The 1,094-carat Seriti diamond recovered last September from Lucara’s Karowe mine, in Botswana, is now in Belgium, where it will be cut by HB Antwerp as part of an ongoing partnership.
HB, founded in 2020, cut the 1,758-carat Sewelo diamond and the 549-carat Sethunya diamond – both of which were recovered at Karowe and both of which were bought by Louis Vuitton.
Exact prices were not disclosed, although Lucara did say last month that the Sethunya and the 1,080 carat Eva Star, sold for a combined $54m. HB gave no details of a buyer for the Seriti.
Seriti is the world’s sixth largest rough diamond, and the sixth +1,000-ct diamond recovered at Karowe.
HB says it will use “groundbreaking technology, traceability, and expertise to unlock the full brilliance of nature’s most exceptional creations”.
That includes its proprietary Hyperloupe technologies, designed specifically for large (up to 6,000 carats) and complex diamonds.
HB has a 10-year contract with Lucara to cut all its +10.8-cts stones. They account for around 70 per cent of the miner’s revenue.
Rio Tinto reported a $127m loss for 2024 from its Diavik diamond mine, in Canada, as weak market conditions led to “fixed cost inefficiencies”.
That compares with underlying earnings of $26m in 2023. Rio Tinto’s diamond sector generated $297m of revenue during the year, a 37 per cent drop on $444m the previous year.
The British-Australian multinational emailed over 1,300 employees last September, offering them voluntary separations to reduce operating costs as it prepares to close the mine next year.
In its Full Year Results 2024 the company noted the tragic loss of four Diavik workers and two air crew when a plane headed for the mine crashed last January.
Rio Tinto reported a 17 per cent drop in production, from 3.3m carats in 2023 to 3.4m carats in 2024.
The company acquired full ownership of the mine in November 2021 after it bought out a 40 per cent stake from Dominion Diamond Mines.
Diamond Foundry, which has just opened a lab grown factory in Trujillo, western Spain, is facing an environmental backlash over claims it uses more water than the entire 8,500-population town where it is located.
Residents at a meeting earlier this month were told the new facility, built with $85m of European Union cash, was estimated to consume more than 730,000 cubic meters of water annually.
The huge facility will produce at least 4m carats a year and create 300 jobs. But environmental groups are concerned about the factory’s water usage, which is, they say “completely unsustainable”.
“There would be enough water for the diamonds but the population of Trujillo would have to buy jugs at the supermarket to drink, shower, cook, etc,” says an article in
Diamond Foundry, a Silicon Valley startup with Leonardo Dicaprio, star of the Blood Diamond movie, among its backers, is valued at $1.8bn.
“The water supply to Diamond Foundry is, once again, also in question, as it would cause serious supply problems for drinking water for the population of Trujillo and its surroundings,” according to the El Salto local news website.
It says the building is one of the first industrial projects in the world powered entirely by solar electricity and insists it holds the necessary permits to use reclaimed water from local treatment plants.
Sarine says cost reductions and efficiency improvements allowed it to reverse a $2.8m loss in 2023 into a $1.1m profit in 2024.
But the Israel-based diamond tech company said revenue dipped 8 per cent to $39.2m amid ongoing difficult market conditions – primarily weak demand in China and “continuing disruption from lab-grown diamonds”.
Sarine said it was recouping some of the costs invested in adapting its rough planning technologies for lab growns, and had also benefitted from opening a GCAL by Sarine lab in India, largely grading lab growns.
As party of its “aggressive business streamlining and cost cutting”, the company plans to relocate its manufacturing activities to India, its main market.
Looking to the future, it said demand for natural diamonds is likely to remain “constrained” throughout 2025, although markets for both natural and lab grown would become more distinct.
“It is our belief that diamond jewellery retailing will settle on a new equilibrium in the near term, with natural diamonds trending towards a significant market share especially in the bridal segment and LGD dominating the fashion jewellery segment.”
