(IDEX Online) - Australian miner Lucapa has reported further positive results from bulk sampling at its Lulo mine, in Angola.It recovered 23 diamond with a total of weight of 16.32 carats from one of the two kimberlites it's exploring (L164). The largest was 2.38 carats and average size was 0.71 carats.It also recovered 13 diamonds, total weight 7.85 carats, from a second kimberlite (L056), a...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Tensions between India's two biggest diamond-buying nations - China and the USA - could make matters even worse for Surat's 4,000 manufacturing units, following the "balloon incident".Many are already working at just 60 per cent capacity, with staff paid only for the days they work, and an estimated 20,000 laid off altogether as orders dry up."We do not know how the geopo...Read More
(IDEX Online) - This is the all-red $94,000 diamond-encrusted Jacob & Co. watch that Rhianna chose to pair with the all-red ensemble she chose for her Super Bowl halftime performance.The Brilliant Skelton Northern Lights timepiece has an 18K rose gold case polished and is pave set with 323 round white diamonds (???EUR??+ 11.26 ct.). It has a red mineral crystal dial and a red alligator strap.T...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A gang of armed "Rolex rippers" were caught after posing for pictures of themselves wearing the stolen watches.Police in London recovered the gloating selfies from a cell phone left behind after two suspects abandoned a stolen BMW after a high-speed chase and ran off. They and their accomplices were identified from pictures on the phone.Six men were found guilty of spree of v...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Five people were hurt when a light aircraft owned by Zimbabwe diamond miner RZM Murowa crash-landed as it transported a parcel of rough gems under armed guard, according to local media reports.The pilot of the twin-engine Piper 31 NAVAJO is said to be in a critical condition with head injuries after the incident on farmland near the town of Chivhu, in the center of the countr...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Dozens of diamond traders in Surat have been reunited with almost $1m of goods that were fraudulently taken by a broker without payment. Thirty-two victims handed over diamonds to a trusted broker on 27 January, in many cases without receiving payment. He'd worked as broker for seven years and his father before him was a broker for 25 years. He switched of...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Gemfields has again been forced to evacuate workers amid ongoing violence in Mozambique.It follows an attack blamed on Islamic State-linked insurgents at a village 15km from a site where a site of ruby exploration.Gemfields, the UK-based gemstone miner, was forced to halted operations at its Montepuez ruby mine, and to evacuate the site last October after another attack by rebels o...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Billionaire Johann Rupert remains the second wealthiest man in Africa, and Nicky Oppenheimer is still number three, according to Forbes' newly-published rich list for 2023.But both men saw their personal and family fortunes dip slightly in a year when the S&P All Africa index plunged by 20 per cent, only to stage a dramatic final-quarter recovery.Rupert, 72, chairman...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Pandora, the world's biggest jewelry brand, reported record full-year sales of $3.82bn, representing seven per cent growth.The Danish charm maker, with over 6,500 outlets in 100 countries, said it was confident it could adapt to the uncertain environment and drive strategic priorities, although it forecast slower organic growth for the coming year. Last year's...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Camilla, Queen Consort, will not wear the disputed 105-carat Koh-i-Noor diamond at the coronation of her husband King Charles III, Buckingham Palace said today.Instead she will wear a modified version of Queen Mary's crown, made by Garrard for the 1911 coronation and reset with the Cullinan III, IV and V diamonds.The announcement won't resolve a long-running dispute over...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Botswana is threatening to walk away from its deal with De Beers unless it can agree "more favorable" terms.Both sides signed up to an agreement in 2011, whereby the government sells most of the country's rough production through Debswana, a 50-50 partnership with De Beers.But several attempts to renegotiate the deal have ended in failure.On Sunday Botswana's President Mo...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Boxing legend Floyd "Money" Mayweather has been showing off his latest purchase - a white gold chain weighing 2.7kg (5lbs 12 oz).It's encrusted with 8,500 diamonds (300tcw), cost $1m and was made to order by US celebrity jeweler Johnny Dang.Undefeated Mayweather, 45, is coming out of retirement for an exhibition fight against Brit Aaron Chalmers in London on 25 February....Read More
(IDEX Online) - Men are much more likely to be splashing the cash this Valentine's Day than women.Almost three quarters (74 per cent) of men said they'd splash out over $300 on a jewelry gift, compared with only 29 per cent of women.Overall, just over half (56 per cent) said they'd spend over $300, according to a survey of 18 to 70-year-olds by the MVEye market research company.Neck...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Russia says it is planning to help legalize alluvial diamond exports in the Central African Republic (CAR), the world's fifth poorest country.Alexander Bikantov, Russia's ambassador to (CAR) told the state-run Sputnik news agency that "revenues from diamond sales would allow Bangui (the country's capital) to solve the existing set of social and financial problems."CA...Read More
(IDEX Online) - At least nine workers died in a collapse at one of Burkina Faso's many unregulated artisanal gold mines.Rescuers found four bodies last Tuesday night (7 February) at the mine in the western Tuy province, and another five the following morning.Burkina Faso, in west Africa, is the world's 12th biggest gold producer (102.8 tonnes in 2021). There are an estimated 800 ar...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Thirty-one workers were sacked for stealing diamonds from Anjin Investments in Zimbabwe's Marange fields last year.Rough gems were taken during ore processing at Chiadzwa in what is described by The Manica Post newspaper as a "well-orchestrated" operation.The perpetrators, among them some security officers, passed the stolen diamonds on to diamond dealers."A total of 31 employ...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Jewelers are being warned about distraction thefts after two separate incidents in which thieves switched fakes for genuine goods.In one case, on 1 February, a "customer" reached into a display case and pointed at a pair of diamond earrings.It was only later that staff at the store, in Canton, Ohio, USA, discovered the switch from surveillance video.In another, in the Indianapolis&...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Diamond tech firm Sarine has launched a website for consumers designed to build trust and confidence in natural diamonds.It takes them on the journey from a diamond's rough origins to its final, polished form and addresses tracaeability and sustainability issues in the industry. In 2019 Sarine introduced Diamond Journey, a provenance-tracking program for the industry with...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Debswana saw rough sales increase by almost a quarter in 2022, as buyers shunned Russian goods.Total revenue last year hit a record $4.588bn, up 24.2 per cent from $3.466bn in 2021.That's equivalent to a 48.3 per cent rise in local currency (pula) because of the stronger US dollar, according to a Reuters news report.Debswana, a joint venture between De Beers and the Botswana g...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Angolan government plans to sell shares in Endiama, the national diamond miner, as part of a series of economic reforms.It will initially make five or 10 per cent of its shares available with a listing initially on the Angolan stock exchange and subsequently with a secondary foreign listing, according to a Reuters news report. But that figure could increase to 30 per cent.Endia...Read More