(IDEX Online) - The DMCC has opened a new state-of-the-art luxury vault and safe deposit facility in the Almas Towers in Dubai. This is the second jewelry vault in the Almas Tower, which is the base of many for many of the emirate's jewelry traders.818 Vault is equipped with a secure dual control locking mechanism. Each safety deposit locker has two 10-lever locks that are accessed with two u...Read More
RAPAPORT... India's polished-diamond exports dropped 16% to $20.62billion in 2019, recording their steepest annual decline since 2012. The decreasereflected a slump in imports volumes and a more moderate decline in the averageprice. Rough imports fell 17% as weakness in the manufacturing sector led to aslowdown in rough buying. India Trade Data for December 2019Read 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
RAPAPORT... The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has unveiled a video-billboard advertising campaign that encourages consumers to learn about the origin of diamonds.Two ads featuring GIA's Diamond Origin Report and the 4Cs of diamond quality are running in New York's Times Square through February 15, the GIA said Tuesday. The new campaign marks the institute's efforts to spread the mess...Read More
The Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) has inaugurated a state-of-the-art luxury vault and safe deposit facility, the 818 Vault, in the Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT), in Dubai.Officially opened on Wednesday, the high-security vault adds to DMCC’s trade and business ecosystem that provides facilities, services and infrastructure to member companies operating in the gold, diamond, precious me...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Carnegie Institution of Washington is alleging that its patents for growing diamonds are being infringed by some well-known lab-grown makers. The institute has filed lawsuits in New York against six companies, including Pure Grown Diamonds Inc. and IIa Technologies PTE Ltd., reports Bloomberg.The disputes have arisen over the use of Carnegie's chemical vapor deposition (CV...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The International Gemological Institute (IGI) has opened a new center in Shanghai. The new office includes classrooms and a lab is located in the Fosun building in the Bund Financial Center. IGI said the center will offer enhanced educational and grading services as well as gemological information. "IGI's Shanghai base will promote mutual understanding between IGI and the...Read More
(IDEX Online) - EyeOnJewels has launched a local online marketplace for jewelry in the US that is standardizing the shopping process. The new service enables consumers to find fine jewelry and watch products from local vetted and certified jewelers without having to search them individually. Using EyeOnJewels, shoppers can add items from different retailers to their cart and pay for them in o...Read More
RAPAPORT PRESS RELEASE, January 14, 2020, New York... The Rapaport Group has released its Diamond Price Statistics Annual Report for 2019, evaluating the performance of polished-diamond prices. The report provides an in-depth analysis of the past year's trends and compares the price changes within specific diamond categories.Diamond prices fell in 2019 as the trade faced macroeconomic uncertainty...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Rapaport Diamond Podcast ushers in the new year with a review of the holiday season and some bold predictions for 2020. Is this the year of retail refurbishment? Will rough buying become more demand-driven? How is De Beers relating to sightholders going into lab-grown? Will John stick to his fitness regime and Sonia to her goal of being more mindful? And will Billy Porter stea...Read More
RAPAPORT... Chow Tai Fook intends to close up to 15 stores in Hong Kong as street protests and a tourism slowdown have hit sales.Leases on more than 40 of the jeweler's 91 retail locations in the municipality are due to expire during the fiscal year starting April 2020, the company said Tuesday. Management will decide which of those leases it will allow to lapse."We will review the store performan...Read More
RAPAPORT... Tiffany & Co. has unveiled the location that will serve as its home during the two-year renovation of its New York flagship store.The Tiffany Flagship Next Door, a four-story space on East 57th Street, adjacent to the jeweler's Fifth Avenue store, will take the place of its primary location until late 2021. Tiffany plans to test out periodic installations and exclusive pa...Read More
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Diamond miner Lucapa’s polishing strategy has achieved its first diamonds from a cutting and polishing partnership.The ASX-listed company on Tuesday reported that a 36 ct rough diamond recovered from the Mothae mine, in Lesotho, was manufactured into six polished D-colour diamonds under a partnership with an international diamantaire.AdvertisementThe two larg...Read More
RAPAPORT... E-commerce spending in the US grew to a record high during the holiday season, driven by a rise in smartphone purchases, according to Adobe Analytics.Revenues rose 13% year on year to $142.5 billion over the November-December period, with consumer purchases on smartphones raking in more than $50 billion in sales for the first time, and accounting for 84% of online sales growth. Ea...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sales at Chow Tai Fook's mainland China stores grew in the third quarter amid a significant expansion of the jeweler's network in the country. Total retail sales climbed 17% year on year in China for the three months ending December 31, while same-store sales - at locations open for more than a year - rose 2%. Chow Tai Fook added a net 279 points of sale in the country d...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa has announced that for December 2019, it sold $363.8 million worth of rough and polished diamonds (+11% year-over-year). Rough diamond sales by value amounted to $352.1 million, with polished diamond sales totaling $11.6 million.The company's total rough and polished diamond sales for 2019 amounted to $3.338 billion. During the year, Alrosa's total rough diamonds s...Read More
RAPAPORT... US diamond shipments fell in November, according to government data. Polished imports declined19% as lower volumes outweighed an increase in the average price. US Trade Data for November 2019Read More
RAPAPORT... Phillips has appointed Paul Redmayne head of private jewelry sales as part of its efforts to expand its jewelry department internationally, the auction house said Monday.Redmayne, who will be responsible for managing relationships with top jewelry collectors around the world and fostering private sales, joined Phillips from Bonhams, where he was the head of sales for jewelry. He i...Read More