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.
A high-profile Indian delegation led by Shri R. Arulanandan, Director, Department of Commerce, Government of India actively participated in the “Opportunities in India” event, hosted by the Consulate General of India in Cape Town and the Government of India. The event was held on the sidelines of the prestigious Mining Indaba 2025.
The delegation, which included Shri Rajat Wani, Regional Director – Surat, GJEPC, highlighted the potential of Special Notified Zones (SNZs) for diamonds in Mumbai and Surat, focusing on their role in simplifying trade processes. Stressing the need to reduce the number of intermediaries in the diamond value chain, they underscored the importance of facilitating more direct trade of rough diamonds between India and African mining nations.
Direct auctioning of diamonds in SNZs was presented as a mutually beneficial strategy. Such a framework would enable African mining countries to secure higher returns on their diamond exports while allowing Indian buyers greater access to competitively priced rough diamonds.
The discussions also explored the necessity of consignment exports, a move that could align with African nations’ policies, such as “temporary export” mechanisms. The Indian delegation expressed optimism about overcoming logistical and regulatory challenges, ensuring a streamlined process that benefits all stakeholders.
A diamond bracelet gifted by Michael Jackson to Elizabeth Taylor sold for $147,000, almost double its high estimate.
The diamond line bracelet, set with 27 graduated radiant-cut yellow-tinted diamonds was expected to fetch $61,000 to $86,000 (£50,000 to £70,000).
It sold on 30 January at the Woolley & Wallis auction house, in Sailsbury, southern England.
Taylor (who died in 2011) and Jackson (who died in 2009) were close friends for many years. Taylor was godmother to Jackson’s children Paris and Prince, and Jackson, the King of Pop, gifted her a number of jewelry pieces over the years. Among them was this bracelet, with a central diamond weighing 3.38 carats.
The bracelet was sold previously in December 2011, for $182,500, at Christie New York’s The Collection of Elizabeth Taylor. It raised $116m (way beyond its $20m estimate) and broke the record for any collection of jewelry sold at auction.
Marielle Whiting, jewelry specialist at Woolley & Wallis, described the bracelet as a “beautiful and highly wearable diamond bracelet with truly legendary provenance that continues to live on”.
A brazen diamond robbery at Namibia Desert Diamonds (Namdia) early on Saturday evening and involving what is suspected to be the company’s largest-ever consignment of precious stones received, has resulted in two fatalities and two arrests.
Although the figure could not be independently verified, a person with intricate knowledge of the matter said the diamonds are worth more than US$15 million (about N$280 million).
This consignment was reportedly delivered to Namdia’s premises by the Namibia Diamond Trading Company (NDTC). NDTC is a 50:50 joint venture between the government and De Beers Namibia Holdings. It was formally conceived in January 2007 following an agreement to sort, value and market Namibian diamonds.
Responding to questions yesterday, NDTC CEO Brent Eiseb could not provide any details for security reasons.
“For safety and security reasons, NDTC does not provide details of rough diamond deliveries/movements. Kindly refer all incident-related queries to Namdia,” Eiseb said.
The Namibian Police have said the exact amount of diamonds stolen in the robbery is unknown, pending an inventory by Namdia.
“The suspects fled with an unspecified amount of Namdia’s diamonds, whose value is still to be ascertained. There were four suspects involved in the robbery. Two suspects are currently on the run. One suspect is in police custody. One suspect died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound during the incident,” Alisa Amupolo said in another statement issued late yesterday. According to sources familiar with Namdia’s modus operandi, the company was warned to tighten up its security.
This, however, never happened. “There were several warnings last year that the security left a lot to be desired. The staff has been worried about this. The board chairman [Justus Hausiku] warned Alisa Amupolo [CEO] several times to focus on security,” said the source, who preferred to speak on condition of anonymity.
Despite the advice to improve its security, Namdia’s offices were guarded by a single security guard only identified as Herman, who was seconded from a local security company.
During the heist, Herman was handcuffed, but somehow managed to notify people at neighbouring premises to call the police, claiming “we’re being robbed”.
