RAPAPORT... US retail sales are forecast to increase by up to 1.5% this holiday season, despite uncertain consumer sentiment and a jump in the unemployment rate, Deloitte said Tuesday.The consulting firm expects overall holiday retail sales to rise 1% to 1.5% for the November-to-January period, to about $1.15 trillion, it said. That growth is a slowdown from the same time last year, when holiday s...Read More
RAPAPORT... Petra Diamonds has unearthed five high-quality, blue, type IIb diamonds from its Cullinan mine in South Africa in the span of one week, it said Wednesday.The stones, which weigh 25.75, 21.25, 17.57, 11.42 and 9.61 carats, have been assessed by the company and determined to be individual diamonds, rather than part of a larger whole. The last significant blue diamond Petra recovered was...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sarine Technologies has partnered with China's National Gemstone Testing Center (NGTC) to offer light-performance reports for a leading jewelry supplier in the region.The co-branded reports for high-end Chinese jewelry designer, manufacturer and wholesaler Yuanyumei (Y&M) follow Sarine's launch of a collaboration with the NGTC in September last year. Y&M will implement the...Read More
RAPAPORT... Stornoway Diamond Corporation plans to resume operations at its Renard mine in Canada this month after half a year of inactivity, according to a minority shareholder.The miner, which was acquired by its lenders last year following heavy losses and mounting debt, closed the deposit in March as a result of the challenges imposed by the coronavirus pandemic. The resumption follows a revie...Read More
RAPAPORT... The World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) has voted in Yoram Dvash as its president for a three-year term, the organization said Tuesday.Dvash, who holds the same position at the Israel Diamond Exchange, had been the WFDB's acting president since Ernie Blom stepped down in April. The election took place at a WFDB working session during this week's virtual World Diamond Congre...Read More
RAPAPORT... Gemfields expects to suffer a loss of $56.7 million for the first half of the year amid the cancellation of most of its emerald and ruby auctions.The loss for the six months ending June 30 compares with a profit of $12.4 million for the same period a year ago, the miner said Monday. The company was able to hold only one auction, in February, before being forced to cancel those schedule...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Zimbabwe government has banned mining for diamonds and other minerals in its national parks.It was responding to calls from environmental and wildlife groups, who raised concerns about threats to biodiversity, tourism and the elephant population.Mining for diamonds, gold and coal is widespread in national parks across southern Africa, Shamiso Mtisi, of the Zimbabwe Environmenta...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Workers at the Diavik diamond mine, close to the Arctic circle, were surprised to find a grizzly bear prowling the cafeteria.It's not clear how the animal gained access to the site, at Lac de Gras, in Northwest Territories, Canada, but staff suspect it entered through external doors to the adjoining kitchen.A picture of the bear was posted on Facebook, captioned: "This is wild...Read More
(IDEX Online) - India's biggest show for the jewelry trade is to take place as a virtual event in October.The flagship India International Jewelry Show (IIJS) Premiere, which typically attracts 40,000 visitors and over 1,300 exhibitors, should have taken place in August but was axed because of the pandemic.Organizers GJEPC today said they were expecting 500 exhibitors and 10,000 buyers at IIJ...Read More
RAPAPORT... India's polished-diamond exports fell 26% year on year to $1.22 billion in August, a gentler decline than in previous months, as overseas jewelry demand improved, the country's Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) reported."We have witnessed initial signs of recovery from markets like the US, China [and] Europe," GJEPC chairman Colin Shah said earlier this week. "E...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The body of Jaysukh Gajera, president of Surat Diamond Polishers' Association, has been found on the bank of a river in Surat district.He headed the trade body for 15 years but went missing last Wednesday.Local police were quoted as saying Mr Gajera, 53, had been facing financial crisis during lockdown. They said they were exploring a number of possibilities. ...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Diamond polishing is returning to near-normal in Surat, say Indian trade bosses, as factories re-open and the spread of COVID-19 appear to have been limited.An estimated 5,000 of the city's 7,000 cutting and polishing units (70 per cent) are now functioning again, and government rules now allow 70 per cent of staff to work, rather than 50 per cent, as previously.The Gem and Je...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The French luxury conglomerate LVMH says it will vigorously defend itself against legal action after the collapse of its planned $16.2bn acquisition of Tiffany & Co.In a strongly-worded press release it said the lawsuit was "totally unfounded" and accused the New York-based jeweler of "dishonesty" and misleading its shareholders."The long preparation of this assignment (the law...Read More
RAPAPORT... The novel coronavirus has put the brakes on every aspect of gem trading around the globe, and the limit on international travel is one of the most notable setbacks. Miners, geologists and suppliers usually must make their way from remote mining sites to manufacturers, keeping the flow of goods moving toward the end user. What are they doing now while this crisis plays out? And what is...Read More
RAPAPORT... The VicenzaOro International Community Event (VOICE) takes place in Italy this week under strict health guidelines, with organizers expecting more than 370 exhibitors to attend despite the pandemic.The fair began Saturday and runs through Monday under strict health guidelines, the Italian Exhibition Group (IEG) said last week. The show will be one of the few to occur in physical f...Read More
RAPAPORT... Nonprofit group Gem Legacy will launch an auction of donated jewelry and loose gems to celebrate its second anniversary, with the proceeds going to fund new tool kits for artisanal miners in Africa."Tools are absolutely essential to small gem miners' success," Rachel Dery, director of communications and outreach for Gem Legacy, said last week. "The tool kit will provide them with more...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers announced a provisional $320m of rough sales at last month's Sight 7, the highest figure since the pandemic struck.It's almost three times more than the previous Sight ($116m) and slightly up on last year's August Sight ($287m).It results were in line with the miner's biggest rival, Alrosa, which last week revealed a similar recovery. Combin...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Sotheby's is to auction an extremely rare 102.39-carat D color, Type IIa, flawless oval diamond. It will be sold in a live online auction, with, unusually, no reserve price. There is speculation that the gem (pictured), described as "the size of a lollipop" could break the record for an online diamond auction, and fetch up to $30m, though Sotheby's would not be dra...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Police in Angola have seized a 147-carat diamond as part of Operation Transparency, its long-running crackdown on illicit diamond trafficking and illegal immigration.An Angolan citizen and a foreign national were detained in the eastern Lunda Norte province, according to the country's official news agency Angola Press. No further details about the stone were disclosed.Security...Read More
RAPAPORT... Rough-diamond sales began to rebound at De Beers' August sight as demand picked up ahead of the holiday season and governments reduced Covid-19 restrictions."Diamond markets showed some continued improvement throughout August and September as Covid-19 restrictions continued to ease in various locations, and manufacturers focused on meeting retail demand for polished diamonds, part...Read More