news – Page 30

Perth Mint continues luxury diamond coin series with turtle

Each Jewelled Turtle coin is a Proof 10 ounce .9999 fine gold $2,500 denominated coin

The Perth Mint continues its Jewelled series of coins with a 10 ounce gold Jewelled Turtle coin with a mintage of eight coins.

And it comes with a price tag of $269,000 Australian ($182,229 U.S.).

This is the seventh release in the Jewelled series. It features a handset rare trademarked Argyle Pink Diamond and lustrous white diamonds that form the head and limbs of the three dimensional 18 karat gold turtle.

Each Jewelled Turtle coin is a Proof 10 ounce .9999 fine gold $2,500 denominated coin, with the centerpiece the 18-karat gold sea turtle surrounded by depictions of coral and dory fish.

The turtle’s head and limbs are embellished with 52 white diamonds, and two emeralds for its eyes. Additional white diamonds are set in a ribbon shaped line symbolizing the sea surface, with an Argyle Pink Diamond set at the heart of a stylized sun.

The Jewelled Series is developed each year in association with John Glajz, a Singapore based Argyle Pink Diamonds Icon Partner.

Each Jewelled Turtle coin is presented in a luxury display case adorned with 18 karat gold furnishings and inset with two Argyle Pink Diamond.

For the first time in the series, the coin bears the Dan Thorne effigy of King Charles III, as well as the P125 privy mark for the Perth Mint’s 125th anniversary.

Source: Coinworld

Zimbabwe Ramps up Diamond Production

Zimbabwe’s state-owned diamond company is forecasting a 16 per cent increase this year.

The Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) said it was ramping up production to 5.7m carats in 2024 and would aim to increase that figure to 10m carats next year.

Munashe Shava, ZCDC board chairman, said: “Commodity prices are depressed on the global market and we have come up with various initiatives to offset this worrisome development.

The Chronicle newspaper reported him as saying: “We have ramped up production and this year we have set a target of 5.7m carats and we see this target nearly doubling to 20m carats in the coming year.”

Zimbabwe, the world’s seventh biggest diamond producing nation, recorded an output of 4.9m carats, according to Kimberley Process data, valued at $303m. It exported 5.6m carats valued at $297m.

Earlier this year the US sanctioned Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa for human rights abuses, corruption and smuggling gold and diamonds.

Mnangagwa, 81, who has held office since 2017, insists the claims against him are “defamatory” and “malicious”.

Source: IDEX

Gem Diamonds Doubles its +100 carats Haul

129.71 carat Type II white rough diamond

Gem Diamonds has now recovered twice as many +100 cts diamond this year than during the whole of 2023.

The UK-based company today announced a 129.71 carat Type II white diamond from its Letseng mine, in Lesotho.

It’s the 10th +100 cts diamond of 2024. Historically the mine averages eight per year, but last year it recovered only five.

The spike in high-value recoveries has helped push up revenue at Gem. Earlier this month it reported a 9 per cent increase in its first half earnings to $77.9m.

Letseng 70 per cent owned by Gem and 30 per cent by the Lesotho government is the highest dollar per carat kimberlite diamond mine in the world.

Pic courtesy Gem Diamonds, shows the 129.71 ct stone.

Source: IDEX

US Sanctions Russian Diamond Cutter and Retail Jeweler

The US has added the prominent jewelry brand Miuz and the diamond cutter Kristall to its list of sanctioned companies in Russia.

Kristall, Russia’s largest diamond cutter, is now on the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List administered by the US Treasury Department.

Alrosa, its parent company has been on the list since April 2022, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine. Kristall, based in Smolensk, has been part of the Alrosa group since 2019.

Miuz Diamonds, which has production facilities in Moscow and Perm and a chain of 300 retail outlets, has also been added to the list.

Miuz is part of the Ruiz Group of diamond and jewelry enterprises, linked to Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev.

It is not clear why the companies were not sanctioned sooner.

Kristall and Miuz are among almost 400 individuals and entities in Russia and beyond its borders that were added to the SDN list last Friday (23 August).

“Russia has turned its economy into a tool in service of the Kremlin’s military industrial complex,” said Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo, announcing the additions.

“Treasury’s actions today continue to implement the commitments made by President Biden and his G7 counterparts to disrupt Russia’s military-industrial base supply chains and payment channels.”

Source: Idex

US Lifts Ban on Grandfathered Diamonds Amid New Sanctions on Russian Gems

diamond jewellery and loose rough gem-quality diamonds

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has issued new licenses under the Russian Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions Regulations, allowing for the sale of diamond jewellery and loose gem-quality diamonds imported before recent sanctions were implemented. This significant policy shift permits goods that were previously prohibited to re-enter the market.

