Bespoke certified diamond jewellery insurance

Unlike other insurers, we only insure certified diamond jewellery. As the      diamond experts, we appreciate the worth of your diamonds and guarantee to replace them like for like.

https://certifieddiamondinsurance.com.au/

Bespoke certified diamond jewellery insurance

Unlike other insurers, we only insure certified diamond jewellery. As the      diamond experts, we appreciate the worth of your diamonds and guarantee to replace them like for like.

https://certifieddiamondinsurance.com.au/

De Beers Optimistic After 2019 Earnings Slump

De Beers gave a positive outlook for 2020 due to an improvement in the industry’s inventory situation, despite growing concerns about Chinese demand.

Early data from the holiday season indicate midstream stock levels are more balanced than they were, the company reported Thursday in parent company Anglo American’s annual financial results. The miner maintained its production forecast of 32 million to 34 million carats for the year, citing a “currently anticipated improvement in trading conditions compared with 2019.”

Last year was the worst for De Beers in the past decade, as rough demand plummeted amid an oversupply of polished in the manufacturing and trading sector. The miner reported that underlying earnings slid 87% to $45 million, while revenue fell 24% to $4.61 billion, its lowest level since the financial crisis.

Rough sales declined 26% to $4 billion, with volume down 8% to 30.9 million carats. De Beers’ average selling price slumped 20% to $137 per carat, reflecting a 6% decline in like-for-like rough prices, as well as weak demand for higher-value diamonds.

Sales from other divisions, which include the Element Six industrial-diamond unit and Lightbox, its lab-grown brand, fell 17% to approximately $570 million, according to Rapaport calculations.

Last year started on a weak note, as stock-market volatility and the US-China trade war led to sluggish 2018 holiday sales, leaving the trade with higher stock levels than it had expected, the company explained. The situation worsened as US retailers took more goods on memo and pruned their physical-store networks, while consumers shifted further to online buying, reducing the need for inventory. The midstream also suffered from tight bank financing, dampening demand for more rough, De Beers noted.

De Beers observed “stable” consumer demand so far in 2020, especially in the US, but cautioned that several uncertainties — including the coronavirus outbreak — could pose a threat. An increase in online purchasing has caused retailers to destock, while US-China trade tensions and geopolitical escalations in the Middle East could also affect economic growth and consumer sentiment, the company added.

Source: DCLA

De Beers Optimistic After 2019 Earnings Slump

De Beers gave a positive outlook for 2020 due to an improvement in the industry’s inventory situation, despite growing concerns about Chinese demand.

Early data from the holiday season indicate midstream stock levels are more balanced than they were, the company reported Thursday in parent company Anglo American’s annual financial results. The miner maintained its production forecast of 32 million to 34 million carats for the year, citing a “currently anticipated improvement in trading conditions compared with 2019.”

Last year was the worst for De Beers in the past decade, as rough demand plummeted amid an oversupply of polished in the manufacturing and trading sector. The miner reported that underlying earnings slid 87% to $45 million, while revenue fell 24% to $4.61 billion, its lowest level since the financial crisis.

Rough sales declined 26% to $4 billion, with volume down 8% to 30.9 million carats. De Beers’ average selling price slumped 20% to $137 per carat, reflecting a 6% decline in like-for-like rough prices, as well as weak demand for higher-value diamonds.

Sales from other divisions, which include the Element Six industrial-diamond unit and Lightbox, its lab-grown brand, fell 17% to approximately $570 million, according to Rapaport calculations.

Last year started on a weak note, as stock-market volatility and the US-China trade war led to sluggish 2018 holiday sales, leaving the trade with higher stock levels than it had expected, the company explained. The situation worsened as US retailers took more goods on memo and pruned their physical-store networks, while consumers shifted further to online buying, reducing the need for inventory. The midstream also suffered from tight bank financing, dampening demand for more rough, De Beers noted.

De Beers observed “stable” consumer demand so far in 2020, especially in the US, but cautioned that several uncertainties — including the coronavirus outbreak — could pose a threat. An increase in online purchasing has caused retailers to destock, while US-China trade tensions and geopolitical escalations in the Middle East could also affect economic growth and consumer sentiment, the company added.

Source: DCLA

The invisible engraving that could see you save hundreds of dollars on wedding ring insurance

• Diamond grader Roy Cohen is urging Australians to get diamond rings engraved
• He argued a serial number on diamond girdle could stop illegal pawn shop sale
• Insurance premiums can also be reduced for jewellery inscribed with a code 

A romantic marriage proposal is a significant milestone in many people’s lives.

Engagement rings can also cost tens of thousands of dollars and are commonly stolen in home invasions.

Jewellery experts are urging engaged couples to get the girdle of the diamond engraved so they can’t as easily be pawned.

This microscopic serial number could be enough to get the ring returned, and save newlyweds potentially hundreds of dollars a year in insurance premiums.

Roy Cohen, a third-generation diamond grader originally from South Africa, said these minute inscriptions increased the chance of a stolen ring being reunited with its rightful owner.

‘It’s invisible to the naked eye, it can only be seen with magnification but it’s basically a serial number,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.

‘Usually what happens is, at any pawn shop, they will take a jeweller’s loupe and they will actually have a look at the item.

‘If there’s a certificate number on the girdle of the diamond and the diamond’s been sold without the certificate, usually that does raise alarm bells.’