Execution
The police confirmed the execution-style killing of a Namdia protection officer during the robbery, as well as one of six perpetrators who succumbed to injuries sustained during the theft. “It is with deep sadness that we confirm an attempted armed robbery at our premises earlier today [Saturday], which tragically resulted in the loss of one of our valued staff members. We are cooperating fully with law-enforcement, and a thorough investigation is currently underway. As this is an ongoing investigation, we are working closely with the relevant authorities to establish the facts surrounding the incident. Namdia remains fully committed to ensuring the safety and security of both its staff and diamonds,” Amupolo said.
Crime report
The weekend police crime report issued yesterday stated that the robbery and murder occurred between 17h00 and 18h00 at the Namdia head office in Klein Windhoek. The police say armed suspects broke into the Namdia premises through yet-to-be determined means.
The police further said the robbers held staff hostage by tying them up before stealing an undisclosed amount of diamonds.
“In one of the storerooms, the supervisor, who is a protection officer, was found dead with his hands and legs tied up and his face covered with a shopping bag, and a gunshot wound inflicted to the head. He was identified as Francis Eiseb, a 57-year-old Namibian male. His next of kin have been informed of his death,” the police crime report states.
Police said one of the robbery suspects was found with what appeared to be two gunshot wounds. Late yesterday, police identified Max Endjala as the deceased suspect who was allegedly involved in the Namdia heist. His next of kin have also been informed of his death. He was an auditor at a local firm, according to reports.
Law-enforcement officers at the scene collected four firearms and some knives. The investigation is ongoing, with the police appealing to members of the public who might have any information about the robbery or the suspects to pass it on to the relevant authorities.
Furthermore, sources said staff at Namdia were called in yesterday for interrogation on the robbery, which some people suspect took place based on inside information regarding the amount of diamonds on the premises at the time.
Family ties
State broadcaster NBC also reported that one more arrest had been made in connection with the robbery. The male suspect is employed as a security officer at Namdia and is related to Endjala, the suspect who allegedly shot himself in the head, NBC reported.
Fond memories
In a social media post on Sunday, Namdia’s former CEO Kennedy Hamutenya hailed Eiseb as one of the hardest-working and most committed employees during his time.
Eiseb, he reminisced, would perform above and beyond the call of duty. “He’d even volunteer to drive clients to and from the airport to ensure their safety. He was kind and cordial to all other colleagues, and was full of respect,” Hamutenya’s post reads.
Also taking to his WhatsApp social media platform yesterday was Bryan Eiseb, the Head of the Financial Intelligence Centre and a brother of the late Francis, who said the Eiseb family has “forgiven those who are responsible for Francis’ horrendous death. You [Francis] have paid the ultimate price for Namibia.”
Namdia was founded by the government in 2016 to independently market and sell Namibia’s diamonds on the international market. The Namdia headquarters is considered one of the most secure in Windhoek, considering the value consignments it regularly handles. It is estimated that Namdia annually sells some N$2 billion worth of diamonds on the international market. Read more: ‘N$280m gems’ stolen in Namdia heist https://neweralive.na/n280m-gems-stolen-in-namdia-heist
Burgundy Diamond Mines reported an increase in prices but a dip in revenue from its Ekati mine, in Canada, during Q4.
Sales held in October and December raised $47m and $46m respectively (total $93m) the Australia-based company said today (17 December) in its interim sales report and company update. Average prices per carat were $80 and $106 (all figures US dollars).
Total proceeds for the previous quarter, Q3, were $118m, with average prices down to $83 per carat in what it described at the time as a “soft diamond market”.
Kim Truter, Burgundy’s CEO, said the results “bode well for a recovering diamond market”.
He said prices at the December sale reflected a higher quality parcel of goods sold, and said there had been gains in the mid to large size categories, relative to the October sale.
Burgundy bought the Ekati mine, 125 miles south of the Arctic Circle, in Northwest Territories, last June for $136m from the Arctic Canadian Diamond Company and plans to extend its life by developing underground operations.
