Graff unveils new ring crafted from 13.33ct Lesotho Pink diamond

Luxury house Graff has unveiled a new ring with a centre stone crafted from the 13.33 carat Lesotho Pink diamond.

The end result of is a 5.63 carat ‘fancy vivid purplish pink’ pear shape diamond flanked by two ‘fancy intense pink’ pear shaped diamond shoulder stones and embraced by a minimal rose gold setting.

The firm claims that its expert gemmologists and master craftsmen spent many months analysing the complexities of the diamond before devising “how best to capture the extraordinary beauty of its unusually vibrant pink hue”.

The rough stone had been discovered at the Letseng mine in Lesotho in February, with Laurence Graff purchasing it for $8.75 million.

This was a record for the purchase of any Letseng diamond in terms of dollar per carat.

The firm shares: “The world’s already extremely limited resources of pink diamonds are quickly depleting, as the mines where these rarities are discovered gradually become extinct.

“They are highly sought after by those who want to enter the rarefied and exclusive group of connoisseurs who appreciate these precious pink stones for their sublime beauty.

“Graff searches timelessly for the very best examples displaying the most vivid and vibrant colour, identifying once in a lifetime discoveries and creating jewels that showcase their remarkable hues.”

Source: DCLA 

Graff unveils new ring crafted from 13.33ct Lesotho Pink diamond

Luxury house Graff has unveiled a new ring with a centre stone crafted from the 13.33 carat Lesotho Pink diamond.

The end result of is a 5.63 carat ‘fancy vivid purplish pink’ pear shape diamond flanked by two ‘fancy intense pink’ pear shaped diamond shoulder stones and embraced by a minimal rose gold setting.

The firm claims that its expert gemmologists and master craftsmen spent many months analysing the complexities of the diamond before devising “how best to capture the extraordinary beauty of its unusually vibrant pink hue”.

The rough stone had been discovered at the Letseng mine in Lesotho in February, with Laurence Graff purchasing it for $8.75 million.

This was a record for the purchase of any Letseng diamond in terms of dollar per carat.

The firm shares: “The world’s already extremely limited resources of pink diamonds are quickly depleting, as the mines where these rarities are discovered gradually become extinct.

“They are highly sought after by those who want to enter the rarefied and exclusive group of connoisseurs who appreciate these precious pink stones for their sublime beauty.

“Graff searches timelessly for the very best examples displaying the most vivid and vibrant colour, identifying once in a lifetime discoveries and creating jewels that showcase their remarkable hues.”

Source: DCLA 

Demand for Angolan diamonds is currently higher than supply

Angola’s national diamond trading company, Sodiam announced on Wednesday in Luanda that it has suspended receiving proposals to buy rough diamonds because the demand is higher than the supply.

The state-owned company, announcing the closure of the reception of bids, pointed out that it has already concluded purchase and sale contracts of diamonds mined in the country for the next two years.

The company also said in a statement that interested parties could register on Sodiam’s electronic platform from September in order to qualify as potential customers for the purchase of diamonds by auction.

In the second quarter, Sodiam sold 1.5 million carats at an average price of US$155.3 per carat and gross revenues of US$232.8 million, down by US$135.8 million from first-quarter revenue, “due to the fact that it did not sell the April lot.”

The company posted revenues of US$368.6 million in the first quarter of 2019 from the sale of 2.647 million carats of diamonds.

Source: DCLA

Demand for Angolan diamonds is currently higher than supply

Angola’s national diamond trading company, Sodiam announced on Wednesday in Luanda that it has suspended receiving proposals to buy rough diamonds because the demand is higher than the supply.

The state-owned company, announcing the closure of the reception of bids, pointed out that it has already concluded purchase and sale contracts of diamonds mined in the country for the next two years.

The company also said in a statement that interested parties could register on Sodiam’s electronic platform from September in order to qualify as potential customers for the purchase of diamonds by auction.

In the second quarter, Sodiam sold 1.5 million carats at an average price of US$155.3 per carat and gross revenues of US$232.8 million, down by US$135.8 million from first-quarter revenue, “due to the fact that it did not sell the April lot.”

The company posted revenues of US$368.6 million in the first quarter of 2019 from the sale of 2.647 million carats of diamonds.

Source: DCLA

De Beers hits a rough patch as diamond sales slide

Diamond purchases at De Beers’ latest sale in Botswana plummeted 44 per cent, as the industry struggles with weaker consumer spending and the rise of lab-grown stones.

The world’s largest diamond miner said on Wednesday that sales of rough diamonds were $280m at last week’s sale compared with $503m in the same period a year ago.

The sharp decline follows another weak sale last month. So far this year, at $2.9bn, De Beers’ rough diamond sales are 26 per cent lower than the $3.9bn recorded at the same time last year. In July, Russian diamond producer Alrosa reported a 51 per cent fall in diamond sales.

“The current malaise in the market is due to oversupply,” said Paul Zimnisky, an analyst in New York, who said diamond buyers had too much inventory.