Under the new guidelines, diamond jewellery purchased before March 1, 2024, as well as loose diamonds of 1 carat or larger bought before that date, and those of at least 0.50 carats purchased before September 1, 2024, can now be sold. The relaxation for loose diamonds will remain in effect until September 1, 2025.

However, starting September 1, 2024, the next phase of G7 diamond sanctions will impose restrictions on all goods of 0.50 carats or above from Russia, regardless of where they are cut and polished. This phase of sanctions is set to take effect next Sunday, despite substantial opposition from various industry stakeholders.

In response, the Jewelers Vigilance Committee has reported that the United States is considering supporting a delay in the implementation of these sanctions. This potential delay, which aligns with the European Union’s proposed extension to March 1, 2025, aims to provide additional time to resolve the intricacies of the sanctions and their impact on the diamond trade.

Source: diamondworld

The World’s Most Expensive Apple Watch Case

Apple watch Golden Concept — Apple watch *Golden Concept*

Apple Watches can do everything. You can use one to track your blood pressure or unlock your car. You can use it to pay when you’re shopping or even to order a pizza. But as fans of traditional mechanical watches, we have to ask – where’s the elegance? Where’s the extravagance? You can’t flex with an Apple Watch the way you can with a Rolex Daytona and there’s no smartwatch that catches the eye like James Bond’s Omega Seamaster. Well, that was until the Swedish luxury tech accessory brand Golden Concept announced its outrageous new diamond-encrusted Apple Watch case – the most expensive in the world.

You read that correctly, these are the first and only Apple Watch cases decorated with real diamonds, and if you have $15,000 spare you can grab one. But be quick as there are only 7 of these spectacular cases available, each housing 443 diamonds. Based in Stockholm, Golden Concept is a world leader when it comes to crafting exclusive and ultra-high-quality cases for Apple products, but this new release had even its biggest fans doing a double take.

So what’s all the fuss about? Quite simply, it’s the diamonds. For a start, each watch case has nearly five hundred of them and they take a week to set and hand finish. And these are exceptional E colour grade diamonds – this is the second-highest colour grade, meaning they have exceptional clarity and colourlessness. They are set into a case carved from a single block of solid titanium, a metal both stronger and lighter than the stainless steel more commonly used for watch cases.

Golden concept Apple Watch — *Golden Concept*

The result is a stunning design and the select buyers can have a case created for an Apple Watch 7 or opt to preorder one for the upcoming Series 8. In addition, each watch can be personalized with an engraving on the case back and, in a nice touch, the Golden Concept watches also come with a customised strap fashioned from high-performance fluoroelastomer. This is a famously durable material that is also resistant to changing temperatures making it ideal for sports use.

Yes, the price of the Diamond Edition case is insane, but we’re sure that buyers are going to love the opulence regardless. These Apple watches are neither sensible nor utilitarian. Instead, they’re over the top and excessive – ideal if you like your tech to be something to flaunt.

Golden concept diamond watch — *Golden Concept*

Source: Lee Smith manofmany.com

Jewelry Worth Millions Stolen from Brink’s Truck

US authorities are investigating a massive theft of jewelry from a Brink’s armored vehicle in California last week.

The truck was transporting goods to the International Gem & Jewelry Show in Pasadena, California, exhibition director Brandy Swanson told Rapaport News on Tuesday. The victims were 16 to 18 vendors. The contents included “high-end jewelry, watches and diamonds,” Swanson said.

The executive estimated the losses at $100 million to $150 million. Brink’s put the value at less than $10 million, according to media reports — a discrepancy explained by the practice of vendors underinsuring goods, Swanson noted.

“They all have invoices and paperwork to show the higher value,” Swanson said.

The theft occurred early on July 11, according to a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Los Angeles, which is investigating the case together with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

On that day, deputies from the Sheriff’s Department station in Santa Clarita, California, were called to the “Flying J” rest stop and gas station in the mountain community of Lebec in response to the burglary of a cargo container.

They “learned that several pieces of jewelry and gemstones valued at several million dollars were stolen from a locked ‘Brink’s’ tractor trailer by unknown suspects,” the department said Monday in a report.

“According to the information the customers provided to us before they shipped their items, the total value of the missing items is less than $10 million,” Brink’s said in a statement quoted in the US media. “We are working with law enforcement, and we will fully reimburse our customers for the value of their assets that were stolen, in accordance with the terms of our contract.” The company did not respond to a request for comment from Rapaport News.

Source: Diamonds.net

DCLA pricelist 2021

DCLA gemological testing and diamond grading reports price list

De Beers Ends Special Supply Measures

A De Beers sightholder examining a rough diamond.

