Why is it important that my diamond certificate come from an independent diamond grading laboratory?

If you were buying a house would you accept an inspection from the owner? Of course you wouldn’t, you would insist that the inspection be done by an expert with no financial interest in the transaction. This situation is the same when buying diamonds. Be careful of diamond reports produced in-house by diamond merchants or retailers, as the report may be inaccurate and overstate the actual grading of the diamond.

Blue Moon Diamond

The Blue Moon Diamond has been sold for a record US$48.26m at Sotheby’s in Geneva.

The sale price is a record per carat and for total value for any gemstone.

Blue Moon Diamond has no inclusions and has been officially declared flawless.

The 29.62-carat diamond was found at the Cullinan Mine in South Africa in January last year, blue diamonds make up only 0.1% of diamonds unearthed at the mine.

It was then cut and polished in New York, a process which took six months and eventually produced the 12.03 carat vivid blue gem.

132 Ct Unveiled by Graff

Pictures of the Spectacular Fancy Yellow Diamond Polished by Graff Diamonds have been released.

Laurence Graff, the founder of the international luxury diamond and jewellery firm that bears his name, purchased the 299 ct rough diamond from the Letšeng mine in the Southern African kingdom of Lesotho.

Graff’s latest masterpiece named “The Golden Empress,” was polished into the 132.55 Cts stone an extremely rare diamond is a Fancy Intense yellow cushion cut,

The diamond is among the largest and rarest in the world. Only one in 10,000 diamonds discovered are classified as fancy coloured such as this yellow diamond.

De Beers diamond grading and inscription facility opened in Surat

The major investment in Surat facility reflects a world class diamond cutting and polishing centre characterised by skill, innovation and the effective use of technology.

De Beers the world’s leading diamond company is considering a diamond auction centre in India.

This laboratory is the second of its kind in the world owned International Institute of Diamond Grading and Research. 

The laboratories primary function will be to select and inscribe Forevermark diamonds with the unique serial number to deliver an accurate and reliable grading for diamonds.

De Beers is the world’s leading diamond company established in 1888  experts in exploration, mining and marketing of diamonds.

$2.1 billion in diamonds from Russia for Indian companies

Twelve Indian diamond companies including Kiran Gems, Asian Star and Rosy Blue India, have signed three year contracts with ALROSA at the World Diamond Conference,

Each of the companies signed separate contracts with ALROSA and will buy rough diamonds worth USD 2.1 billion or about USD 700 million per year for a period of three years. This will assist the companies save considerable amount of commissions.

THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF DIAMOND GRADING

The International Institute of Diamond Grading & Research is part of the
De Beers group of companies.

Based in Antwerp and run by the world’s top diamond experts, the International Institute of Diamond Grading & Research benefits from proprietary equipment of the De Beers group of companies that enables the most precise grading and assessment for both rough and polished diamonds

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Pink star default

Inventory at Sotheby’s rose significantly due to acquisition of the Pink Star, renamed the Pink Dream the 59.60 ct, internally flawless, fancy vivid pink diamond which was sold to diamond cutter Isaac Wolf in November for $83,187,381 USD. The reason Sotheby’s acquired the rare stone is due to Wolf’s default.

Sotheby’s are quite comfortable with their valuation and comfortable in owning it at this price. Sotheby’s is currently pursuing a resolution with the buyer, while also considering other alternatives against the default.

European Union diplomats are touring the controversial Marange diamond fields.

REVENUE FROM DIAMONDS IS SET TO CONTRIBUTE US$600 MILLION TO FISCUS THIS YEAR.

The diplomats will visit four companies, Mbada, Marange Resources, Diamond Mining Corporation (DMC) and Anjin. They will also visit the ZRP Diamond Base.

Diamonds from Marange have courted controversy amid calls by civil society organisations that there is no transparency in the marketing of the gems.

Finance minister Tendai Biti has been complaining that Anjin has not been remitting money to treasury. Anjin is a joint venture between the Chinese and the Zimbabwe Defence Industries.

Biti has said despite claims that the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) owns Anjin, the state entity had no equity in the diamond producer.