(IDEX Online) - A pair of $1m apartments owned by fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi are to be auctioned.Modi, 51 is facing extradition from the UK back to India, where he is accused of a $1.85bn fraud against the Punjab National Bank (PNB).The Debts Recovery Tribunals will sell the two adjoining flats, on the 16th floor of the luxury Yoo Pune development, in Pune, in the western state of Mahar...Read More
(IDEX Online) - An estimated 20,000 diamond workers have lost their jobs in Surat, India, in the last month, as global demand slumps, according to a report in Economic Times.Most of the city's 4,000 manufacturing units are said to working at just 60 to 70 per cent capacity, according to Damji Mavani, the secretary of Surat Diamond Association (SDA).The city's 800,000 diamond workers are...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The elderly owner of a New York jewelry store is fighting for his life after he was savagely beaten in a $100,000 raid.Manny Cohen, 79, was attacked by two men who forced their way into Roxy Jewelry, in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn, as he was closing for the day.His son Shawn was worried when he didn't answer his phone and scrolled back through the surveillance footage....Read More
(IDEX Online) - Watch and jewelry sales in the US for November were down 3.8 per cent year-on-year. October's figure, initially reported as a fall of 1.9 per cent, has since been revised down, based on actual through-the-till transactions rather than estimates, to 3.4 per cent, according to the latest figures from the Department of Commerce. Likewise September has been revised from a 1.3...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Underground mining for sapphires has resumed in Montana, USA, after four decades.The long-dormant Yogo Mine, close to the town of Utica, is being revived. And after two years of surface mining, operators Yogold USA are now going underground.They've dug a 3,000ft tunnel and are extracting up to 100 tons of ore today, in search of Yogo sapphires which range in color from deep co...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Sales of jewelry in Hong Kong fell last November, according to newly-released figures.Total retail sales fell year-on-year by 4.2 per cent. The figure for jewelry, watches, clocks, and valuable gifts was almost double that, at 8.3 per cent (The Census and Statistics Department does not provide a more detailed breakdown). Total sales were $372m.The sectors that fared worse were comm...Read More
(IDEX Online) - 2022 proved to be a year of highs and lows, as the Index hit its highest point in over a decade, then nose-dived to close the year down 7.5 per cent overall (from 142.86 in January to 132.15 in December).Even through the pandemic, aside from the very early months of 2020, the Index was climbing, and as lockdowns and travel restrictions were eased, it surged as never befor...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Luxury French jeweler Boucheron is using recycled industrial waste - which includes asbestos - in a new collection.Material that is usually crushed and used for road-building is vitrified - turned into a glassy (and harmless) substance called Cofalit - through heat and fusion.Claire Choisne, the company's artistic director, saw the potential to cut and polish it for jewe...Read More
(IDEX Online) - An Indian jeweler has set a world record with a watch made of 17,524 natural hand-cut diamonds.Renani Jewels, in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, has been recognized by Guinness World Records for its Srinika bracelet timepiece, for "the most diamonds set on a watch".The watch, inspired by ancient Indian mythology, weighs 373.030 gram and contains 54.70 carats of diamonds, all E or F color an...Read More
(IDEX Online) - BlueRock Diamonds says it has now overcome the problems that cut its processing production by over a third during deluges last April and May.The unexpected rainfall at its Kareevlei mine, in South Africa, hampered access to high-quality kimberlite, forcing it to use lower grade ore and delay roll-out of its mining development plan.But in a trading update the London-based AIM-listed...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Belgium's "carat tax" brought in $29.5m in 2020, far less than the $74m the government had expected.The new regime introduced in 2017, taxes the country's 1,200 or so diamond dealers on 2.1 per cent of revenue rather than profit.During the 2017 and 2018 tax years the carat tax brought in $84m and $104m, according to Belgian newspapers De Tijd and L'Echo.That's a...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Indian Jeweler CaratLane has launched its own range of Harry Potter jewelry in a deal with Warner Bros.There are already a number of licensed collections based on JK Rowling's seven novels and films.The Harry Potter x CaratLane 14-karat gold collection of 61 rings, bracelets, earrings, necklaces and watch charms - some with with diamonds, gemstones, pearls, enamel, and&nb...Read More
IDEX Online) - Diamond manufacturer Kalpesh Jetani has been reunited with polished gems he lost on the way to deposit them at a vault in Surat, India.The packet, valued at $8,500, was found by textile entrepreneur Dharmesh Sakhiya, who posted notices at diamond markets across the city's' Varachha district.Mr Jetani spotted one such notice at the Prince Safe Deposit Vault, made contact, a...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The world's richest diamond mine for the first three quarters of 2022 was Jwaneng, in Botswana, with 10.3m carats.Orapa, also in Botswana, was second-placed with 8.0m carats, according to newly-published figures from miningintelligence.com.Both mines are operated by Debswana, a partnership between De Beers and the government of Botswana.Third on the list is Udachny mine, opera...Read More
(IDEX Online) - An amethyst and diamond pendant famously worn by the late Princess Diana, is expected to fetch up to $145,000 when it is auctioned by Sotheby's London later this month. The Fleur e cross, circa 1920, set with square-cut amethyst and accented by circular-cut diamonds belongs to London-based Garrard, official jeweller to the royal family for 160 years until 2007.Princess Di...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Plans to develop the huge Bunder diamond mine in India, with a potential yield of 34m carats, are facing opposition from environmental groups.Local residents claim the revival of mining activity at Buxwaha, in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, will destroy forest land, cost jobs, displace tribal populations and damage the environment.Rio Tinto leased the site from the state gove...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Botswana Diamonds (BOD), the UK-based explorer, says it is seeking joint venture opportunities to seek out new assets in Zimbabwe.The country relies on diamond mining for around 70 per cent of its foreign currency revenue, but is battling grinding poverty among its 15m population,John Teeling, chairman of BOD, said in a trading update: "There are significant geological opportunitie...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Price drops dominated yet again among rounds during December, but there price increases among fancies, as consumers opted for lower-priced goods. Manufacturers in Surat reportedly working at just half capacity. Consumer demand remains depressed, with pre-Christmas spending down 5.4 per cent year-on-year, according to the latest Mastercard SpendingPulse report. And inflation s...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The holiday season saw a 5.4 per cent drop in year-on-year jewelry sales in the US, despite a growth in overall spending of 7.6 per cent.Shoppers opted to spend their dollars on eating out - restaurants raked in 15.1 per cent more than in 2021, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse's report on US retail sales across all payment types.Spending on clothes also rose, by 4.4...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa says it expects to find more diamonds in Yakutia and beyond, which could take total reserves to an estimated 1.1bn carats.It also says rough production for 2022 is expected to total 35.5m carats, an increase on earlier forecasts of 34.3m.Russia's state-controlled miner, currently sanctioned by the US, says the most promising new territories are the north of Yakutia, in...Read More