China Bourse to Promote Lab-Grown Diamonds

GZDE Lab grown

The Guangzhou Diamond Exchange (GZDE) has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China’s major synthetics suppliers to develop and promote lab-grown diamonds in the country.

The parties signed the contract last week during a forum on the benefits of synthetic stones that took place during the 2019 China International, Gold Jewellery & Gem Fair in Shenzhen.

The partnership is an effort to provide consistent demand for lab-grown diamonds in China’s fluctuating market, GZDE, which is not a member of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses, said Tuesday.

“The high-tech genes of lab-grown diamonds, the ability [for] stable supply, and its outstanding appearance, [which is the] same as natural diamonds, have opened a window for this new material,” said GZDE chairman Zhu Yongsheng. “In addition to the innovative application in jewelry through creative design, it could [create] cross-border development with other industries.”

The GZDE will promote lab-grown-diamond trading as a separate business, with synthetics dealers using a new GZDE logo that references them as a lab-grown seller, the exchange added.

Clarification, April 28, 2019: This story has been updated to clarify that the Guangzhou Diamond Exchange is not a member of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses.

Image: Lab-grown diamond exhibit at the forum. Guangzhou Diamond Exchange

Source: Diamonds.net

Lucara Diamond Corp. Recovers Record 1,758 Carat Diamond from Karowe

The 1,758 carat diamond

A giant 1,758-carat diamond, the second-biggest ever discovered, has been found in Botswana. But unlike its rivals, it won’t fetch a record-breaking price.

Lucara Diamond Corp. said it unearthed the stone — roughly the size of a tennis ball — at its Karowe project in Botswana, a mine renowned for its huge gems including the previous holder of the No. 2 position. Still, the company said the diamond is a near gem of variable quality, meaning it won’t yield incredibly valuable polished diamonds on par with earlier finds.

Lucara’s Karowe mine is becoming famous for giant stones. In 2015, Lucara found the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona, which at the time was the second-largest ever and eventually sold for $53 million. The mine has also yielded a 813-carat stone that fetched a record $63 million. Those two gems were both much more valuable Type-IIa stones.

Still, the latest find shows that Karowe’s plant can process and detect huge gems without breaking them, a consistent headache when trying to separate brittle stones from hundreds of tons of waste rock.

“Karowe has now produced two diamonds greater than 1,000 carats in just four years, affirming the coarse nature of the resource and the likelihood of recovering additional, large, high quality diamonds in the future,” Eira Thomas, Lucara’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.

Lucara, based in Vancouver, Canada, rose as much as 12 percent, the most in a year.

The biggest diamond ever discovered is the 3,106-carat Cullinan, found near Pretoria in South Africa in 1905. It was cut into several polished gems, the two largest of which — the Great Star of Africa and the Lesser Star of Africa — are set in the Crown Jewels of Britain.

Source:bloomberg

ALROSA recovers “Zarya” a 119 carat gem quality stone

Alrosa 119 carat

Alrosa revealed a 118.91 carat gem quality diamond that is recovered from its “International” mine, which is located close to the town of Mirny in the Sakha Republic of the Russian Federation. The company said that stone, which was found on April 16, is the largest gem-quality diamond on found at the International pipe in the past two years. A similar, large gem-quality diamond, weighing 109.61 carats, was mined here in the summer of 2017.

The newly mined light yellow rough diamond has “salient edges, one of them with cleavage, and small inclusions in the central zone,” the firm said in a news release

“This crystal is unique as it has a large clean area despite the inclusions in the center – this makes it a gem-quality diamond. Well known hallmarks of the diamonds from the International kimberlite pipe are regular shapes and purity. That is exactly the pipe that most often brings ALROSA regular shape octahedrons with smooth edges,” explained Evgeny Agureev, Member of the Management Board, Director of the United Selling Organization at ALROSA.

The diamond was mined right on the eve of the launch of Zarya a new deposit of ALROSA at Aykhal mining and processing plant. The company considers assigning the name “Zarya” to the new extracted crystal in honor of the launch event.

Argyle diamond set to fetch millions

Argyle diamond

This rare sparkler may be worth millions but its discovery at Argyle in the Kimberley won’t be enough to stop the mine’s closure next year.

Mine operator Rio Tinto says the Argyle Octavia is one of the biggest gem quality white diamonds found at the mine over its 35 year history.

The 28.84 carat rock was recovered from the east Kimberley mine last month.

Argyle Diamonds general manager Andrew Wilson said the Argyle Octavia was unique in its size, shape and provenance and would take its place in history as one of a few special large white diamonds ever to be produced from the mine.