Rough-diamond buyers are anticipating an improvement in sales at next week’s De Beers sight, as the miner is withdrawing concessions that allowed clients to reject goods.

De Beers will revert to its standard rules limiting sightholders’ ability to refuse or defer their supply allocations, sources in the rough market told Rapaport News. They will also only be able to sell 10% of their purchases back to De Beers, compared with larger amounts in recent months.

“A lot of [sightholders] have tried to push back as much as they could earlier in the year to December, so the December sight might actually be slightly bigger than what people expect,” a rough broker explained. “[It’s] back to the original measures, which are to offer people 10% buyback possibility. There’s no additional flexibility anymore.”

Starting in July, De Beers let sightholders hold off more purchases than usual until later in the year to ease an oversupply of rough and polished in the midstream. At some sights, it made the unprecedented move of allowing them to refuse 50% of individual diamond boxes. It also agreed to buy back up to 20% of the rough it sold, briefly raising that allowance in September to 30% for larger goods.

In December, De Beers will not permit any deferrals, and will repurchase only one in 10 carats it sells, and none of its larger goods, in line with its default policy.

The sale, running from Monday to Friday in Botswana, comes amid increased optimism in the diamond market ahead of the holiday season. A three-week shutdown at Indian cutting factories during Diwali has contributed to a drop in polished inventory, with some categories now in short supply.

“[Manufacturers] have had some time off, and the market has slightly improved,” an India-based sightholder observed. “They’ll be trying to start up their manufacturing [again].”

The upcoming sale is also buyers’ final opportunity to prove demand ahead of De Beers’ decision on the supply each customer will receive in 2020. De Beers is in the process of finalizing allocations for the new intention-to-offer period, or ITO, which it bases on past purchasing records. For that reason, clients are unlikely to reject more goods than necessary, another sightholder explained.

“It feels like whatever is going to be on the table will be sold,” he said. “Anything you’re going to give back now, you have the threat of your ITO being recalculated. They also reduced prices last time, so I don’t see people refusing goods that have been reduced in price at the last sight.”

Sightholders are already expecting the value of their 2020 allocations to be smaller than this year due to a drop in De Beers’ production and the price decline of roughly 5% at the November sight. The miner is predicting output of around 31 million carats for 2019, translating to a 12% decline versus last year, and will release its 2020 forecast on January 23.

De Beers informed sightholders this week of their provisional supply for the new ITO, which will follow a calendar-year cycle for the first time.

Next week’s sight is the 10th and last of the year. Sales fell 26% to $3.6 billion for the first nine cycles, with November seeing a gentler year-on-year decline of 12% as demand began to stabilize.

Source: Diamonds.net

Firestone Diamonds’ Liqhobong mine back at full tilt as power returns

Shares in Africa focused Firestone Diamonds went ballistic on Wednesday after it announced that stable power had returned to its Liqhobong mine in Lesotho, with the plant processing at full capacity.

Firestone had warned in October that the mine was struggling due to insufficient power supply due to a two-month maintenance shutdown at its only power supplier — Lesotho Highlands Water Project.

As a result, processing operations were halted from the beginning of the month to Oct. 26, when diesel generators were commissioned. The plant then operated at between 80% and 90% capacity throughout November.

While the LHWP resumed operations on Dec. 1, the company said it had to book $1.1 million in additional costs from the use of the generators, adding that it had also filed an insurance claim over loss of profit.

Firestone’s stock was up 128% on Wednesday mid-day in London at 0.97 pence a share, leaving the company with a market capitalization of £6.18 million. The stock price, however, is far from the £3.88 the company’s shares were trading at a year ago.

Diamond miners are struggling across the board, especially those producing cheaper and smaller stones, where there is an over-supply.

Increasing demand for synthetic diamonds has also weighed on prices. Man-made diamonds require less investment than mining natural stones and can offer more attractive margins.

Buyers, those that polish and cut diamonds for retailers, have been hit this year by lower prices and tighter credit, prompting them to delay purchases.

De Beers, the world’s No.1 diamond miner by value, has responded by axing production — with a target of 31 million carats this year compared with 35.3 million in 2018. It has also given buyers more room to maneuver, by allowing them to refuse half the stones in many of the diamond parcels.

The Anglo American unit is also spending more on marketing. At the latest sale, the company increased the amount of stones buyers were allowed to reject in each lot purchased from 10% to 20%, according to people familiar with the auction.

Firestone’s chief executive, Paul Bosma, has said he’d expect prices for smaller diamonds to increase towards the end of 2020, in part due to the closure of Rio Tinto’s Argyle mine in Australia.

Source: mining.com