down by 25 per cent in the year to August, inventories are increasing and prices are falling.The plea comes jointly from the GJEPC (Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council), the Bharat Diamond Bourse, the...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The billionaire who has everything can now splash out on the latest luxury excess - a diamond-studded credit card.The gold-plated version of the Visa Infinite, known as the Billionaire Card has been created in a collaboration with top-flight jeweler and watchmaker Jacob & Co. and the luxury group Majestas, Primavera Investments.It will be launched in Dubai in November as a limi...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Brazen thieves broke into a jewelry store from an empty building next door, and wheeled the safe away.The three raiders were caught on surveillance cameras as they broke into Mitch the Jeweler, in South Florida, USA.Media reports put the value of goods stolen at up to $3m.The store owner told local news station WSVN-TV: "I don't know how they moved this safe." He's offeri...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Sales of Swiss watches were up by 3.5 per cent in August, with the USA and Hong Kong leading the recovery. The Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry Exports said the increase "confirms the normalisation of growth expected during the second half of the year". It follows an "excellent" increase of 14 per cent in exports during July, although June disappointed with 1.0 per cent drop....Read More
(IDEX Online) - Antwerp is calling on the jewelry sector to support its calls for G7 sanctions on Russian diamonds.Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (pictured) told industry representatives that Russian diamonds have "become a symbol of war and human rights violations".Speaking last week at the Belgian Consul General, in New York, he said: "The G7 wants to reduce Russian diamonds revenues....Read More
(IDEX Online) - Australian miner Lucapa today reported further positive results from bulk sampling of three kimberlite targets at its Lulo mine, in Angola.The most encouraging kimberlite (L440) yielded eight diamonds with a total weight of 4.16 carats, the largest of which weighed 2.04 carats, from 1,460m3 of material.Lucapa says the primary sources for the large, high-value alluvial diamonds alre...Read More