“The company looks forward to reporting the results of its mine life extension work at the Sable underground project and the Misery underground operation, in addition to an updated Fox underground prefeasibility study, commencing in Q1-2025,” Burgundy said.
Maruti Impex, described as one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of small natural diamonds, is halting operations, and has advised its 15,000 workers to seek employment elsewhere.
The company’s founder, Suresh Lakhani, aged 45, suffered a stroke three months ago and remains in a coma.
He’s been the driving force behind the business, which he launched in 1995 when he was just 16 years old. He is said to be the sole decision maker.
The future of Maruti Impex, which operates over 100 units, directly and indirectly, in Surat, Bhavnagar, Amreli, and Junagadh, is now uncertain.
Staff were informed of the closure by audio message, just as diamond units re-open after the Diwali break.
They received salaries up to the holiday, but have been told it’s not clear when operations could resume. The company made mention of “three or four months”.
Family members stepped in short term following Lakhani’s stroke, but have reportedly decided to pause operations because of weak market conditions.
Times of India quotes Dinesh Navadiya, chairman of the Indian Diamond Institute, as saying: “Without his (Lakhani’s) leadership and given the current challenging market conditions, the management is unable to continue operations.”
Lakhani describes himself on LinkedIn as a “self-made entrepreneur and philanthropist who has built a successful global business – “Maruti Impex” from scratch. Maruti Impex is one of the largest companies in the world in cut and polished diamonds.”
Hundreds of carats of diamonds unearthed by part-time diggers in India’s diamond-rich Panna district remain unsold after state-run auctions failed to attract buyers.
Farmers and laborers rent small patches of land from the government and regularly recover gems worth potentially life-changing sums.
But many of their finds have been unsold at recent auctions conducted by the Panna Diamond Office, as demand slumps globally and lab growns take ever larger shares of the market.
At the latest sale 64 diamonds, weighing 111.45 carats, were unsold, according to a Free Press report.
It said that in 2022-23, at least 139 diamonds, weighing 255.47 carats were unsold, and in 2021-22, there were unsold 68 diamonds, weighing 73.15 carats.
Panna is said to be home to 1.2m carats. Part-time miners pay $2.70 for the rights to dig a 25ft square patch there and diamond finds are quite common.
In May 2022 farmer Pratap Singh Yadav (pictured) recovered an 11.88-carat diamond and said he’d use proceeds from the sale of the stone to set up a business and pay for his children’s education.
In February of that year another part-time prospector dug up a 26.11-carat diamond which later sold for $193,000. And in February 2021 laborer Rampyare Vishwakarma unearthed a 14.09-ct diamond.
Pop sensation Britney Spears says she’s launching her own jewelry brand, to be called B Tiny.
She has already made a fortune from sales of Britney perfumes, first launched in 2004 and said to have generated total revenue of over $1.5bn.
The 42-year-old “Princess of Pop” announced on Instagram that she was “so excited” to launch her first jewelry line, of what she said were “delicate extremely different and one of a kind pieces”.
Her post, which has over 70,000 likes, includes pictures of rings connected by a gold chain to bands around her wrist.
The post gives no further details of the collection, price or launch date.
Since ancient times, jewelled collars, saddles and bridles have ensured that animal companions were as finely jewelled as their owners. Animal bling seems to have been particularly popular from the mid-19th century. Vogue’s 1896 article “Swagger Dogs” told its readers that “Dog jewelry forms an interesting exhibit, is marvelously fine and valuable, if absurdly extravagant”. These dogs sported jewelled collars, leg bracelets and bangles galore.
Lord Berners, the model for Nancy Mitford’s Lord Merlin in The Pursuit of Love, was well known for decorating his pet dalmatians with diamond necklaces, while the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning made a collar for her dog Flush from a mosaic bead necklace. When Frances Work (Mrs Aurel Batonyi), the great-grandmother of Diana, Princess of Wales, visited the casino with her dog, she matched her jewels with its own diamond collar. The Daily Express of 1903 even recommended “diamond studded dog-collars with receptacles for scent” for smartly dressed dogs. According to early 20th-century newspapers, some dogs even wore bracelets around their paws and gem-set earrings. One of the gifts given to Jenny and Rosie Dolly, the fabulously glamorous cabaret dancers of the 1930s, was a pair of tortoises. These came from the besotted retail magnate Harry Selfridge, their shells set by Cartier with 4-carat blue diamonds.
