RAPAPORT... Lucapa Diamond Company garnered $6.2 million at a tender ofrough stones from its Lulo and Mothae mines, bringing the total to $35.5million for the year to date. The miner sold 3,558 carats from its Lulo mine in Angola, bringing in $4.4 million atan average price of $1,234 per carat, it reported Thursday. The company also sold 4,376 carats fromthe Mothae mine in Lesotho for a total...Read More
RAPAPORT... Pandora has named two-time Emmy-nominated actress MillieBobby Brown as the face of a global campaign for its new jewelry collection, inan effort to reinvigorate interest in its brand and appeal to a youngeraudience. Brown is best known for the Netflix series Stranger Things, the 2019film Godzilla: King of Monsters, and her appointment as theyoungest-ever Goodwill Ambassador for th...Read More
RAPAPORT... The American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) has revealed thewinners of its 2019 Spectrum Awards, covering 14 categories from bridal to men's jewelry."When we see the entries coming into our office and those submitted during our New York City drop-off program, there's always a lot of speculation about how the judges will respond to each piece," said AGTA CEO Douglas Hucker. "After al...Read More
Junior diamond miner Lucapa reported that its latest sales of diamonds from the Lulo alluvial mine in Angola and the Mothae kimberlite mine in Lesotho has taken total sales from both mines to US$35.5 million for the year to date. In its latest sale, Lucapa had sold a run of mine parcel of 3,558 carats of Lulo diamonds for S$4.4 million, at $1,234/ct. This took total sales of Lulo diamonds to date...Read More
Pandora's first global advertising campaign for its new jewelry collection will be faced by Millie Bobby Brown, an actor and activist committed to effecting positive change among her generation. The two-time Emmy nominee and UNICEF's youngest-ever Goodwill Ambassador, Brown has signed a two-year contract with Pandora to promote the collection. Shot by fashion photographer Cass Bird, Pand...Read More
The second annual Jewelers for Children (JFC) Day will be held on Saturday September 28, 2019. JFC Day is a day for all supporters of JFC and for potential new ones to celebrate the success of the industry's support for children in need and raise visibility and funds for the charity. JFC Day is the brainchild of Steven Vardi, a JFC board member who helped develop the concept along with...Read More
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Diamond miner Lucapa Diamond Company has reported revenue of A$8.8-million from the latest sale of diamonds from its Lulo and Mothae mines, in Angola and Lesotho respectively.The ASX-listed company on Thursday reported that a parcel of 3 558 ct of Lulo diamonds was sold for gross proceeds of A$6.3-million, representing an average price of A$1 768/ct, while a furthe...Read More
"Transparency and good governance must continue to be a guiding value of corporate behaviour in order to earn the trust and respect of our current and future consumers," Marcus ter Haar, Managing Director of Okavango Diamond Company (ODC), said in his address to the Plenary Meeting of the Policy Dialogue on Natural Resource-based Development earlier this summer in Paris. The meeting was hosted by...Read More
A Swiss unit of HSBC has agreed to pay a record EUR 294.4 million ($330 million) to settle fraud claims against its Belgian business, which mainly serves members of the Antwerp diamond trade.In 2014, a Belgian judge charged HSBC Private Bank (Switzerland) with crimes including organized tax fraud, money laundering and forgery of documents. The bank is also suspected of having deliberately encourag...Read More
RAPAPORT... Tiffany & Co. will open its doors in India in an effort to capitalize on its already strong image and brand awarenessin the country, the company said Wednesday. The luxury jeweler will partner with Reliance BrandsLimited, which is part of the Reliance Industries conglomerate owned by Mukesh Ambani, recentlyranked by Forbes as the richest man in Asia. Tiffany will open stores i...Read More
RAPAPORT... Stuller has promoted Alix Gonsoulin to vice president of itsbridal, fine-jewelry and findings division, it said Tuesday. Gonsoulin started as director of diamond-and-gemstonefashion with the US-based jewelry manufacturer in 2012, and was most recently it executive director of product development. "Alix has shown an exceptional ability to workcross-functionally throughout the organ...Read More
RAPAPORT... Mountain Province's profit increased in the second quarter amid a stronger Canadian dollar that reduced its debt levels, it said Tuesday. Profit jumped 61% to CAD 10.3 million ($7.8 million) for thethree months ending June 30, as it recorded exchange-rate gains of CAD 7.5million ($5.6 million) due to the appreciation of the currency against its US counterpart. The Canada-based com...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sales at India's Titan Company increased in the first fiscal quarter, but growth was weaker than the jeweler had expected due to challenging conditions in the domestic market.Revenue climbed 16% year on year to INR 52.08 billion ($736.7million) in the three months ending June 30, while profit rose 11% to INR 3.64billion ($51.4 million). Sales were strong in studded and wedding jew...Read More
RAPAPORT... De Beers' first-half earnings highlighted the many challenges facing the diamond trade. But beyond the sharp declines the mining company suffered, CEO Bruce Cleaver and chief financial officer Nimesh Patel were insistent with their messaging: This, too, shall pass.The executives recognized that the challenges came from within the trade rather than a slump in consumer demand, even as th...Read More
RAPAPORT... Stuller has promoted Alix Gonsoulin to vice president of itsbridal, fine-jewelry and findings division, it said Tuesday. Gonsoulin started as director of diamond-and-gemstonefashion with the US-based jewelry manufacturer in 2012, and was most recently it executive director of product development. "Alix has shown an exceptional ability to workcross-functionally throughout the organ...Read More
RAPAPORT... The project by the Diamond Producers Association (DPA) testing lab-grown detectors has expanded to melee, a segment of the market highly prone to undisclosed synthetics.The Assure program reviewed 12 machines using asample of 1,000 mined diamonds and 200 synthetics, as well as 200 diamondsimulants. The stones ranged in size from 0.005 to 0.02 carats, with D to Jcolor.Six instrumen...Read More
In May 2019, like during the four previous months of this calendar year, jewelry sales continued to suffer. Watch sales, on the other hand, have been improving though the first five months of the year, albeit in low, single digit increments. In May, the fall in sales of jewelry registered at 8.7 percent, compared to May 2018, the sharpest fall for the year. As the various graphs show, in May 2018...Read More
Based on the success of last year's 'Fly to Buy' campaign, the Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) today announced that the second 'Fly to Buy' event will be held from September through December 2019. The promotion is being held in collaboration with the Israel Ministry of Economy. 'Fly to Buy' offers overseas diamond buyers up to $1,000 to cover the price of their fli...Read More
CNN Business reported that the Chinese yuan had dropped sharply on Monday to its weakest level against the US dollar in more than a decade, raising fears of further dangerous escalation in the US-China trade war. The yuan fell after the People's Bank of China set its daily reference rate for the currency at 6.92, the weakest rate since December. China's central bank sets a "band" every...Read More
Walmart's $16 billion acquisition of Flipkart last year sent the retailer to first place on the list of biggest retail and e-commerce companies in India, according to Euromonitor. E-commerce giant Amazon ranked second, and Future Group and Reliance Group placed in the top five, India's Economic Times reported. The newspaper reported that Walmart is followed by its US rival Amazon in the...Read More