RAPAPORT... Christie's New York Magnificent Jewels auction will featurea number of jewels from private collections, including the duPont Ruby, abrooch expected to fetch up to $5.5 million. The piece, which comprises a total of 11.20 carats ofBurmese rubies, emeralds, diamonds and natural pearls, is being offered by theVirginia Museum of Fine Arts. It comes from the collection of Jessie Balldu...Read More
(IDEX Online) - According to The Knot 2019 Jewelry & Engagement Study, 45 percent of engagement rings include custom-designed elements. The majority (86 percent) purchase a new ring; 45 percent incorporate customized details into the ring, whether by custom-designing it in its entirety (31 percent) or taking an existing ring design and adding personal touches (51 percent).The survey also...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Sarine Technologies Ltd is working with Tiffany & Co. to adapt its automated artificial intelligence- (AI) based grading technology to meet Tiffany's grading guidelines and criteria for color and clarity.Sarine explained in a release that the basis for its automated grading technology, which was introduced in early 2018, was the GIA grading system. However, to meet Tiffany...Read More
De Beers Canada has started preliminary drilling at properties near the town of Cobalt, in Ontario.De Beers is drilling at TSX-V-listed Tri Origin’s Nipissing Cobalt and South Abitibi project, near Cobalt. This will be the first time that these targets will be tested, the junior said on Tuesday.AdvertisementThe initial target will be evaluated and the Nipissing Cobalt property and the drill...Read More
RAPAPORT... US polished-diamondimports fell 25% to $1.3 billion in August, reflecting a decline in volumes andaverage price. Imports were down 11% for the first eight months of the year,according to the latest data from the US Commerce Department. US Trade Data for August 2019Read More
(IDEX Online) - Petra Diamonds evacuated the Cullinan Mine earlier this week following a thunderstorm over the weekend that led to an open pit wall collapsing. No one was hurt in the incident and the miner said it does not expect production to be affected.Mining at the open pit was discontinued over 50 years ago.During the incident approximately 3 million tons of material fell into the open pit, w...Read More
London-listed Petra Diamonds has temporarily halted operations at its Cullinan mine, in South Africa, while it undertakes a risk assessment following the scaling of the openpit wall over the weekend.The company on Wednesday reported that a thunderstorm on October 26 had resulted in a "notable scaling of the sidewall" of the openpit over the weekend, as well as on Monday, October 28.Adver...Read More
RAPAPORT... In the run-up to the first Rapaport Estate Jewelry Auction, Martin Rapaport explains in this webinar why the greatest opportunity facing the diamond, gem and jewelry industry is the purchase and resale of estate jewelry.Image: Jewelry from the Rapaport Estate Jewelry Auction. (Rapaport News)Read More
RAPAPORT... The media tycoon who recently bought Sotheby's has appointed a senior executive from his business empire as the auction house's new CEO.Charles Stewart will assume the role with immediate effect, having served as copresident and chief financialofficer of Patrick Drahi's Altice USA since 2016. He helped lead that company's successful $2.1billion initial public offering in 2017...Read More
RAPAPORT... Luk Fook's same-store sales fell 37% in the second fiscalquarter amid a decrease in inbound tourism due to escalating Hong Kong protestsand the impact of the US-China trade war. Total same-store sales - at Luk Fook outlets open for morethan a year - in Hong Kong and Macau dropped 39% in the three months endingSeptember 30. Same-store gold sales plunged 46%, while gem-set-jewelrypu...Read More
RAPAPORT... Gem Diamonds has recovered a diamond weighing 161carats from its Let??eng mine in Lesotho. The miner found the "high-quality" white, type IIa stone onOctober 28, it said. Including this rough, Gem Diamonds has retrieved five white stones over 100 carats this year. It also produced a further three of that size in other colors. In 2018, the mine, known for its large, high-quality st...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has appointedMark Buntz senior vice president and chief marketing officer, to drive thefuture of the organization's brand. A marketing veteran with more than 20 years of experience inglobal brand marketing, advertising, communications, sales and broadcasting,Buntz is tasked with supporting the expansion of the GIA's education,laboratory s...Read More
RAPAPORT... US women increasingly buy engagement rings forthemselves, and spend more on them than their partners do, De Beers said Mondayin its annual Diamond Insight Report. The proportion of engagement rings financed solely by brides rose to 14% in 2017 from 11% in 2015 and 7% in 2013, accordingto the report. The trend reflects growth in female purchasing power, one ofseveral social changes impa...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Tiffany & Co. has confirmed it has received an unsolicited, non-binding proposal from LVMH Moet Hennessy - Louis Vuitton to acquire it for $120 per share in cash.The luxury jeweler said that while the two sides are not in discussion, its Board of Directors is reviewing the proposal to determine the best course of action for the company and its shareholders. According to a...Read More
(IDEX Online) - New research by the De Beers Group in its latest Diamond Insight Report reveals the increasing role women are taking in purchasing engagement rings. According to the research, the share of U.S. women buying their own engagement ring doubled from 7 percent to 14 percent within a five-year period.The research also found that when women buy their own diamond engagement ring they spend...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Diamond explorer Botswana Diamonds has announced that its associate Vutomi Mining Pty Ltd has received a mining permit for the iconic Marsfontein Mine. The permit covers the mine's diamond-bearing gravels and unprocessed stockpiles.The mine, which comprises a kimberlite blow, operated for two years in the late 1990s with a pay-back of its entire development cost in less than f...Read More
LONDON - Anglo American unit De Beers said its 2019 marketing budget will exceed last year's figure of $170-million and will focus on the biggest market the United States, where women lavishing diamonds on themselves has boosted sales.While US demand has held firm, the diamond market has weakened elsewhere and trade tensions and protests in Hong Kong have dented sales in China, the second larg...Read More
RAPAPORT... The media tycoon who recently bought Sotheby's has appointed a senior executive from his business empire as the auction house's new CEO.Charles Stewart will assume the role with immediate effect, having served as copresident and chief financialofficer of Patrick Drahi's Altice USA since 2016. He helped lead that company's successful $2.1billion initial public offering in 2017...Read More
RAPAPORT... Gem Diamonds has recovered a diamond weighing 161carats from its Let??eng mine in Lesotho. The miner found the "high-quality" white, type IIa stone onOctober 28, it said. Including this rough, Gem Diamonds has retrieved five white stones over 100 carats this year. It also produced a further three of that size in other colors. In 2018, the mine, known for its large, high-quality st...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has appointedMark Buntz senior vice president and chief marketing officer, to drive thefuture of the organization's brand. A marketing veteran with more than 20 years of experience inglobal brand marketing, advertising, communications, sales and broadcasting,Buntz is tasked with supporting the expansion of the GIA's education,laboratory s...Read More