The stone will be sold by private tender at the world’s diamond capital, Antwerp in Belgium, later this year.

Collectors, jewellers and traders will be invited to place confidential bids, with the rough diamond going to the highest bidder.

The rock is expected to attract strong bidding given only about 20 similar stones have been recovered from Argyle and the mine’s imminent closure means it will be considered a legacy piece.

Its rare and beautiful octahedral shape is also likely to attract a strong premium compared to similar gems.

Alluvial diamond mining started at Argyle in 1983, moving to an open pit operation between 1985 and 2013, followed by an underground operation from 2013 using a block cave method of mining.

But there is no economic case for continuing mining at even deeper levels past 2020.

Rio will seek to redeploy the more than 450 staff and contractors at the mine to its other operations as the mine winds down.

Some staff will remain to help with the rehabilitation of the site, which is expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollar over several decades.

Source: thewest

Okavango Diamond Company finds and polishes a 20 carat unique fancy deep blue

20.46 carat blue diamond

The Okavango Diamond Company revealed a unique polished blue diamond weighing over 20 carats, the biggest blue diamond discovery ever made in Botswana.

GIA graded the 20.46 carat gem as a type IIb, Fancy Deep Blue, oval brilliant cut, VVS2.

The diamond was discovered at Botswana’s Orapa mine as a 41.11 carat rough stone. Its unique and vibrant blue color is the result of the inclusion of boron which between one to three billion years ago was present in the rocks of ancient oceans during violent diamond forming volcanic activity.

“From the first moment we saw the diamond, it was clear we had something very special. Everyone who has viewed the 20 carat polished diamond has marveled at its unique coloration which many see as unlike any blue stone they have seen before. It is incredibly unusual for a stone of this color and nature to have come from Botswana, a once in a lifetime find, which is about as rare as a star in the Milky Way,” says Marcus Ter Haar, MD of Okavango Diamond Company.

“It is little surprise blue diamonds are so sought after around the world as only a very small percentage of the world’s diamonds are classified as fancy color and, of those, only a select few can be classified as being Fancy Blue,” he added.

“At ODC we have access to 15 percent of Debswana’s run of mine production and feel extremely fortunate to be involved in such a singular find. Only a handful of similar blue stones have come to market during the last decade, of which the Okavango Blue rightfully takes its place as one of the most significant,” said Ter Haar.

The iconic Okavango Blue will be showcased over the coming months to promote Botswana as a leading global producer of natural ethical diamonds with an anticipated sale toward the end of the year.

Source: idexonline

Petra Diamonds on a roll after another major find at Cullinan

209-carat-D-Colour-Type-II-diamond-recovered-at-Cullinan-

South Africa’s Petra Diamonds has found yet another big rock at its iconic Cullinan mine, the third coloured diamond over 100 carats since March that has been unearthed at the operation.

“It is the third Type II D colour gem quality diamond weighing more than 100 carats recovered at Cullinan since March”

The 209.9 carat, D colour, Type II gem quality diamond is also the fourth such stone discovered by Petra so far this financial year.

Forevermark Appoints New CEO

Nancy Liu De Beers Forevermark

De Beers jewelry subsidiary Forevermark has promoted chief operating officer Nancy Liu to CEO, as Stephen Lussier steps back.

She will take over the day-to-day running of the brand, allowing Lussier, who has been CEO since 2009, to increase his focus on shaping De Beers’ strategy at the consumer level, the company said last week. He will also continue in his position as Forevermark chairman, and will oversee its strategic role within the De Beers portfolio.

Liu joined Forevermark in 2008 as president of its Asia Pacific region. She was previously employed by L’Oréal, Louis Vuitton and the Boston Consulting Group.

“ Liu is an outstanding candidate to take over as CEO of Forevermark,” said Lussier. “As the brand sees rapid growth in Asia, Nancy’s exceptional expertise and knowledge of the region provides us with excellent continuity.”

De Beers appointed Liu to its executive committee in 2017.

Source: diamonds.net

Botswana unveils rare 20 carat blue diamond

Botswana Blue Diamond

Botswana’s state run Okavango Diamond Company unveiled on Wednesday what is believed to be the largest blue diamond ever discovered in the southern African country, which is one of the world’s top producers.

The 20.46 carat, oval-shape fancy precious rock has been named “The Okavango Blue” in honour of the Okavango Delta, the country’s wildlife rich world heritage site.

From all coloured diamonds, blue stones are the most unusual and so the miner says its find is one of the rarest in the world.

