RAPAPORT... Alex and Anihas filed a countersuit against Sterling Jewelers, claiming the retailer breached a supply agreement between the two companies, according to court filings.In August 2015, the companies entered into anagreement whereby Sterling would purchase Alex and Ani merchandise to sell insome of its Jared stores. But Sterling, a division of Signet Jewelers, struggled tosell all the goo...Read More
RAPAPORT... India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has launched aprobe into billionaire jeweler Nirav Modi over allegations he defrauded a statebank of $44 million, Reuters reported. The Punjab National Bank complained to the CBI that Modi andothers had conspired with bank officials for financial gain, the report saidlast week. Earlier this month, the CBI raided Modi's home, as well as 21 l...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Women's Jewelry Association (WJA) has elected JennyLuker, president of Platinum Guild International, as its new international-board president. Sara Yood, senior counsel of the Jewelers VigilanceCommittee, will serve as treasurer, while Rebecca Moskal, a partner at jewelry-marketingfirm Communiqu?(C), will take on the position of corporate secretary. LaurenThompson of Jewelers of Am...Read More
RAPAPORT... Jewelry and watch companies need to increase efforts toensure their supply chains are free of human-rights abuses, a campaign group cautioned in a report last week."Many jewelers can do more to find out if their gold ordiamonds are tainted by child labor or other human-rights abuses," said JulianeKippenberg, associate child-rights director at Human Rights Watch. "Whensomeone buys...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has identified asynthetic moissanite stone that had been submitted to one of its laboratories as anatural rough diamond.The GIA's Carlsbad lab recently examined the 9.71-caratstone, whose shape was similar to an octahredron, staff gemologist RebeccaTsang wrote in the Winter 2017 edition of the institute's journal, Gems& Gemology. "While th...Read More
(IDEX Online) - India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has launched an investigation into billionaire jeweler Nirav Modi, one of the country's richest men, over accusations that he and others defrauded a state bank of $44 million. The CBI said it was acting on a complaint from the Punjab National Bank that Nirav Modi and others had conspired with bank officials to fraudulently o...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Sotheby's Diamonds is offering a Type IIA 102.34-carat, D Flawless stone to private buyers. Sotheby's says the Gemological Institute of America described the stone as the "largest round shaped, D color, Flawless diamond ever graded." Mined in Botswana, it weighed 425.40 carats in the rough. Study of the stone and mapping by Sotheby's Diamonds' partner Diacore re...Read More
Namibia's top diamond producer, Namdeb, a 50/50 joint venture company between the country's government and De Beers it's selling its Elizabeth Bay mine in a move that will affect at least 130 of its 1,700 employees.The announcement comes three weeks after the company wrote to staff offering voluntary redundancies, saying the move sought to ensure the sustainability of Namdeb land-based operations....Read More
LONDON – The diamond industry has a size problem.Instead of splashing out on a ring or necklace featuring one big, bright diamond, shoppers are increasingly choosing pieces with several, smaller gems, which are often lower quality. And selling jewellery with smaller stones has been a good way for retailers to save money.AdvertisementAs a result, the diamond content in jewellery has been shri...Read More
VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Ottawa on Thursday tabled new legislation to improve the federal environmental assessment process for mining projects.The legislation is aimed at strengthening and restoring the credibility of Canada's environmental laws.AdvertisementMaking good on a core Liberal election platform promise to review and improve Canada's environmental laws, government int...Read More
WINDHOEK – Namdeb, a 50/50 joint venture between the Namibian government and Anglo American's diamond unit De Beers, has put the Elizabeth Bay Mine on sale, a company spokesperson said on Friday.The sale comes three weeks after the diamond miner wrote to staff offering voluntary redundancies that will affect at least 130 of its 1 700-strong workforce.Advertisement"Following a recent...Read More
CAPE TOWN, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Mining is a long-term game, but in southern Africa dramatic political changes have transformed the investment mood for the better in the space of a year.Angola's Jose Eduardo dos Santos and Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe stepped down in 2017 after a combined 75 years in office, while the election of Cyril Ramaphosa as head of South Africa's ruling ANC heralds the looming end...Read More
(Bloomberg) - Zimbabwe will consider applications from companies mining platinum or diamonds to be exempted from a requirement that they be at least 51 percent owned by black citizens of the country.The government wants companies to show they have a plan to achieve compliance before it will consider granting waivers, Mines Minister Winston Chitando said in an interview in Cape Town Wednesday."Com...Read More
Sotheby's unveiled Thursday what it calls the "world's largest, rarest and most valuable D-Flawless round white diamond to have ever been offered for private sale, with experts predicting the gem could fetch over $33 million.The 102.34-carat white diamond, mined by De Beers in Botswana, is the only known round brilliant-cut gem over 100 carats perfect according to every critical criterion, said S...Read More
Positive sentiment, with rising expectations for the Chinese New Yearretail season. Busy trading at Israel's International Diamond Week, withmomentum expected to continue through the Hong Kong show (Feb. 27). USretailers restocking and hoping for positive Valentine's Day sales, despiterecent drop in equity markets. Polished prices firm, with 1 ct. RAPI +2.2% inJan. Manufacturers concerned about ri...Read More
To refine and improve the execution of recruitment in the mining industry, mining and engineering professionals recruiter TrueVine Consulting has developed an innovative online recruitment platform, called Digger. “Digger is a digital recruitment, talent management and staff retention solution or application (app) specifically for the mining industry,” Digger cofounder and TrueVine Con...Read More
(IDEX Online) - ALROSA has held an annual meeting with its long-term clients, the first meeting of the new three-year client period which started last month. During the meeting, representatives of all the companies had an opportunity to discuss with ALROSA's management their work in the new contract period, trends and challenges of the global diamond market, the miner reported. ...Read More
LONDON – A flawless diamond, the size of a large strawberry, is expected to fetch a world record price when it goes on sale at Sotheby's in London this month.Weighing just over 102 ct, the round, brilliant white stone is smaller than a 163-ct oval diamond sold in Hong Kong in 2013, which currently holds the record price per carat.AdvertisementBut Sotheby's, which also handled that Ho...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The value of diamonds traded in Antwerp slipped to $46 billion last year from $48 billion in 2016, the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) reported. However, 233.6 million carats of diamonds were imported to and exported from Antwerp, representing an increase in the volume of diamonds traded, with a particularly notable increase in the rough diamonds sector, the AWDC said. &...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sotheby's has unveiled a rare white diamond that, it claims,is the only known round brilliant-cut diamond over 100 carats possessing the highestcut, color and clarity grades.Sotheby's Diamonds, the group's retail boutique, revealedthe 102.34-carat, D-color, flawless stone to mark the first anniversary of its salon on London's New Bond Street, the auction house said Thursday. The polish...Read More