To celebrate its one year anniversary, this morning Sotheby’s Diamonds revealed its most exceptional gem to date: a 102.34 carat, D Flawless, Type IIA round brilliant diamond, which the auction house describes as “the rarest and most valuable white diamond ever to come to market”.
The diamond was cut from a 425-carat rough mined by the De Beers group in Botswana. The cutting process took over six months and required the diamond to be transported between Johannesburg and New York.
De Beers will begin auctioning rough diamonds from other mining companies to provide a broader range of goods.
The company will pilot the new program this year, making it easier for customers to buy their entire supply in one place, Neil Ventura, De Beers executive vice president of auction sales, said on Monday.
“One message that’s come through from our recent customer engagements is a desire for us to develop our supply offering in certain areas, so that there is a fuller and broader range of material available for purchase,” Ventura said.
“Based on this customer feedback, in 2018 we will be testing the potential to grow our core rough-diamond sales business through making some purchases from third-party sources,” he added.
The diamonds will come from miners which De Beers has carried out due diligence, and will only be a small minority of the goods De Beers offers.
The two Rough diamonds each weighing more than 100 carats were recovered by Gem Diamonds at the Lesotho mine in southern Africa.
Both rough Diamonds weight 117 carats and 110 carats are D color Type IIa diamonds.
Type IIa diamonds carbon bonds contain little or no nitrogen atoms making them very white and rare. These are the most expensive white diamonds.
Graff Jewellers a leader in the diamond business since 1960 has purchased the 476 carat rough diamond named The Meya Prosperity Diamond.
The Rough diamond was mined in Sierra Leone.
Graff paid $16.5 million for the exceptional rough diamond , another in a long line of extraordinary diamond bought by Graff.
The magnificent rough diamond is the 29th largest diamond ever recovered and is the fifth largest stone from Sierra Leone.
De Beers reported steady demand for rough diamonds at its December sight as sales showed an increase over the equivalent period last year.
The miner sold $450 million worth of rough in its final sales cycle of the year, including last week’s sight in Gaborone and its auctions, it reported Tuesday. Provisional proceeds rose 6.6% compared with actual sales for the same period last year, though they slipped 3.4% from November sales.
Read More: diamonds.net
In 1940 when R.V. Cullinan the son of the renowned diamond magnate Sir Thomas Cullinan asked De Beers director Pierre De Villiers to buy him some diamonds on his next visit to Kimberley.
A collection of Fancy Vivid Yellow Diamonds owned by South Africa’s mining elite has sold at a Bonhams auction for well above its expected price.
The collection sold as two separate lots at the for a total of $773,350.
A crossover ring with two fancy vivid blue diamonds designed by Graff Jewellers has smashed its pre-sale estimate.
The ring has sold at the Christie’s New York Magnificent Jewels auction fetching more than $12.5 million USD.
Diamond Miner Gem Diamonds has found a 202 carat rough diamond at its Letšeng mine in Lesotho, Sothern Africa. The rough diamond is the latest of seven recovered over 100 carats this year.
The D colour type IIa diamond was recovered when they mine switched to the higher grade K6 section of the main pipe earlier this year.
The Letšeng mine is one of the highest diamond deposits by value in the world with the an average price of $2,397 per carat for the July tender.
De Beers is planning to add the world’s largest custom built diamond mining vessel to its fleet at a cost of $142 million.
The ship will be the sixth belonging to Debmarine Namibia, a 50/50 joint venture between the miner and the Republic of Namibia, De Beers said Tuesday. Expected to begin operations in 2021, it will enhance the company’s ability to recover diamonds off the southern African country’s Atlantic coast, the rough producer added.
“There is a great amount of potential in Namibia’s marine diamond deposits, and this new vessel will support our strategy to continue to grow our offshore operations,” said De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver.
Earlier this year, De Beers launched the MV SS Nujoma, the world’s largest diamond sampling and exploration vessel. Acquiring the new ship will help the company capitalize on that vessel’s work, and support the long-term future of Namibia’s diamond sector, Cleaver added.
Kleven Verft, a Norwegian ship-building company that constructed the Nujoma, will also build the new vessel, and has signed a memorandum of understanding with De Beers.
Source: Diamonds.net
The Diamond Producers Association announced the launch of their operations in the country to build confidence among consumers.
India polishes 85 90 percent of the diamonds today accounts for only seven percent of the global polished diamond consumption. DPA believe this is a huge opportunity to build the India market by promoting the integrity and reputation of diamonds and ensuring the sustainability of the industry.
DPA has reached out to 3,000 retailers and will offer training and education in diamonds. DPA will expand training across the country.
The DPA is an alliance between ALROSA, De Beers, Dominion Diamond, Gem Diamonds, Lucara Diamond, Petra Diamonds and Rio Tinto. These are the leading diamond miners globally. Which together produce over 75 percent of the world’s rough diamond production.
DPA is also working with the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council to build trade relationships and best trade practices.