“It is incredibly unusual for a stone of this colour and nature to have come from Botswana a once in lifetime find, which is about as rare as a star in the Milky Way,” Okavango Diamond Company managing director Marcus ter Haar said in a statement.

“It sits in the very top bracket of all time historical blue diamond finds especially because only a very small percentage of the world’s diamonds are classified as fancy colour,” he noted, adding the company expects to sell the stone by the end of the year.

In 2016, a massive intense blue diamond, known as The Cullinan Dream, sold for $25.4 million at a Christie’s auction in New York, breaking all records and becoming the most expensive gem of its kind ever sold at auction.

Last year, a 6.16 carat blue diamond, secretly passed down through European royalty over three centuries, fetched $6.7 million at a Sotheby’s auction in Geneva $1.4 million more than what experts expected it to be sold for.

Arguably, the most famous is the Hope Diamond, also known as Le Bijou du Roi “the King’s Jewel”, Le bleu de France “France’s Blue”, and the Tavernier Blue. The massive, 45.52 carat, deep blue diamond is now kept at the U.S. National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

Botswana, which was overtaken by Russia as the world’s top diamond producing country in 2014, is grappling with aging mines, as well as power and water shortages.

Still, diamonds are the country’s main source of income and account for about 80% of its exports.

The nation is home to some of the world’s most prolific diamond mines, including Lucara Diamond’s Karowe operation, where the now famous Lesedi la Rona, the second-largest gem-quality diamond to ever be found, was unearthed in 2016.

Source: Mining.com

Tiffany Is Training Africans to Cut Diamonds Sourced From Region

Tiffany Jewellery

Tiffany & Co. has been expanding its workforce in sub-Saharan Africa, a region of almost one billion people where the jewelry giant doesn’t have a single store.

More than a quarter of the New York based company’s 1,500 global diamond cutters and polishers are now based in Africa, Chief Executive Officer Alessandro Bogliolo said in an interview in Cape Town.

Tiffany has factories in Botswana and Mauritius with staff subject to “intensive training” over two years, he said, making it the only western luxury brand that doesn’t outsource production of its African stones.

Botswana is the world’s largest diamond producer after Russia, and is the only African country where Tiffany both buys and prepares its stones.

While it also sources diamonds from mines in South Africa, Namibia and Sierra Leone, it won’t do business in Zimbabwe and Angola because of the human-rights situation in those countries, Bogliolo said.

“If you buy from a world class brand, it’s because you trust that this brand has done all that is humanly possible to guarantee that the product is not only crafted to the highest standard, but also ethical and traceable in its manufacturing,’’ the CEO said.
Ethical Jewelry

The move to hire and train African polishers and cutters comes as Tiffany strives to be completely transparent about how its diamonds progress from deep underground to the engagement rings of wives to be. That’s in line with a wider trend in consumer goods industries to tap into demand for products that younger shoppers see as ethical.

This year, the company started to share the origin of its diamonds with customers, an initiative Bogliolo believes will push the entire industry to follow suit.

Tiffany has been trying to recoup sales that have been hit by a slowdown of Chinese tourist spending in the U.S., including an expansion of the business in Beijing and Shanghai.

While Bogliolo said the jeweler has a lot of customers in Africa, they’re forced to leave the continent to make purchases as the retailer’s only outlets there are in Egypt.

However, the CEO said South Africa is an “interesting market” where the company might eventually open at least one store.

“There’s no doubt that we will have a more robust presence on this continent,” he said. “It’s just a matter of finding the right location and the critical mass in order to have a sustainable business.”

Tiffany shares have gained 32 percent this year, valuing the company at $12.9 billion.

Source: bloomberg.com

$1 million plus perfume bottle

diamond perfume bottle

This record breaking perfume bottle is covered in 3,500 diamonds.

The new unisex fragrance made by Spirit of Dubai Par fums is also described as the world’s most expensive at a cost of $1.295 million.

The bottle was designed by Asghar Adam Ali Ibrahim, and sits in a wheeled pedestal.

It is also the tallest commercially available remote controlled fragrance spray bottle at 1.97 m.

Users can adjust the sprayer height and direction with a remote control.

Spirit of Dubai says SHUMUKH, which translates to ‘deserving the highest’, unites both jewellery and perfume to create a product that “tells the tale of Dubai through seven core design elements”.

After the certificate presentation on 12 March, the record-breaking bottle was displayed in The Dubai Mall’s Fashion Avenue as part of its ART+ series.

Source: Guinness world records