(IDEX Online) - Industry charity Jewelers for Children (JFC) will honor Virginia "Gina" Drosos, CEO of Signet Jewelers, Ltd. and Mercedes Abramo, president and CEO of Cartier North America at the 22nd edition of its annual Facets of Hope event in Las Vegas. Drosos was appointed Signet CEO in July 2017 and has served as a director of Signet's boardsince 2012. She serves on the Board of Ak...Read More
(IDEX Online) - GIA (Gemological Institute of America) has announced that it is suspending its diamond sealing services. The suspension is effective immediately and comes following the discovery that "a small number" of GIA sealing packets that had been compromised by third parties after the sealing packets left GIA. The Institute said that in these cases, the original diamonds had been repla...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Rio Tinto has announced its Q4 and full-year figures for 2019 with production at both the Argyle and Diavik mines down 8 percent over 2018. The miner said these results were due to lower recovered grade at Argyle, which was partially offset by stronger mining and processing rates. At Diavik, the drop was due to lower ore availability and grade from the underground operations....Read More
RAPAPORT... Rio Tinto expects a decline in diamond production in 2020 as it reduces output at its Argyle mine in Australia, which is set to close in the fourth quarter.The company will produce between 12 million and 14 million carats for the year, compared with 17 million carats in 2019, it said last week. The miner also expects to retrieve lower grades at its Diavik mine in Canada, further i...Read More
RAPAPORT... Richemont's jewelry sales increased 9% in the third fiscal quarter as strong growth in Europe, the US and China offset weakness in Hong Kong.Jewelry proceeds from Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Buccellati rose to EUR 2.16 billion ($2.40 billion) in the three months ending December 31, Richemont reported last week. The results were the first to include Buccellati following Ric...Read More
RAPAPORT... Rio Tinto expects a decline in diamond production in 2020 as it reduces output at its Argyle mine in Australia, which is set to close in the fourth quarter.The company will produce between 12 million and 14 million carats for the year, compared with 17 million carats in 2019, it said last week. The miner also expects to retrieve lower grades at its Diavik mine in Canada, further i...Read More
LONDON – De Beers is considering key changes to the way it sells diamonds as frustration mounts among its customers – a supposedly elite group that are now struggling to turn a profit.De Beers has signaled to its handpicked buyers that it may significantly reduce their number, possibly by the most since its monopoly ended at the beginning of the century, according to people familiar wi...Read More
Polished trading stable with selective demand. Dealers focused on filling US orders as jewelers begin post-holiday inventory replacement. Mixed results from the season, with record e-commerce sales driving growth. Signet Jewelers Nov.-Dec. revenue -1% to $1.8B. Rising expectations for Jan. 25 Chinese New Year as US and China sign trade deal. Chow Tai Fook 3Q China sales +17%, Hong Kong -38%. China...Read More
Diamond miner Lucara Diamond has entered into a collaboration with famous luxury house Louis Vuitton and diamond manufacturer HB Company to manufacture its historic 1 758 ct Sewelô diamond that was recovered from Lucara’s Karowe diamond mine, in Botswana, in April last year.The purpose of the collaboration is the planning, cutting and polishing of a collection of diamonds from&nbs...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) is moving the judging of its annual AGTA Spectrum Awards Design Competition back to October. The move is to ensure that designers who have sourced their gemstones at the AGTA GemFair Tucson or AGTA GemFair Las Vegas have enough time to conceptualize and create their entries. "Spectrum is always such an incredible showcase of color, and...Read More
(IDEX Online) - India's state-owned miner NMDC could be getting a multi billion dollar contract to explore and mine diamonds at a diamond project abandoned by Rio Tinto, reports Reuters. Located in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, the Bunder deposits could contain millions of carats of diamonds, Neeraj Mandloi, the principal secretary of the state's Mineral Resource Department,...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Diamcor Mining Inc. sold 13,218 carats of rough in the its third fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2019. Gross revenue for the period totaled $1,412,117 or $106.83 per carat. The lower dollar per carat achieved during the period was due to the significantly higher percentage of smaller, lower quality rough diamonds recovered as part of the tailings-retreatment exercises at the...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Lucara Diamond Corp. is collaborating with Louis Vuitton and the Antwerp manufacturing HB Company to transform the 1,758-carat Sewel?? ? diamond into a fine jewelry collection. The record-breaking diamond was recovered from the Karowe Diamond Mine in Botswana in April 2019.Lucara will receive an up front non-material payment for the Sewel?? ? and keep a 50-percent interest in the i...Read More
RAPAPORT... Lucara Diamond Corp. has sold Botswana's largest diamond to Louis Vuitton in a rare move that will see the fashion house partner with an Antwerp manufacturer to polish the stone.The mining company will receive an up-front payment for the 1,758-carat Sewel?? rough and retain a 50% interest in the final polished, it said in a statement Wednesday. While the diamond is of variable qua...Read More
RAPAPORT... Belgium's diamond trade declined in 2019 as excess supply led to slower demand for rough and polished, the Antwerp World Diamond Centre said Wednesday.Polished exports fell 13% to $9.93 billion, their lowest level since 2009, Rapaport records showed, while rough imports and exports both slumped 26%. Total trading was also the weakest in a decade, sliding 19% to $37.1 billion."Manu...Read More
RAPAPORT... Michael Hill's sales rose 6% in the first half of its fiscal year amid strong growth in holiday purchasing and a successful launch of lab-grown diamond jewelry.Group revenue climbed to AUD 327.3 million ($226.3 million) as higher sales in October and November outweighed weak consumer sentiment at the beginning of December, the jeweler reported Wednesday. Same-store sales - at branches...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sales at Signet Jewelers increased during the holiday season, prompting the retailer to raise its full-year outlook.Same-store sales - at branches open for at least a year - increased 1.6% for the nine weeks ending January 4, while total revenue slipped 1% to $1.82 billion. E-commerce revenue grew 14% to $252.3 million, the company said Thursday. "We delivered holiday sa...Read More
RAPAPORT... Graff has appointed Marc Hruschka CEO of its US operations as part of its efforts to reach new customers and grow its business."We aim to become more dynamic, broadening our product offering to include everyday diamonds and prioritizing client relationships," Hruschka said Monday.Hruschka has more than 25 years of experience in the luxury industry, most prominently as CEO of Chopa...Read More
RAPAPORT... The UK has secured independent membership of the Kimberley Process (KP), enabling it to continue participating in the international rough-diamond trade after the nation leaves the European Union.Britain's decision to withdraw from the EU on January 31 requires the country to join the KP in its own right, as it is currently a member through the European bloc. Under a deal agreed in...Read More
RAPAPORT... Alrosa has appointed Ravil Sanatulov to succeed Andrey Pismenny as general director of its Severalmaz mining division.Sanatulov began his mining career with Alrosa in 1986 as an equipment engineer in Mirny, prior to being promoted to various positions, the company said Tuesday. In 2007, he was named director of Alrosa's Aikhal mining division, a position he held until 2018, going...Read More