Botswana’s government signed on Tuesday a long-delayed diamond mining and sales agreement with Anglo American unit De Beers, the world’s leading diamond producer by value.
As part of the deal, Botswana’s share of the diamonds produced by Debswana, a 50-50 joint venture between the country’s government and De Beers, will increase from 25% to 50%. Botswana will receive 10 billion pula ($712 million) in development funding, in line with a provisional 10-year arrangement reached in 2023.
The agreement, in negotiations since 2018, also extends the mining licenses for Debswana until 2054. Previously, the licenses were set to expire in 2029.
The signing of the contract had stalled under former President Mokgweetsi Masisi but was prioritized by President Duma Boko, who took office last October.
Botswana, the world’s largest producer of rough diamonds by value, depends on the sector for the bulk of its national revenue. President Boko, however, has voiced concerns that the industry is not generating enough employment opportunities.
While Debswana’s diamond production accounts for 80% of Botswana’s exports, the country has struggled to diversify beyond mining. Despite a relatively high annual per capita income of $7,820 — exceeding that of oil-rich Gabon and South Africa, the continent’s biggest economy—job creation remains limited.
The deal comes at a crucial time for De Beers, as its parent company, Anglo American, considers spinning out the diamond business through a sale or initial public offering. Analysts warn that weak global diamond prices could complicate such a move.
Botswana remains integral to De Beers’ operations, supplying 70% of its annual rough diamonds. The government also holds a 15% stake in De Beers, underscoring the long-standing strategic partnership between the two parties.
Canada’s Lucara Diamond achieved record-breaking production in 2024, highlighted by the recovery of two exceptional stones at its prolific Karowe mine in Botswana.
The miner increased its processed ore to 2.9 million tonnes last year, up from 2.8 million tonnes in 2023. It also set a new milestone with the recovery of 807 “specials”—diamonds larger than 10.8 carats—compared to 602 in the previous year. These accounted for 7.6% of the total recovered carats, up from 5.3% in 2023.
The two most important diamonds recovered last year were the 2,488-carat Motswedi and the 1,094-carat Seriti diamonds, both unearthed at Karowe.
Motswedi, found in August, is the largest diamond recovered in the last century. Its name means “water spring” in the local Setswana language, symbolizing underground water surfacing to bring life and vitality.
The Seriti stone, unearthed in September, translates to “aura” or “presence”, reflecting cultural identity and legacy.
Lucara’s discoveries have continued this year, with the recovery of a1,476-carat non-gem diamond in January.
Revenue jump The company sold 399,215 carats in 2024, generating $203.9 million in revenue — an 18% increase from $172.4 million the previous year.
“Our world-class Karowe mine continues to set new benchmarks,” CEO William Lamb said in a news release. “The open-pit operations delivered yet another remarkable milestone with the recovery of our seventh 1,000+ carat diamond.”
Lamb also highlighted steady progress on Karowe’s underground expansion, with shaft sinking marking a major step forward. The project is expected to begin commercial production in early 2028.
Since it began operations, Karowe has yielded some of the world’s most remarkable diamonds, including the 1,758-carat Sewelô in 2019, the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona in 2015, and the 813-carat Constellation, also in 2015.
Karowe is also credited for having yielded Botswana’s largest fancy pink diamond to date, the Boitumelo.
The mine remains one of the world’s highest-margin diamond mines, producing an average of 300,000 high-value carats each year.
The world’s biggest diamond miner, De Beers, cost its parent company almost $3bn last year as the growth in lab-grown stones continues to take the shine off the industry.
Anglo American was forced to write down the value of the renowned gem producer for a second consecutive year as its chief executive admitted the diamond markets had proved “really, really difficult for the company”.
Duncan Wanblad, the chief executive of Anglo American, added that its plan to shrug off De Beers as part of a radical strategy to dismantle parts of the 108-year-old group – which coined the slogan “a diamond is forever” in 1947 – may be delayed.
