GIA Suspends Diamond Sealing Services Following Tampering

GIA (Gemological Institute of America) has announced that it is suspending its diamond sealing services. The suspension is effective immediately and comes following the discovery that “a small number” of GIA sealing packets that had been compromised by third parties after the sealing packets left GIA. 

The Institute said that in these cases, the original diamonds had been replaced with HPHT (high-pressure, high-temperature) treated natural diamonds. 

The replacement diamonds superficially matched the GIA report information for the original diamonds, including information on the sealing packet data label.

GIA said that anyone who has concerns about a GIA-sealed diamond can submit the unopened packet to any GIA laboratory for verification services. If GIA concludes the diamond in the sealing packet is the diamond described in the original report, the Institute will issue a verification letter confirming the diamond matches the original report. If this is not the case, the Institute will issue a new report with the correct results. 

The Institute will provide this verification service free-of-charge for diamonds received in a sealed packet. All sealed diamonds submitted will be returned unsealed.

Source: DCLA

GIA Suspends Diamond Sealing Services Following Tampering

GIA (Gemological Institute of America) has announced that it is suspending its diamond sealing services. The suspension is effective immediately and comes following the discovery that “a small number” of GIA sealing packets that had been compromised by third parties after the sealing packets left GIA. 

The Institute said that in these cases, the original diamonds had been replaced with HPHT (high-pressure, high-temperature) treated natural diamonds. 

The replacement diamonds superficially matched the GIA report information for the original diamonds, including information on the sealing packet data label.

GIA said that anyone who has concerns about a GIA-sealed diamond can submit the unopened packet to any GIA laboratory for verification services. If GIA concludes the diamond in the sealing packet is the diamond described in the original report, the Institute will issue a verification letter confirming the diamond matches the original report. If this is not the case, the Institute will issue a new report with the correct results. 

The Institute will provide this verification service free-of-charge for diamonds received in a sealed packet. All sealed diamonds submitted will be returned unsealed.

Source: DCLA

The Second-Biggest Diamond in History Has a New Owner

The largest rough diamond discovered since 1905, the 1,758 carat Sewelo, was revealed with great fanfare last April, named in July and then largely disappeared from view. Now it has resurfaced with a new owner Louis Vuitton the luxury brand better known for its logo-bedecked handbags than its mega-gems, which has been present on Place Vendôme, the heart of the high jewelry market, for less than a decade.

Discovered in April 2019 at the Karowe mine in Botswana owned by Lucara Diamond Corp, a Canadian miner, the baseball-size Sewelo is the second largest rough diamond ever mined.

The Sewelo is the largest rough diamond ever found in Botswana a country that has become the poster child for responsible mining and the third very large diamond discovered in Karowe.

The mine has produced the 813 carat Constellation, uncovered in 2015 and sold for $63 million to Nemesis International in Dubai, a diamond trading company in partnership with the Swiss jeweler de Grisogono and the Lesedi La Rona, discovered in 2016 and sold to Graff for $53 million.

When Lucara held a competition to name the Sewelo, 22,000 Botswana citizens submitted entries. “Sewelo” means “rare find” in Setswana.

Source: DCLA

The Second-Biggest Diamond in History Has a New Owner

The largest rough diamond discovered since 1905, the 1,758 carat Sewelo, was revealed with great fanfare last April, named in July and then largely disappeared from view. Now it has resurfaced with a new owner Louis Vuitton the luxury brand better known for its logo-bedecked handbags than its mega-gems, which has been present on Place Vendôme, the heart of the high jewelry market, for less than a decade.

Discovered in April 2019 at the Karowe mine in Botswana owned by Lucara Diamond Corp, a Canadian miner, the baseball-size Sewelo is the second largest rough diamond ever mined.

The Sewelo is the largest rough diamond ever found in Botswana a country that has become the poster child for responsible mining and the third very large diamond discovered in Karowe.

The mine has produced the 813 carat Constellation, uncovered in 2015 and sold for $63 million to Nemesis International in Dubai, a diamond trading company in partnership with the Swiss jeweler de Grisogono and the Lesedi La Rona, discovered in 2016 and sold to Graff for $53 million.

When Lucara held a competition to name the Sewelo, 22,000 Botswana citizens submitted entries. “Sewelo” means “rare find” in Setswana.

Source: DCLA

Perth Mint highlights rare Argyle diamonds

The Perth Mint has released Jewelled Tiger coins featuring rare pink diamonds from Rio Tinto’s Argyle mine in Western Australia.

