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Ironically, the fact that the Ukraine issue managed to hamstring the Kimberley Process for at least two full days in 2022, as is likely to do in 2023, means that, while unofficially the topic remains off the agenda, in reality it very much dominates it.
The economic fallout of the period was extensive, but for the diamond industry the impacts were mixed, although on balance the business managed to traverse the period without sustaining significant long-term damage.
A sale by Christie’s of the jewelry collection of the late Austrian socialite, Heidi Horten, has garnered more publicity than its organizers evidently expected . This is because her first husband had acquired much of his wealth by buying at basement prices the businesses of Jews who had been forced to liquidate them by the Nazis.
The next mass consumer spending opportunity will soon be upon, with Mother’s Day scheduled to be celebrated over a period of about a week, on different days in various parts of the world. It is the fifth largest spending event in the United States, after the winter holidays and Mother’s Day, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF).
As the European Union inches toward placing a full ban on sales of Russian-origin diamonds, irrespective of where they may have been cut and polished, the focus appears set to shift to ensuring the effectiveness of such ban, and the technological tools may be available to make that happen— if they are available at all.
All five families are multi-generational, and their iron-grip hold on the sector is indicative of the massive influence that France still has within the luxury product space, even though the bulk of new consumers are being found further abroad, particularly in Asia.
The difficulties experienced by the diamond industry in establishing standard lines of institutional credit are well documented and are best illustrated by the ever-shrinking pool of banks ready to support the business. Whereas two decades ago, a good number of the most venerated names in the financial sector were represented, today just a handful remain.
A new report, entitled Diamond Facts: Addressing the myths and misconceptions about the diamond industry,” seeks to discount a number of myths, while reconfirming other beliefs, about natural and laboratory-grown diamonds. The report has been issued by the Natural Diamond Council (NDC).
While sales in China appear to be spiking upward, indicating that the giant economy s slowly reviving from its COVID-induced slumber, the opposite appears true for the world’s largest jewelry market, the United States.
Next month, Christie’s will offer 700 lots from the collection of the late Austrian jewelry collector Heidi Horten. If all goes as planned, it will become only the third jewelry collection in history to bring in than $100 million, and possibly considerably more than that.
There has long been a debate in the diamond industry about the true value of diamond reports, or grading certificates, as they are popularly but not really accurately referred to. Are they absolutely essential to verify the real quality of a diamond, and, even if so, should they be considered more of a marketing tool rather than a scientific diagnosis?
The De Beers Institute of Diamonds, which is a grading and educational body that is part of De Beers Group, has revealed the discovery of a rare diamond that has another fully formed and separate diamond encased within it.
2023 is possibly shaping up as a watershed year for the diamond industry, on a scale possibly not experienced for the past several decades. The catalyst this time is the growth of the laboratory-grown diamond sector, which most likely does not represent an existential threat to the natural diamond market, but still could change it irreversibly.
Weighing 10.57 carats and called the Eternal Pink, the stone is estimated to be worth more than $35 million. It will be auctioned on June 8, 2023, at Sotheby’s annual Magnificent Jewels auction in New York.
The government of Botswana has announced its intention to take a 24 percent stake in a Belgian-headquartered diamond company, HB Antwerp, a move which is being touted as preparing a possible challenger to De Beers.
This is despite the fact the Botswana government hold a 15 percent share De Beers, and with the diamond conglomerate also shares ownership in Debswana.
The global market for laboratory-grown grown diamonds was worth $22.45 billion in 2022 and is forecast to grow to $37.32 billion by 2028, a study by ResearchAndMarkets.com has noted. In volume, the market equaled 9.13 million carats in 2022 the study suggested.
A rather inspired solution has been found to the controversy surrounding the Koh-i-Noor diamond, which was renewed following the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the possibility that the famous gemstone would be used during the coronation or King Charles III and his Queen Consort, Camilla.
With China finally having relinquished its zero-COVID strategy, allowing markets and borders slowly to reopen, albeit alongside a sharp increase in pandemic infection, the diamond industry is looking for signs that the country that has led sales growth for the past 15 years is finally on its way to recovery.
Although it has been a fixture in the diamond industry since its certification scheme was launched in 2003, monitoring the flow of all mines rough diamonds into the pipelines to ensure that are not tainted by civil conflict, the Kimberley Process has been less an industry monolith and rather a loose alliance of nations with a common interest.
Hewlett-Packard’s HP 3000 series holds a proud place in history. It was a system that was considered to a forerunner of the PC, in 1972 such a computer sold for a cool $95,000. Today, you buy infinitesimally stronger, faster and easier to operate computers for less than $400. A not dissimilar process may be underway in the laboratory-grown diamond industry.
Releasing a joint statement after an online summit on February 24, the leaders of the G7 – the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom – pointedly stated that they are seeking ways to embargo sales of Russian goods.
On December 5, 2023, researchers in California conducted an experiment that some believe could change the course of human history A formal announcement reported a breakthrough in the quest to unlock a “near-limitless, safe, clean” source of energy. What few know is that diamonds played a key role.
Sometime during the coming few weeks or months, the government of Botswana and De Beers are expected to announce a new sales agreement. Most pundits would be truly taken aback if this were not to happen, but right now the one side seems it’s playing hard to get.
The fact that the diamond had been cut and polished at least 150 years ago may provide historical significance, but it almost certainly will not translate into value, the dealer said. Anyone considering the purchase of a large diamond would demand a degree of fire and brilliance that often is absent in older cuts.
2022 was a boom for the wedding industry, reported The Knot, in its eagerly awaited 2022 Real Weddings Study, but there were identifiable changes when it came to engagement jewelry.