The Dolly Sisters in the 1920s
The modern dog with a generous budget could choose from the famously expensive Amour Amour collars, the top-of-the-range set with 52 carats of diamonds, to elegant options from Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany and Christian Louboutin (with signature red lining). Sadly cats haven’t attracted the same attention from jewellers, although they might not have the same patience for dressing up as their dog counterparts.
The size M Loubicollar dog collar from Christian Louboutin
Animal lives are shorter than human ones and bereaved owners often wanted a record of their animal companions, often through paintings and photographs but also via memorial jewellery set with their images and sometimes even hair.
The brooch with a portrait of Nero made for Jane Carlyle
Jane Carlyle’s little dog Nero was a great comfort to her through the ups and downs of her marriage to the author Thomas Carlyle. Nero, painted as “large as a sheep” to Jane’s dismay, can be seen lying comfortably on the sofa in Robert Tait’s painting of the Carlyles at home. When Nero died in February 1860, Jane turned to the painter to help her create a memorial. Writing to Tait, she asked him to send her a photograph of the detail of Nero from the painting to make into a brooch.
Queen Victoria’s collie Gipsy, painted by Friedrich Wilhelm Keyl
Jane Carlyle wasn’t the only bereaved owner to want a lasting memory of her pet. Queen Victoria extended her appetite for sentimental jewellery to her animals. As well as a photograph album recording all the dogs in the Windsor kennels, one of her favourite dogs was immortalised in a jewel. In 1863 the Prince of Wales ordered a crystal brooch with the image of the Queen’s recently deceased collie Gipsy from the royal jewellers, Garrards. Some years later, as Edward VII, he kept strands of his favourite terrier Jack’s hair in a locket on his desk.
Amour Amour is the world’s most expensive dog collar with the price tag of $3.2 million
And although in general cats have not been lucky enough to be gifted jewels during their seven lifetimes, they have also been turned into a glittery accessory.
Mary Russell, Duchess of Bedford, was well known for her passion for Siamese cats. According to Boudoir Magazine in 1904, she wore a locket holding the portrait of Goblin, her favourite cat. Goblin’s thoughts on the matter are not recorded.
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.
A wealthy US doctor splashed out $275,000 on 5 ct emerald cut diamond for his fiancace.
He plans to have the D colour, flawless gem set in an engagement ring, according to California based Varsha Diamonds, which made the sale through retail partner Phillips Jewelry, in Tennessee.
“We’ll be setting it in the mounting of their choice,” said business owner Robbi Philips. “They are thrilled, and so are we. I feel honored to have found them a remarkable diamond that they will be proud of and will cherish forever.”
Varsha says its Fireworks brand diamonds are cut for beauty rather than size and the symmetrical step cuts achieve maximum white light brilliance.
“Fireworks Diamonds are scientifically proven by AGS’s Angular Spectrum Evaluation Tool (ASET) and Sarine light performance technologies to be the largest and brightest diamonds in the world, and all because of the way they are cut,” said Jay Mehta, director of business operations at Varsha.
The value of rough diamonds mined globally during 2023 fell by just over 20 per cent, down from $16bn in 2022 to $12.7bn according to the latest Kimberley Process (KP) figures.
The volume of diamonds mined fell by 7.6 per cent to 111.5m carats, and average per carat prices slipped almost 14 per cent from $132.27 to $114.10.
Production in Russia fell by 11 per cent, from 42m carats in 2022 to 37.3m carats, although average price carat actually increased by 14 per cent from $84.77 to $96.64. Exports were down 5 per cent to $3.68bn.
Botswana’s production volume increased slightly to 25.1m carats in 2023 but plunged 30 per cent by value, from $4.7bn in 2022 to $3.3bn.
