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David Kellie, CEO of the Natural Diamond Council, who joined the organization in 2019, will remain in his role through the end of 2025. He announced Sunday via LinkedIn that he will step down at the end of the year. New York—David Kellie, CEO of the Natural Diamond Council, has announced he will step down […]
At the recent JCK show, I had a joint interview with two of the most important people in Botswana’s diamond industry: Mmetla Masire, CEO of Okavango Diamond Company (ODC), the state-owned seller, and Andrew Motsomi, managing director of Debswana, the De Beers–Botswana joint venture that oversees De Beers’ mines in the country. Masire and Motsomi […]
US President Donald Trump has extended the deadline for implementing tariffs from July 9 to August 1, while threatening to raise the rates of at least 14 countries, two of which are major exporters of diamonds and gemstones. In an executive order Monday, the president said it was “necessary and appropriate” to extend the suspension by three […]
Diamond analyst Avi Krawitz explores how the natural diamond industry is regrouping and stepping up its marketing game. From global campaigns to retailer partnerships, the trade is rallying around a shared goal: to reshape consumer perception and restore the sparkle to natural diamonds. The natural diamond industry is intensifying its marketing efforts in a bid to reclaim […]
In the battle for market share, the Natural Diamond Council has resorted to increasingly provocative advertising, aiming to differentiate natural diamonds from their lab-grown counterparts. One recent ad boldly proclaimed that natural diamonds have “rizz” while lab-grown stones are merely “fizz.” This kind of in-your-face marketing has sparked intense debate, with some applauding it as […]
Revenue at Richemont’s jewelry brands rose in the first fiscal quarter, as strength in the US and European markets offset declines in Japan and China. Sales at Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Buccellati and Vhernier increased 7% year on year to EUR 3.91 billion ($4.55 billion) — rising 11% at constant exchange rates — for […]
The Natural Diamond Council (NDC) may soon receive a significant cash injection, thanks to the Luanda Accord—an agreement between six diamond-producing nations, one cutting center, and two gem hubs to fund the promotion of natural diamonds. It was signed June 18 in Angola’s capital city. Signatories to the agreement include Botswana, Angola, Sierra Leone, Namibia, […]
The Kimberley Process (KP) intersessional meeting in Dubai marked what the World Diamond Council (WDC) called a “significant breakthrough” toward expanding the definition of conflict diamonds — a long-overdue step in modernizing the KP and restoring some of its lost relevance. The current definition, unchanged since the KP’s inception in 2000, narrowly focuses on rough […]
The most striking moment during the Rapaport Breakfast at the JCK show on June 8 came during the question-and-answer session. Aleah Arundale, founder of the “Jewelers Helping Jewelers” Facebook page, strode to the mic and upbraided the guest speaker, De Beers CEO Al Cook, for De Beers’ new marketing plan, which talks about—among other things—the benefits diamonds bring […]
The Natural Diamond Council has just published a new “Diamond Facts” report with updated data on laboratory-grown diamonds, based on facts and figures revealed by experts and currently available studies. The “Diamond Facts” reports, which condense the essential information on current topics into around 15 pages, are undoubtedly one of the Natural Diamond Council’s best […]
Following De Beers’ annual Friday breakfast at the JCK show in Las Vegas, CEO Al Cook spoke with JCK about the flurry of initiatives he announced at the event, plus recent reports about sightholder deals and possible attempts by two former De Beers CEOs to purchase the company.. Any thoughts on the reports that two of your predecessors, Bruce Cleaver and […]
It will quit assigning the stones specific color and clarity grades in favor of applying “new descriptive terminology.” Starting later this year, GIA will change its approach to lab-grown diamonds once again, abandoning the use of specific color and clarity grades for the stones in favor of assigning them to one of two categories, “premium” […]