He added that the FTSE 100 company did not expect “much traction or progress” on its plans to spin off De Beers in the first half of the year, which could be via a trade sale or a listing via an IPO or demerger, but it might “pick up” towards the end of the year.
Diamond prices have slumped over the past decade because of the rising popularity of cheaper, lab-grown versions and a slowdown in consumer spending in China.
In response, Anglo has taken impairments of $2.9bn on De Beers last year, after a $1.6bn writedown of the company in its annual results last year. This drove Anglo to a $3.1bn net loss in 2024, from a $283m profit the previous year.
The latest writedown of De Beers, which once controlled 90% of the world’s diamond market, means the company is now valued at $4bn.
Anglo laid bare the ongoing losses at De Beers after setting out a plan last year to sell the diamond business as part of a historic corporate overhaul to defend the company against a £34bn takeover plot by the Australian miner BHP.
Anglo hopes to guard the company against further unsolicited advances from BHP, which attempted to force the board to offload two Johannesburg-listed subsidiaries, the platinum miner Amplats and the iron ore miner Kumba, in order to complete a takeover.
Wanblad said the company had received unsolicited interest in the diamond business but a formal process had not started. At least part of the company is expected to be purchased by the government of Botswana, which hosts many of the company’s diamond mines.
Anglo American’s troubled ownership of the De Beers group was brought into fresh focus on Thursday as the mining company announced a fresh multibillion-dollar write-down of the diamond group it’s trying to restructure.
De Beers, which nearly 80 years ago introduced the masses to the immortal phrase “A diamond is forever,” has lost its shine in recent years amid declining demand for diamonds, partly a result of the growth of cheaper, allegedly more sustainable lab-grown alternatives, and also from declining demand in its crucial Chinese market.
Anglo announced a $2.9 billion write-down in the value of De Beers as part of its 2024 annual results on Thursday. It was the second valuation reduction in two years, after a $1.6 billion write-down in its 2023 earnings.
De Beers now has a book value of around $4 billion, meaning the company has more than halved from a 2023 valuation of $8.5 billion. The current valuation includes a $2 billion stockpile of diamonds it has struggled to shift amid the downturn in the industry.
“It’s been a bad year for rough diamond sales,” De Beers CEO Al Cook told the FT in December.
Lab-grown diamonds and Chinese issues Duncan Wanblad, Anglo’s CEO, described the 2024 trading conditions for rough diamonds as “extremely challenging,” citing high midstream inventory levels and depressed demand in China for a steep drop in sales in the second half of the year. Anglo expects to remove 10 million carats from planned production this year, after removing 6 million in 2024.
De Beers has faced an identity crisis amid a drop-off in demand for authentic diamonds. That has partly been driven by brewing demand for lab-grown diamonds.
The group entered the lab-grown business in 2018, aiming for sustainability-minded customers. However, that proposition aligned with their relative affordability has caused the product to cannibalize some of De Beers’ customers, and it exited that market in 2024.
Wanblad said the lab-grown headwinds were surmountable. John Heasely, Anglo American’s finance director, suggested the expected continued decline in prices for lab-grown diamonds would continue to bifurcate the two markets, reducing the chance of lab-grown diamonds cannibalizing the genuine market.
In China, which has reduced the cumulative demand for diamonds by 40% in the last two years, Heasley noted changing behavior among retailers was adding to its inventory headaches.
The finance director said retailers in the country had started selling their polished diamonds back into the midstream market to recoup some of their expenditure. This led midstream inventories to spike in the first half of 2024, keeping the company’s rough diamond inventory fixed.
Anglo restructures De Beers Anglo has sought to restructure De Beers into an independent operation, which could result in either a sale or an IPO of the diamond company.
However, this restructuring has been delayed owing to myriad industrial headwinds the company has faced.
Wanblad said of De Beers: “I’m really not expecting much traction or progress in the first half of this year.”