Mr Cohen, the director of Diamond Certification Laboratory of Australia, said engraved serial numbers on diamonds could be checked against a database, arguing this was more effective than leaving a diamond un-engraved and relying on police detective work to find a stolen item.

‘If somebody steals a diamond ring from a house in Sydney and then goes to sell it in Melbourne, there’s no way that they’re going to get found out because there’s not a lot of co-operation between states,’ he said.

His DCLA company began inscribing diamond rings in Australia in 2001, following his move from Johannesburg to Sydney.

It has now formed a partnership with underwriter Woodina to form Certified Diamond Insurance, which only insures jewellery with an inscribed serial number. 

Mr Cohen, who has three decades of experience as a diamond grader, vowed customers could save up to 50 per cent off their premiums compared to traditional home and content packages.

A diamond ring worth $10,000 can be insured for $306 a year. 

Jewellery is the third most stolen item stolen from Australian homes, after cash and laptops, an analysis of official burglary figures by insurer Budget Direct found.   

Source: DCLA

The invisible engraving that could see you save hundreds of dollars on wedding ring insurance

• Diamond grader Roy Cohen is urging Australians to get diamond rings engraved
• He argued a serial number on diamond girdle could stop illegal pawn shop sale
• Insurance premiums can also be reduced for jewellery inscribed with a code 

A romantic marriage proposal is a significant milestone in many people’s lives.

Engagement rings can also cost tens of thousands of dollars and are commonly stolen in home invasions.

Jewellery experts are urging engaged couples to get the girdle of the diamond engraved so they can’t as easily be pawned.

This microscopic serial number could be enough to get the ring returned, and save newlyweds potentially hundreds of dollars a year in insurance premiums.

Roy Cohen, a third-generation diamond grader originally from South Africa, said these minute inscriptions increased the chance of a stolen ring being reunited with its rightful owner.

‘It’s invisible to the naked eye, it can only be seen with magnification but it’s basically a serial number,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.

‘Usually what happens is, at any pawn shop, they will take a jeweller’s loupe and they will actually have a look at the item.

‘If there’s a certificate number on the girdle of the diamond and the diamond’s been sold without the certificate, usually that does raise alarm bells.’

Mr Cohen, the director of Diamond Certification Laboratory of Australia, said engraved serial numbers on diamonds could be checked against a database, arguing this was more effective than leaving a diamond un-engraved and relying on police detective work to find a stolen item.

‘If somebody steals a diamond ring from a house in Sydney and then goes to sell it in Melbourne, there’s no way that they’re going to get found out because there’s not a lot of co-operation between states,’ he said.

His DCLA company began inscribing diamond rings in Australia in 2001, following his move from Johannesburg to Sydney.

It has now formed a partnership with underwriter Woodina to form Certified Diamond Insurance, which only insures jewellery with an inscribed serial number. 

Mr Cohen, who has three decades of experience as a diamond grader, vowed customers could save up to 50 per cent off their premiums compared to traditional home and content packages.

A diamond ring worth $10,000 can be insured for $306 a year. 

Jewellery is the third most stolen item stolen from Australian homes, after cash and laptops, an analysis of official burglary figures by insurer Budget Direct found.   

Source: DCLA

Retail margins could be boosting man-made diamond sales

Lower prices and marketed ethical and sustainable benefits relative to that of natural diamonds has been the prominent narrative around man-made diamonds, but a seemingly less obvious factor is also likely helping to drive the product: the profit margin they offer retailers.

When analysing the wholesale and retail prices of unbranded man-made and natural diamonds, it appears that the retail gross margin of man-made diamonds in popular carat-sizes is as much as 1.8-times that of natural diamonds.

To further quantify this, for example, in some cases a retailer would theoretically only have to sell US$5,000 worth of man-made diamonds to generate the same gross profit as selling almost $10,000 worth of equivalent natural diamonds. Here, “gross margin” is considered to be a retailer’s top-line profit when selling a diamond, that is the sales price relative to the wholesale cost of the diamond.

This is an important metric for a retailer selling both man-made and natural diamonds because the theoretical high gross profit margin of man-made diamonds serves as an implied incentivise to prioritise selling man-made diamonds over natural, as long as the profit margin differential remains in place.

Further, given that retailers are the direct point of contact between a consumer and a diamond, retailers may be more inclined to promote the beneficial attributes of a man-made stone over a natural, thereby influencing a customer’s longer-term perception of the products.

Despite the significant growth in the availability of man-made diamond jewellery in recent years, it is estimated that still only one in five diamond retailers in the US carry man-made diamonds; and outside of the US the figure is even (much) smaller.

Further, many of the jewellers and other retailers that do carry man-made diamonds only have limited inventory as customer appetite for the product is tested. This has perhaps allowed the few retailers that do carry man-made diamonds, especially those that are more fully stocked, to charge premiums.

Further, given the relatively lower-production costs of man-made diamonds compared to that of natural (especially notable in larger carat-sizes given that man-made diamonds are a manufactured good), it is theoretically more affordable for the supply chain to offer man-made diamonds to retailers on memo (consignments). With goods on consignment, retailers typically have lower, or zero, inventory capital costs and can therefore be more selective in offering discounts to the consumer, perhaps resulting in more resilient profit margins.

However, going forward, as the man-made diamond jewellery complex matures, as new producers and better production technology increases supply and as more retailers compete downstream, especially those selling unbranded goods, the product will likely become more commoditised. Resultantly, retail margins could erode and eventually fall to within that of natural diamonds or even lower.

Source: DCLA