Macroeconomic uncertainty and, in particular, the trade war between the US and China, the world’s two largest diamond-consuming countries, has fuelled nervousness among wholesalers and retailers.

Diamond buyers, who polish and cut diamonds for retailers, are struggling to make money this year due to lower prices and tighter credit, prompting them to delay purchases.

Tiffany’s on Wednesday reported a 3 per cent decline in like-for-like sales, with the luxury retailer’s chief executive Alessandro Bogliolo warning that unrest in Hong Kong was “taking a toll on our business”, as did a drop in Chinese tourists visiting the US.

Shares in Signet, the world’s largest retailer of diamond jewellery, have fallen more than 60 per cent this year.

Increased sales of lab-grown diamonds, which are chemically identical to traditional stones, are also “taking a very precious piece of the mined industry’s modest growth”, noted Mr Zimnisky.

De Beers has responded by cutting production — with a target of 31m carats this year compared with 35.3m lin 2018 — and pledging to increase the amount of money it spends on marketing diamonds.

Anish Aggarwal, a partner at consulting firm Gemdax, said economic uncertainty was being aggravated by retailers shifting to a “just-in-time” stocking model.

De Beers, which made up around 10 per cent of Anglo-American’s earnings in the first half of this year, sells most of its diamonds to approved customers at 10 “sights” a year in Africa.

As an incentive to buyers, at the latest sale it increased the amount of stones customers were allowed to reject in each lot purchased from 10 per cent to 20 per cent, according to people familiar with the auction.

Source: DCLA

De Beers hits a rough patch as diamond sales slide

Diamond purchases at De Beers’ latest sale in Botswana plummeted 44 per cent, as the industry struggles with weaker consumer spending and the rise of lab-grown stones.

The world’s largest diamond miner said on Wednesday that sales of rough diamonds were $280m at last week’s sale compared with $503m in the same period a year ago.

The sharp decline follows another weak sale last month. So far this year, at $2.9bn, De Beers’ rough diamond sales are 26 per cent lower than the $3.9bn recorded at the same time last year. In July, Russian diamond producer Alrosa reported a 51 per cent fall in diamond sales.

“The current malaise in the market is due to oversupply,” said Paul Zimnisky, an analyst in New York, who said diamond buyers had too much inventory.

Macroeconomic uncertainty and, in particular, the trade war between the US and China, the world’s two largest diamond-consuming countries, has fuelled nervousness among wholesalers and retailers.

Diamond buyers, who polish and cut diamonds for retailers, are struggling to make money this year due to lower prices and tighter credit, prompting them to delay purchases.

Tiffany’s on Wednesday reported a 3 per cent decline in like-for-like sales, with the luxury retailer’s chief executive Alessandro Bogliolo warning that unrest in Hong Kong was “taking a toll on our business”, as did a drop in Chinese tourists visiting the US.

Shares in Signet, the world’s largest retailer of diamond jewellery, have fallen more than 60 per cent this year.

Increased sales of lab-grown diamonds, which are chemically identical to traditional stones, are also “taking a very precious piece of the mined industry’s modest growth”, noted Mr Zimnisky.

De Beers has responded by cutting production — with a target of 31m carats this year compared with 35.3m lin 2018 — and pledging to increase the amount of money it spends on marketing diamonds.

Anish Aggarwal, a partner at consulting firm Gemdax, said economic uncertainty was being aggravated by retailers shifting to a “just-in-time” stocking model.

De Beers, which made up around 10 per cent of Anglo-American’s earnings in the first half of this year, sells most of its diamonds to approved customers at 10 “sights” a year in Africa.

As an incentive to buyers, at the latest sale it increased the amount of stones customers were allowed to reject in each lot purchased from 10 per cent to 20 per cent, according to people familiar with the auction.

Source: DCLA

Letšeng Mine recovers a 114 Carat Yellow Diamond

Gem Diamonds has recovered its third yellow diamond over 100 carats this year, following a two year dearth of stones in that hue and size.

The miner found the 114.2-carat rough on August 22 at its Letšeng mine in Lesotho, it said Monday. The company unearthed a 135-carat, yellow diamond from the deposit in June, and a similar 134-carat stone was brought up in March. Prior to those recoveries, Letšeng hadn’t yielded a yellow diamond over 100 carats since June 2017, when Gem Diamonds retrieved a 151.52-carat rough at the site.

The discovery is also the sixth over 100 carats the miner, known for its large-stone retrieval, has unearthed so far this year. These include three white diamonds, weighing 123.5, 140 and 161 carats.

During the first six months of the year, the miner recovered three stones over 100 carats, compared to 10 of that size during the same period a year ago. The lack of large stones in comparison with last year has hurt Gem Diamonds’ revenue. Sales of rough diamonds fell 44% to $94.5 million in the first half, with the average price dropping from $2,742 per carat to $1,697.

Source: DCLA