RAPAPORT... Nathan "Nate" Light, who was responsible for the growth of Sterling Jewelers, died on March 12 at the age of 86.Light joined Sterling in 1977. As CEO, he helped turned the company from a 32-store chain into a retail giant with more than 1,000 branches and 14,000 employees. It's now a subsidiary of Signet Jewelers, the US's largest diamond retailer.Tributes on an online memorial pa...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Tiffany & Co is gearing up for another court appearance in its eight-year legal battle with Costco over the sale of generic diamond engagement rings bearing its name.The New York-based jeweler was awarded $21m in damages in 2013, but last year a federal appeals court concluded that customers were not likely to be confused by rings bearing the "Tiffany" name.Costco is now challe...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Tenants at a London apartment block have voted to drop the name Cecil Rhodes House.The building that is their home was named after the De Beers founder in 1957, but the left-wing Labour municipality (Camden Council) that owns it polled residents last month over a change of name.Those living in the 82 apartments voted against renaming it after the black boxer Bill Richmond or Indian...Read More
RAPAPORT... Elsa Peretti, one of Tiffany & Co.'s most distinguished designers, died last week in Spain at the age of 80, according to the charity she founded.Peretti began designing for Tiffany in 1974, and continued to do so for the rest of her career. Inspired by nature, she would take everyday items such as beans, bones and apples, and transform them into cufflinks, bracelets and other...Read More
Diamond market optimistic despite expected seasonal slowdown. Manufacturer liquidity getting boost from reduced inventory, faster turnover and firm prices. Concerns arising about rough market overheating amid reports that Alrosa increased prices for 1 ct. and larger by 4%-5%. Smaller De Beers sight expected next week. India Feb. rough imports flat at $1.5B, Belgium +28% to $877M. Signet Jewelers F...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A collection of Hemmerle jewelry - with their trademark gems set in unorthodox materials - is to be sold by Sotheby's New York.The 19 lots, all owned by the late philanthropist, art patron and passionate collector Michelle Smith, represent the largest private collection of Hemmerle jewelry to appear at auction.They're among more than 400 lots of 20th and 21st century desi...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A new range of "diamond watches" feature a hand-drawn 3D image of a brilliant-cut gem on the dial.They're the creation of celebrated Canadian watch and jewelry designer Reena Ahluwalia (pictured with watch), who is also a keen diamond painter.She earned a Guinness World Record in 2019 for her Mudan Watch, with most diamonds set on a watch - 15,858 diamonds, totaling 50.01...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A Cartier bracelet featuring a flawless D-color 63.66-carat pear-shaped white diamond and rock crystal is to be auctioned at Sotheby's Hong Kong with an estimate of $5.1m to $8.4m.The Art Deco-inspired piece (pictured), part of the L'Odyss?? (C)e de Cartier - Parcours d'un Style high jewelry collection, took almost 2,000 hours to create.Also headlining at the Magnifi...Read More
RAPAPORT... Swiss watch exports fell slightly in February as a drop in demand from Europe outweighed a rebound in other countries. Global shipments slid 0.3% year on year to CHF 1.6 billion ($1.73 billion) during the month, with exports to Europe down 14%. Supply to the UK declined 7% to CHF 96.1 million ($103.8 million) as many businesses rema...Read More
RAPAPORT... Alrosa has increased prices for the third consecutive contract sale, fueling concerns about unsustainable growth and tight manufacturing profits.The adjustments were 4% to 5% on average, with a focus on 1-carat rough and larger, insiders told Rapaport News this week. Prices of that category are now higher than pre-pandemic levels, a customer noted.Alrosa declined to comment on its...Read More
RAPAPORT... Signet Jewelers' sales and earnings rose in the fourth fiscal quarter as e-commerce helped the retailer capitalize on a recovery in consumer demand.Group sales increased 1.5% year on year to $2.19 billion for the three months ending January 30, which included the important holiday season, the company reported Thursday. Same-store sales - at branches open for at least a year - were...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A trader has been arrested on suspicion of diverting duty-free gold worth almost $14m back into India's domestic market.Preet Kumar Agarwal is accused of re-directing 250kg of gold after it had been formally cleared by airport Customs officers for export, thus evading tax. He was arrested last Thursday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.India's Enforcement...Read More
RAPAPORT... US polished-diamond imports were flat year on year at $1.43 billion in January, reflecting an easing of the industry's slowdown that dominated 2020. The month was the first since February 2020 that didn't feature a notable year-on-year decline, according to Rapaport archives based on data from the US Commerce Department.US Trade Data for January 2021 Read More
(IDEX Online) - A lab-grown diamond company claims it's going beyond carbon neutrality, by creating gems that are carbon-negative. Ryan Shearman and Dan Wojno, co-founders of Aether Diamonds, based in New York, say their diamonds pull excess carbon from the atmosphere. As a result, every one they produce has a positive impact on the planet.They use a patent-pending technique called carbo...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A new website launched by CIBJO provides easy-to-understand definitions of natural and lab-grown diamonds to avoid confusion for anyone who buys, sells or handles them.The site at www.whatisadiamond.org defines a diamond as a mineral consisting essentially of carbon that crystallises in the isometric (cubic) crystal system."It defines a synthetic diamond or laboratory-grown d...Read More
RAPAPORT... US retail sales faltered in February as winter storms impacted consumers' ability to shop, the National Retail Federation (NRF) said.Revenues slipped 3% versus January's total, with major snowstorms hitting the country's northeast, and ice storms in the south cutting power in many locations, according to data the US Census Bureau reported Tuesday. Government stimulus checks, increased...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A jeweler was robbed of his $500,000 Richard Mille watch by an armed gang as he sat at a restaurant table in Beverly Hills, California, USA.Shay Belhassen reportedly grabbed a gun from one of the three hooded raiders and wrestled them to the ground but they made off with his RM 11-03 rose gold Flyback Chronograph.Four shots were fired in the daylight robbery, one of which struck a...Read More
(IDEX Online) - VILLAGERS in south-eastern Zimbabwe claim they're being evicted from their homes to make way for gold and diamond mining - rather than dairy farming.Over 12,000 residents of Chilonga Village, in Chiredzi, say the project proposed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa is a "cover story".They say the real reason they're being removed is to allow large-scale mineral extraction in...Read More
RAPAPORT... Arctic Canadian Diamond Company has appointed former Northwest Territories (NWT) mining minister Wally Schumann as its senior adviser on aboriginal and northern affairs."[Schumann] joins the company at a very exciting time, as we embark on the next stage of our journey with Ekati, and renew...relationships with our employees, stakeholder communities in the north, the government of the...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has started providing specific information on post-growth treatments for synthetic diamonds, marking the latest shift in its approach to the category.The institute's Laboratory-Grown Diamond Reports now say if there is evidence of a treatment to change the color of a stone, or if there is no evidence, a GIA spokesperson told Rapaport News...Read More