The global diamond industry peaked in 2017, according to historical KP data, when production hit 150m carats, a 16 per cent leap from 126m carats the previous year.
It held firm at 149m carats in 2018, then slipped to 138m carats in 2019; 107m carats in 2020 (down 22 per cent) and 119m carats in 2021.
Michael Moszynski, founder and chief executive of LONDON Advertising and an experienced investor, was introduced to Mr Dominguez by a fellow investor in a separate business.
He explained Mr Dominguez’s reputation – being an Entrepreneur of the Year finalist, tipped by Forbes magazine, with the backing of high-profile investors – made Vashi an attractive proposition.
The senior management team also included figures with strong track records in retail, which gave him confidence. Audited accounts suggested it had healthy assets and revenue.
“I went to see their store and they were just about to open this amazing shop in Covent Garden. It all looked really strong,” Mr Moszynski said.
“The quality of the investors was reassuring and everyone thought everyone else had done their due diligence. Some of the investors who lost their money were top names in British entrepreneurship.”
A Middle East investor, who has a background in the retail business and spoke anonymously, told The National he was attracted by Vashi’s approach which “had a lot of merit to it”.
He was impressed by the “brazenness” of stores in high-profile locations in central London.
“I was invited to the opening of the Covent Garden one and they walked us around, and it was busy and buzzing,” he said.
He put together a consortium, which included friends, family and his employers, spread across the Gulf and Saudi Arabia, to invest in Vashi.
The consensus was that if investment went wrong “at least we had the diamonds”, he said. “That was the insurance policy.”
He feels “taken in” by Vashi’s story.
“I’m involved in many companies that haven’t made it. They fail, but they fail on their merits,” said one frustrated investor from the Middle East, who wished to remain anonymous. “This feels different.”
Mr Moszynski said the fact the company was raising capital on the back of its diamonds, confirmed by auditors, convinced him to invest.
“That was a major, major reason why investors put in money. They felt even if the business wasn’t successful, the liquidation of the assets would offset the investment,” he said.
“But we investors discovered that there was no stock when we heard that the liquidators had opened the safe and it was bare.”
Vashi’s vision Mr Dominguez was born to a Spanish mother and Indian father on the island of Tenerife.
His insurance broker parents sent their only child to a private school and he went on to study law.
He dropped out, becoming a salesman at an electronics store and in the process finding his passion for business.
Mr Dominguez opened his own shop in 1998, then set himself up as a wholesale supplier of electronics to the Canary Islands, travelling to Hong Kong to deal directly with manufacturers.
Tiring of electronics, he decided to turn a childhood fascination with diamonds into a moneymaking venture.
Meteoric rise It’s a difficult business to break into, but after 100 meetings over nine months he managed to find a gems supplier in Mumbai and he was on his way.
After first selling them wholesale in his native Spain, he decided it would be more beneficial to market them online directly to customers.
Mr Dominguez moved his business to London in 2007, setting up its headquarters in the Hatton Garden diamond district. His company Diamond Manufacturers Ltd rebranded to begin trading in his own name, Vashi, and in 2009 his website was up and running.
He opened his first bricks and mortar store in the upmarket Mayfair district of the UK capital.
This led to media coverage and the regular slot on This Morning giving tips about buying precious gems.
Buoyed by his initial success and enhanced profile, he set out his vision for conquering the jewellery world, aimed at luring millennial and Gen Z customers to “iconic destination stores”, stocked with ethically-sourced diamonds.
He expanded to three more stores, with the flagship a dazzling 4,476-square-foot presence in Covent Garden. Each of them dovetailed with a bespoke online service.
Rather than intimidating destinations only for the super-rich, these would be “friendly and accessible”, with in-house workshops visible from the street that would tailor-make jewellery to embrace “the fundamental emotions of the wearer”.
Material for investors showed young photogenic customers, smiling as they engage in the diamond ring-buying “experience”.
John Ames joined Vashi as chief technology officer in July 2021 and his first impressions of Mr Dominguez were positive.
“He was a big man – imposing and tall. He was impressive,” Mr Ames told The National.