Wanblad says it has agreed a framework with the Botswana government, which is a 15% owner in De Beers, to help it potentially initiate a formal sale process after receiving several “unsolicited inbounds” for the diamond company.
Chinese scientists synthesized an artificial “super diamond” that is 40% harder and far more durable than natural diamonds. The findings of the research team were published in early February in the journal Nature Materials.
Led by Liu Bingbing and Yao Mingguang from Jilin University, the researchers discovered that by heating highly compressed graphite, it can transform into a hexagonal diamond. This synthetic creation possesses a hexagonal crystal form, which provides much greater strength compared to the cubic structure of most natural diamonds. The “super diamond” structure exhibits high thermal stability up to 1,100°C and a very high hardness of 155 Giga Pascals (GPa), according to the scientists.
“Our findings offer valuable insights regarding the graphite-to-diamond conversion under elevated pressure and temperature, providing opportunities for the fabrication and applications of this unique material,” the scientists wrote in the study.
Winston Red Diamond Will Be Unveiled to the Public at the National Museum of Natural History Alongside a Rainbow of Colorful Diamonds
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History will unveil the Winston Red Diamond and Winston Fancy Color Diamond Collection Tuesday, April 1—an extraordinary showcase of some of the world’s rarest and most dazzling gems.
The breathtaking diamonds were gifted to the museum by Ronald Winston, the son of distinguished jeweler and gem collector Harry Winston. In 1958, Harry Winston donated the iconic Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian, laying the foundation for the National Gem Collection. Now, the Winston Red Diamond and Winston Fancy Color Diamond Collection will be featured in the museum’s Winston Gallery, offering visitors the rare opportunity to witness one of the finest collections of fancy color diamonds ever amassed.
“This ranks among the most significant gifts ever received by the Smithsonian,” said Kirk Johnson, the Sant Director of the National Museum of Natural History. “The Winston diamonds are unprecedented in their beauty and rarity, and we are thrilled to welcome them as additions to our National Gem Collection. We extend our gratitude to Ronald Winston for making this gift to the nation possible.”
Natural red diamonds are among the rarest gemstones on Earth, and the Winston Red Diamond stands out as exceptional. At 2.33 carats, it ranks among the largest diamonds ever bestowed with the coveted “Fancy red” color grade by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). Researchers estimate that less than one in 25 million diamonds is a Fancy red, and the Winston Red Diamond is one of the most exquisite in existence.
“The red diamond is the highlight of my career, and I have never seen anything else like it,” Ronald Winston said. “This donation to the museum represents my life’s achievements in this domain, and I am so happy to share this collection with the Institution and the museum’s visitors.”
While some colorful diamonds get their pigmented appearance from atomic impurities in their crystal structure, the Winston Red Diamond’s striking crimson hue is the product of extremely high pressure and temperature conditions deep within the Earth that strained and altered the crystal. The diamond features an old mine brilliant cut, a style that predates the round brilliant cut used in engagement rings today. With fewer, larger facets, this distinctive cut suggests the stone was fashioned before the mid-1900s. A study on the science and history of the Winston Red Diamond is forthcoming in the spring 2025 issue of Gems & Gemology, the quarterly professional journal of the GIA.
“In this collection, we have diamonds in colors I could never have dreamed of,” said mineralogist Gabriela Farfan, the Coralyn W. Whitney Curator of Gems and Minerals. “These gems give us the opportunity to share with our visitors the full range of colors in which diamonds occur.”
The Winston Red Diamond will be displayed alongside 40 other gems from the Winston Fancy Color Diamond Collection. The diamonds will be arranged in a radiant rainbow of color, featuring every shade imaginable from deep teal to soft peach.
The Winston Red Diamond and Fancy Color Diamond Collection are the result of 60 years of dedicated acquisitions by Ronald Winston. Alongside the Hope Diamond, the new display will honor the legacy of the Winston family and showcase the brilliance and rarity of these exceptional gems.