Its most significant release for 2020 incorporates nearly three carats of fancy vivid intense pink diamonds from the Argyle mine, making up a finely structured three-dimensional 18 carat rose gold tiger pavé.

Two emeralds from Colombia’s Muzo mines feature as the tiger’s eyes and the coin is crafted from 10 ounces of 99.99 per cent pure gold.

The Perth Mint only issued eight Jewelled Tiger coins, which are priced at $259,000 each, recognising the significance of the number eight in Asian cultures and its association with luck and prosperity.

Renowned for its power and beauty, the tiger shares the symbolic virtues of gold and so it was a natural choice to feature the revered creature on a sophisticated release, according to Perth Mint chief executive Richard Hayes.

“Our 2018 Jewelled Phoenix and 2019 Jewelled Dragon coins sold out within weeks of their respective release dates. We expect the Jewelled Tiger will be similarly sought-after among the world’s diamond connoisseurs and collectors of luxury items,” he said.

Each Jewelled Tiger coin is presented in a display case with 18 carat gold furnishings inset with two additional Argyle pink diamonds.

Source: DCLA

Perth Mint highlights rare Argyle diamonds

The Perth Mint has released Jewelled Tiger coins featuring rare pink diamonds from Rio Tinto’s Argyle mine in Western Australia.

Its most significant release for 2020 incorporates nearly three carats of fancy vivid intense pink diamonds from the Argyle mine, making up a finely structured three-dimensional 18 carat rose gold tiger pavé.

Two emeralds from Colombia’s Muzo mines feature as the tiger’s eyes and the coin is crafted from 10 ounces of 99.99 per cent pure gold.

The Perth Mint only issued eight Jewelled Tiger coins, which are priced at $259,000 each, recognising the significance of the number eight in Asian cultures and its association with luck and prosperity.

Renowned for its power and beauty, the tiger shares the symbolic virtues of gold and so it was a natural choice to feature the revered creature on a sophisticated release, according to Perth Mint chief executive Richard Hayes.

“Our 2018 Jewelled Phoenix and 2019 Jewelled Dragon coins sold out within weeks of their respective release dates. We expect the Jewelled Tiger will be similarly sought-after among the world’s diamond connoisseurs and collectors of luxury items,” he said.

Each Jewelled Tiger coin is presented in a display case with 18 carat gold furnishings inset with two additional Argyle pink diamonds.

Source: DCLA

Three face trial over 1 million euro diamond swindle

Three Romanians have been ordered to stand trial in France on charges they made off with one million euros worth of diamonds from a French jeweller and his Indian partner, in an elaborate hoax resembling a Hollywood movie script.

The suspects, thought to members of a network of gem thieves operating across Europe, will go before a judge on March 3 in the southwestern city of Castres, a source close to the inquiry told AFP.

They are accused of snatching three diamonds from a jeweller based in the small town of Mazamet, near Castres, who was acting as a middleman for an Indian gem trader.

The August 2017 scam was launched four months earlier at a diamond trade fair in Monaco, when two of the suspects introduced themselves to the jeweller as a wealthy Armenian couple looking to invest in precious gems.

They set up a second meeting in Milan, before a third meeting in Mazamet in August, when the supposed buyers asked to have an independent expert examine the stones owned by trader Nishit Shah.

After concluding the deal, the jeweller placed the gems in a sealed box while awaiting a promised bank transfer of $1.1 million (one million euros).

But the next day, when no money arrived, the jeweller opened the box to discover it empty.

“It’s a classic technique, what we call a thief with golden hands — international experts with a talent for swiping valuables,” the source said.

The two Romanians posing as the couple were arrested a few weeks later in Nice, where police seized luxury cars and watches as well as both real and fake gems and counterfeit cash.

The supposed expert, who is also Romanian, was arrested in November 2017 in Modane, a village in the French Alps on the border with Italy, where he was found in possession of a fake diamond.

Investigators say he was to receive 50,000 euros for spiriting away the three stones in a theft orchestrated by a Serbian national based in the Paris suburb of Bondy.

Prosecutors have seized the Serbian’s home and issued a warrant for his arrest.

“These are major criminal organisations with contacts across most of Europe,” the source said.

The diamond trader, Shah, will not be at the trial, having died of a heart attack in Mumbai in 2018.

Source: DCLA