“He turned up to the meeting with a £60,000 gold watch on his wrist and he spoke eloquently about his vision.”
Meanwhile, Mr Dominguez was a finalist in the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award, while Forbes magazine predicted Vashi would be among the UK’s next “unicorns” – a privately owned start-up company valued at over $1 billion.
The company recorded apparently dramatic increases in sales. A trading update issued in May 2021 stated that sales were up 385 per cent from the year before, when the UK was in lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr Dominguez laid out plans for expansion into the US, saying the $300 billion jewellery industry was “ready to be disrupted”.
“Within five years, we expect to join one of the world’s biggest luxury conglomerates, and we will begin our global roll-out thereafter,” the company boasted.
A 2021 pitch seeking £75 million from investors set out a bold plan to use the capital to fit out New York stores and also to buy £50 million worth of stock.
The New York stores were to be on Fifth Avenue and in SoHo, where its premises were to be opposite Tiffany & Co and adjacent to Cartier, Louis Vuitton and Apple.
Vashi’s chief financial officer, Charles Leach, emailed potential investors to say the company was valued at £250 million with fixed assets in the form of loose polished diamonds and metal worth up to £200 million.
The unravelling Mr Ames, the chief technology officer, suspected all was not right when suppliers began seeking overdue payments.
By December 2021, he had reason to believe that the company was raising investment on the basis of sales figures he felt did not match reality.
Mr Ames was given an internal sales report, which showed the figures were around £5.4 million for 2020 and £5.09 million for 2021.
That contrasts with the last available public accounts filed with Companies House, which show that the company’s stated sales for the year ending 2020 were £53.63 million and 2021 £105.42 million.
The company made a pre-tax profit of £14.1 million in 2021, according to the filing for that year, up from £4.9 million the year before.
The accounts were signed off by Inger & Co, which operates out of a small office among shops in the East London suburb of Redbridge.
Mr Ames says when he challenged a fellow senior manager about the discrepancy, he was told the rest of the sales were made up of Mr Dominguez’s private sales to celebrities and other wealthy clients.
However, a presentation to investors states that revenue were split 62 per cent online and 38 per cent in stores. There was no mention of private sales.
It just “didn’t make any sense”, said Mr Ames.
From his conversations with Vashi employees involved in the purchase of precious metals and diamonds, Mr Ames understood those suppliers continued to chase the company for unpaid bills and were unwilling to allow the business to purchase on credit.
Other conversations, including with employees who worked in the stores, where diamonds were kept in safes, revealed that the necessary stock was not being bought.
He said he was “uncomfortable” with what was taking place.
Mr Ames began to raise concerns about a lack of internal governance and internal reporting but in January 2022 he was dismissed.
Former chief financial officer Mr Leach had by this stage put his own money into the company.
He told The National: “As an investor myself who lost a substantial sum, I relied like other investors on audited accounts, audited stock certificates and independent professional stock valuations.
“I was retained by the company as an external consultant, preparing investor forecasts from management accounts provided by the accountant, and communicating their vision to their investors.
“I never saw a bank statement or any internal sales or customer information. The business appeared to be a great British success story with an inspiring leader, and I put my heart into helping them tell their story.
“The sudden liquidation and the picture that emerged following it were a huge shock.”
Creditors, including diamond suppliers, had gradually lost patience, and court records show they were petitioning to have the company wound up from May 2022.
A former employee revealed on the Glassdoor employment website, which reviews companies, that staff were made to pretend to be customers in November 2022.
Other employees wrote on Glassdoor of unpaid salaries, pension contributions taken out of wages but not paid into pension funds, and having to lie to customers about their orders.
Meanwhile, furious customers complained about the shambolic service, with one saying Vashi had taken more than a year to replace a faulty ring.
The company was finally wound up in April 2023 after the Canary Wharf shopping centre, the landlords of one of its premises, and 19 other creditors, obtained a court order.
The liquidators say there are claims totalling £162 million from creditors, while staff are owed £2.5 million and the tax authorities £4.6 million.
