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Emotions erupted at the just ended Zimbabwe diamond conference as delegates and industry leaders spoke against sanctions imposed on companies operating in Marange by the United States. The debate over the trade embargo was so super-charged that gloves were taken off for a knuckle bare verbal fight.
For news junkies in the diamond industry, this past week was a relatively exciting one. And for once it wasn’t De Beers making the headlines. This time, BHP Billiton completed its diamond exit by agreeing to sell the Ekati mine in Canada to Harry Winston for $500 million, while further west, ALROSA signed a two-year […]
Kristall is the largest diamond manufacturer in Russia and one of the largest in Europe. Based in Smolensk, the company is producing top-quality polished diamonds and occupies a prominent place in the global diamond community successfully competing with many world-renowned firms.
What can the market expect from Harry Winston Diamonds’ purchase of BHP Billiton’s diamond business? Prima facie, an established and experienced Canadian miner, with a high-end and successful diamond-jewelry retail operation, widened its mining operation, strengthening its position according to its “Bookends” philosophy. A closer look, however, reveals a far more complex picture and raises […]
De Beers sold an estimated $480 million worth of rough diamonds at its November sight that ended this past week. Sightholders continue to note difficult market conditions and low profit margins as De Beers has curbed supply and kept its prices steady. “It was a smaller sight than October but it went well,” said Nigel […]
Ongoing smuggling, money laundering benefits Zimbabwe political elite. Partnership Africa Canada (PAC) alerted the global diamond industry to ongoing smuggling in Zimbabwe, adding that money laundering and a lack of transparency directly benefits certain members of the country’s ruling party.
Traditional jewelry retailers, and diamond dealers for that matter, continue to express concern about the impact that online jewelers have had on the market. With complete price transparency and extensive information available on the web, brick and mortar stores today face a far more knowledgeable consumer than before, armed with strong price comparisons.
On Tuesday, we reported that polished prices had declined year-over-year, for the fourth month in a row. This trend started more than a year ago, when prices began to show a continuously diminishing growth rate that slid straight into the red as diamond prices sank from their July 2012 peak. Month-over-month, polished diamond prices have […]
De Beers’ Diamond Trading Company (DTC) sold an estimated $750 million worth of rough diamonds at its October sight recently, while maintaining prices relatively stable.
For many laymen diamonds are mainly associated with South Africa and rarely with Canada, even though the country is one of the three largest global producers of these precious stones..
The World Diamond Mark (WDM), recently unveiled by the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB), will hopefully succeed where previous programs have failed.
Two diamond and jewelry industry initiatives made headlines a couple of weeks ago. One was the introduction of the Diamond Source Protocol; the other was a call for generic marketing. These two issues are intertwined. I’m not steadfastly against initiatives suggested by U.S. retail organizations, RJC or anyone else seeking to improve the ethical standards […]