(IDEX Online) - After battling power interruptions, Firestone Diamonds plc has announced that stable grid power restored at its Liqhobong mine, allowing it to operate at full capacity again.Production at Liqhobong was affected by a two-month planned shutdown of the Lesotho Electricity Company's Muela Hydropower Station. To minimize disruption at the mine, Firestone commissioned diesel ge...Read More
LSE-listed Gem Diamonds CEO Clifford Elphick looks forward to 2020 and is expecting higher diamond demand and prices.In a video interview distributed by the diamond miner on Wednesday, Elphick said 2019 had been a tough year for the diamond mining industry globally, as evidenced by major companies going into business rescue.AdvertisementFor example, some Trans Hex operations in South Africa had sh...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sarine Technologies has entered the running to acquire HRDAntwerp, according to two sources close to the sale process. The Israel-based diamond-technology company has registered its interest in buying the Belgian laboratory, as have two previous heads of HRD, the two anonymous sources told Rapaport News. Peter Meeus, who ran the organization between 1999 and 2005, was one of the f...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Kimberley Process (KP) has relaxed its rules for roughexports from the Central African Republic (CAR), enabling the government to approve multiple shipments each month without needing to wait for external authorization. The decision, which will initially be implemented as aone-year trial, aims to improve the efficiency of CAR's operations and increasethe amount of rough it can...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sarine Technologies recorded its first quarterly profit this year amid solid demand for its Galaxy diamond-mapping equipment. Profit for the three months ending September 30 came to $234,000.While the figure was 13% lower than during the comparable period a year ago, it followed consecutive net losses of $1.4 million in thefirst and second quarters. Revenue for the July-to-Septem...Read More
RAPAPORT PRESS RELEASE, December 3, 2019, Las Vegas ... Sentiment in the diamond industry improved amid rising expectations for the holiday season. A rallying stock market fueled optimism as the Dow average climbed 3% in November, and anticipation of a US-China trade deal helped as well.Polished prices firmed, supported by reduced supply and steady US and Chinese demand for RapSpec A3+ diamonds be...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Thanksgiving weekend spending was up 16 percent over 2018 with 189.6 million U.S. shoppers hitting the stores. This was an increase of 14 percent over last year's 165.8 million, according to the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics.For the first time, Black Friday edged out Cyber Monday as the busiest day for online shopping. Black Friday was also th...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Following the agreement to restructure the Operational Framework System created for the Central African Republic (CAR) at the recent Kimberley Process (KP) Plenary Meeting, the WDC has released updated information about exports from the African country. Under the terms of the revised framework, the CAR government can issue KP certificates to rough diamond shipments for goods s...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The secondhand market, which reached ???EUR? ?26 billion ($28.8 billion) in 2019, is evidence of the evolving mentality of luxury goods buyers. That's just one finding of the latest Bain & Company Luxury Study."We see the secondhand market as a potential avenue for luxury brands to reach a new audience and enlarge their customer base," said Federica Levato, a Bain & Co...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sales of secondhand luxury goods increased in 2019, presenting an opportunity for growth in the jewelry market, according to Bain &Company. Purchases of secondhand goods rose to EUR 26 billion ($28.67 billion) for the year, with previously ownedwatches and jewelry showing a strong performance, Bain noted last week in its globalluxury report. "We see the secondhand...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sales of jewelry and other luxury items in Hong Kong slid inOctober, marking the second-highest monthly decline on record as protests in the municipality dented consumer sentiment. Revenue from jewelry, watches, clocks and other valuablegifts fell 43% year on year to HKD 3.92 billion ($500.2 million) during themonth, the municipality's Census and Statistics Department reported Mon...Read More
RAPAPORT... Zimbabwe's state-owned diamond miner is planning tendersoutside the country in an effort to attract more buyers, Bloomberg reportedThursday. The Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) intends tohold 11 international sales in 2020, the news agency cited the miner's actingCEO, Rob De Pretto, as saying. Its tenders are currently in Harare, thecountry's capital, but the location does...Read More
RAPAPORT... Tiffany & Co. and Pandora received high ratings on anannual list comparing responsible sourcing by the largest companies in thefashion industry. Tiffany garnered the top rating of AAA in the retail category for thefifth consecutive year, according to the yearly Environmental, Social and Government report by index and analytics provider MSCI, formerly Morgan Stanley Capital Internat...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa generated $8.6 million in sales from an auction of special size rough diamonds (weighing over 10.8 carats) held in Ramat Gan, Israel. The Russian company sold 116 rough diamonds with a total weight of 1,800 carats at the auction, which saw 121 participants from Israel, Belgium, India, UAE, Russia, Hong Kong and the U.S.Evgeny Agureev, deputy CEO of Alrosa said the sale...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Pramod Kumar Agrawal, the current chair of the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), has become the first member of the Indian industry to be elected one of the three vice presidents of CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation. "Given the primary role that India plays in almost all sectors of the industry, it is absolutely necessary that the country be ap...Read More
RAPAPORT... Zimbabwe's state-owned diamond miner is planning tendersoutside the country in an effort to attract more buyers, Bloomberg reportedThursday. The Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) intends tohold 11 international sales in 2020, the news agency cited the miner's actingCEO, Rob De Pretto, as saying. Its tenders are currently in Harare, thecountry's capital, but the location does...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sales of jewelry and other luxury items in Hong Kong slid inOctober, marking the second-highest monthly decline on record as protests in the municipality dented consumer sentiment. Revenue from jewelry, watches, clocks and other valuablegifts fell 43% year on year to HKD 3.92 billion ($500.2 million) during themonth, the municipality's Census and Statistics Department reported Mon...Read More
RAPAPORT... Tiffany & Co. and Pandora received high ratings on anannual list comparing responsible sourcing by the largest companies in thefashion industry. Tiffany garnered the top rating of AAA in the retail category for thefifth consecutive year, according to the yearly Environmental, Social and Government report by index and analytics provider MSCI, formerly Morgan Stanley Capital Internat...Read More
LONDON – The crisis afflicting the diamond industry won’t end anytime soon, according to Liberum Capital Markets.There has been little good news this year. An oversupply of rough diamonds, a surfeit of polished stone stocks and falling prices have piled pressure on both the companies that dig them up and the lesser known businesses that cut, polish and trade them.Advertisement“Th...Read More
(IDEX Online) - There was a great deal of stability in the price of round diamonds in November, especially in the smaller goods. For many categories, there were just isolated changes with no discernible pattern. There was more movement in the price of larger goods, with the most changes coming in goods sized 2 carats and above. There was more movement in the prices of fancy goods, both positi...Read More