Reflecting on his time at the company, Mr Ames said: “I hated the fact I was deceived. It made me very angry that other people were being recruited into it and deceived as well.
“They were young and very talented and they all believed in the concept and wanted to deliver on it.”
The person most able to answer questions about the company is of course Vashi Dominguez himself.
Efforts to contact him to seek a response to the allegations made have so far been unsuccessful. It is understood investors have also been trying to track him down.
At his last registered residential address in central London, a woman who answered the door when The National visited denied knowing who he was.
Mr Moszynski said he has now made a complaint to the UK’s Serious Fraud Office with a detailed dossier of evidence.
The SFO told The National its policy was to “neither confirm nor deny” whether it was looking at a case until it was officially announced but said criteria for investigating included “cases that involve millions of pounds”.
US Capitol building at sunset, Washington DC, USA.
US jewelers have warned Congress of the harm that new sanctions on Russian diamonds will cause for the entire retail sector.
The trade association Jewelers of America (JA) met with with a dozen Democratic and Republican lawmakers in both the House and Senate to voice concerns over the 1 September restrictions that will require all goods of 0.50-scts and above to enter G7 countries via Antwerp for verification.
They say a single import channel will “cause maximum damage to the global diamond and jewelry supply chain, while having minimal effect on Russia’s diamond revenues”.
JA is urging all its members to lobby Congress and explain that the way the restrictions are being implemented will hurt jewelry businesses.
“JA has been working tirelessly behind the scenes and this visit to Washington, D.C. was a critical step to ensure we minimize unnecessary disruptions to the U.S. diamond industry,” said JA president & CEO David J. Bonaparte.
He and fellow JA representatives also called for a “grandfathering” clause to cover goods imported before 1 March (when the 1.0-cts and above restriction was imposed) and for clearer guidance on whether the current size limit applied only to individual, loose diamonds or to the total weight of all diamonds in finished jewelry.
Earlier this week, Priyanka Chopra attended Bulglari’s 140th anniversary event in Rome. And as a global brand ambassador, of course, she was totally decked out in diamonds.
Alongside celebrity supporters like Anne Hathaway, Chopra wore a dazzling piece from the brand’s “Aeterna High Jewelry” collection. With seven massive stones affixed to a unique, wavy choker, Chopra’s necklace was a hero piece for sure. But what made the design so special is that it’s one of the most precious (and expensive) designs the brand has ever created — at a cool 43 million dollars.
Priyanka’s Dazzling Diamonds According to Bulgari, the lavish necklace took “over 2,800 hours to complete.” Made up of 140 carats worth of diamonds, the necklace — dubbed the Serpenti Aertena — retails for a whopping 43 million dollars. The statement choker featured pear-shaped drop diamonds, the largest sitting front and center.
The intricate design was specially designed for the occasion, with its carat count symbolizing the brand’s 140 year anniversary. The entire collection is so ornate, it was unveiled at a museum — it truly doesn’t get much more iconic than that.
Paying the diamonds their due, Chopra went for a fairly simple off-the-shoulder gown by designer Del Core. A fitting choice for the fancy occasion, her custom look featured a cape-inspired detail and a peplum waist. The sweetheart neckline lent itself nicely to the accessory du jour.
A diamond held by dop is polished on rotating automatic cast iron lap
Prices showed signs of stabilizing during April, with an even mix of increases and decreases in many sizes, especially fancy cuts. Overall there were more clusters of price rises than we have seen of late.
It’s too early to positively identify a clear upward trend, but the “end of the lab grown boom” is arguably having an impact. Lab grown prices are now so low – in some case just 10 per cent of natural – that many jewelers are opting not to stock them in inventory and are only buying them on consignment.
In addition the G7 sanctions, in place since 1 March, are now starting to bite, and to slowly push up prices.
They have effectively restored the De Beers monopoly, although its rough production is down by almost a quarter so far this year (as is Rio Tinto’s) and rough sales remain sluggish (down 18 per cent on last year). Meanwhile polished exports from India fell by 27 per cent during March to $1.2bn
Diamond is one of the hardest materials on Earth, as its super-strong carbon lattice structure makes it incredibly resistant to compression.
Theoretical predictions suggest there is another structural form of carbon out there that could surpass diamond in hardness – the problem is, nobody has ever been able to make it.
Now, simulations performed using the fastest exascale supercomputer in the world are helping researchers better understand the stability of diamond at very high pressures. These simulations are also helping create new potential synthesis methods that could one day see this “super-diamond” become a reality. The research is published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters.
Is BC8 diamond 2.0? The basis for this hypothetical “super-diamond” is the eight-atom body-centered cubic (BC8) crystal structure. BC8 is a tetragonally bonded structure that packs atoms even more efficiently than the face-centered cubic (FCC) structure of traditional diamond. BC8 phases for both silicon and germanium have been synthesized at high pressures – and successfully recovered to ambient conditions – but the same is not true for carbon.
“The BC8 phase of carbon at ambient conditions would be a new super-hard material that would likely be tougher than diamond,” said senior study author Ivan Oleynik, a physics professor at the University of South Florida (USF).
“The BC8 structure maintains this perfect tetrahedral nearest-neighbor shape, but without the cleavage planes found in the diamond structure,” explained Jon Eggert, study co-author and chief scientist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) High Energy Density Science (HEDS) Center. Eggert agrees with Oleynik that “the BC8 phase of carbon at ambient conditions would likely be much tougher than diamond.”
Theoretical predictions indicate that a BC8 phase of carbon is possible – and that it would be around 30% more resistant to compression than diamond – but so far scientists have been unable to produce it in a lab.
One step closer to lab-grown super-diamond For this new study, the team was able to carry out multi-million atomic molecular dynamics simulations on Frontier, the fastest exascale supercomputer in the world. These simulations were designed to investigate the extreme metastability of diamond at very high pressures, in conditions that well-exceeded its known range of thermodynamic stability.
This new research was possible thanks to the recent development of very accurate machine learning models for interatomic potentials. These simulations can describe interactions between individual atoms with unprecedented accuracy, even when considering very high-pressure and high-temperature systems.
“By efficiently implementing this potential on GPU-based (graphics processing unit) Frontier, we can now accurately simulate the time evolution of billions of carbon atoms under extreme conditions at experimental time and length scales,” Oleynik said. “We predicted that the post-diamond BC8 phase would be experimentally accessible only within a narrow high-pressure, high-temperature region of the carbon phase diagram.”
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The simulation showed that, at pressures above 10 million atmospheres and temperatures above 4000 Kelvin, the BC8 carbon phase is the most stable form of carbon.
The significance of this is two-fold, the researchers explain. Firstly, this explains the previous failed attempts to synthesize the elusive BC8 phase of carbon seeing as it is only stable under a very narrow range of temperatures and pressures. But it also allows for further predictions of viable compression pathways that might make BC8 synthesis achievable.
Based on their simulations, the research team has proposed a double-shock compression pathway for BC8 synthesis, which is currently being explored in further experiments at the LLNL’s National Ignition Facility. Their ultimate goal is to be able to synthesize a small amount of this BC8 “super-diamond” and then find a way to recover a seed crystal of the material back to ambient conditions.
Super-diamond could already be hiding in distant exoplanets Investigating the properties of “super-diamond” is important, not just because scientists love it when there is a mystery to solve.
Astrophysical observations have discovered a number of carbon-rich exoplanets beyond our solar system. The ultra-high pressures in the interior of these planets may be enough to form diamond as well as the BC8 phase of carbon, the researchers believe.
“Consequently, the extreme conditions prevailing within these carbon-rich exoplanets may give rise to structural forms of carbon such as diamond and BC8,” Oleynik said. “Therefore, an in-depth understanding of the properties of the BC8 carbon phase becomes critical for the development of accurate interior models of these exoplanets.”
Reference: Nguyen-Cong K, Willman JT, Gonzalez JM, et al. Extreme metastability of diamond and its transformation to the BC8 post-diamond phase of carbon. J Phys Chem Lett. 2024
