Pink Prices set to Rise with Closure of Argyle

The price of super-rare pink diamonds is to set to rocket with the forthcoming closure of the Argyle mine in Western Australia, which has been responsible for 90 per cent of world supplies.

Owners Rio Tinto plan to cease production by the end of 2020, when economically-viable reserves will run out.
The value of pink diamonds sold at its annual tenders has been appreciating by an average of 10 per annually over the last couple of decades, outperforming all major equity markets. They are a magnet for collectors and investors.
That growth in value is likely to accelerate when Argyle closes, after 37 years in which it became known as the world’s largest supplier of natural colored diamonds – including white, champagne, cognac, blue and violet – as well and the rare and highly-coveted Argyle pinks and reds.
Last year Hong Kong-based Kunming Diamonds bought the Argyle Pink Everlastings Collection comprising smaller Argyle pink and red diamonds totaling 211 carats.

The company’s director Harsh Maheshwari told the South China Morning Post newspaper last week that the price of Argyle Pinks had been insulated even from COVID-19 because of their rarity and the closure of the mine.
Russian miner Alrosa aims to fill some of the gap left in the market but won’t match Argyle’s production.  

Source: DCLA

Pink Prices set to Rise with Closure of Argyle

The price of super-rare pink diamonds is to set to rocket with the forthcoming closure of the Argyle mine in Western Australia, which has been responsible for 90 per cent of world supplies.

Owners Rio Tinto plan to cease production by the end of 2020, when economically-viable reserves will run out.
The value of pink diamonds sold at its annual tenders has been appreciating by an average of 10 per annually over the last couple of decades, outperforming all major equity markets. They are a magnet for collectors and investors.
That growth in value is likely to accelerate when Argyle closes, after 37 years in which it became known as the world’s largest supplier of natural colored diamonds – including white, champagne, cognac, blue and violet – as well and the rare and highly-coveted Argyle pinks and reds.
Last year Hong Kong-based Kunming Diamonds bought the Argyle Pink Everlastings Collection comprising smaller Argyle pink and red diamonds totaling 211 carats.

The company’s director Harsh Maheshwari told the South China Morning Post newspaper last week that the price of Argyle Pinks had been insulated even from COVID-19 because of their rarity and the closure of the mine.
Russian miner Alrosa aims to fill some of the gap left in the market but won’t match Argyle’s production.  

Source: DCLA

Omega Ladies’ Speedmaster 38 Now Glitters In Gold With Diamonds

Omega’s cult-status Speedmaster is one of the world’s most famous sports watches, along with the iconic Rolex Daytona and Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. Every once in awhile, Omega invites women to enjoy the iconic Speedy with a 38 mm size, and now, for the first time, there is a full gold version of the 38, with diamond options.

There are 90 diamonds set into the outer bezel of the Omega Speedmaster 38 in 18k Sedna gold. OMEGA

The smaller size is still a sports watch. It retains the model’s familiar tri-compax dial, with small seconds at 9 o’clock and chronograph minutes and hours at 3 and 6 o’clock, but now the subdials are oval shaped. Omega also manages to preserve the signature tachymeter scale, despite setting the bezel with diamonds, by placing it on an aluminum half-bezel just inside the gem-set ring. For those who don’t want the 90-diamond bezel option, it’s also available without gems.

The Omega Speedmaster 38 in 18k yellow gold with 90 diamonds set into the outer bezel. OMEGA

There are two models, one in 18k Sedna gold, Omega’s proprietary red gold alloy with copper for the warm color and palladium for extra strength. The half-bezel on the red gold model is “cappuccino,” a color introduced on a similar 38 mm model two years ago in steel. The hands and arrowhead index markers are also gold, and the strap is beige. The second model is 18k yellow gold with a green half-bezel and green strap.

The caseback is engraved with the Speedmaster’s iconic Seahorse insignia. OMEGA

The movement is the same elite caliber used in larger Speedmaster and Seamaster models, the Co-Axial 3330, an automatic movement with a 54-hour power reserve. You can’t see it because the caseback is closed, but what you can see back there is an engraving of the Speedmaster’s iconic Seahorse, also called the Omega Hippocampus. In Greek mythology, the hippocampi were sea monsters with the heads of horses and the lower bodies of fish. 

Source: DCLA

Omega Ladies’ Speedmaster 38 Now Glitters In Gold With Diamonds

Omega’s cult-status Speedmaster is one of the world’s most famous sports watches, along with the iconic Rolex Daytona and Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. Every once in awhile, Omega invites women to enjoy the iconic Speedy with a 38 mm size, and now, for the first time, there is a full gold version of the 38, with diamond options.

There are 90 diamonds set into the outer bezel of the Omega Speedmaster 38 in 18k Sedna gold. OMEGA

The smaller size is still a sports watch. It retains the model’s familiar tri-compax dial, with small seconds at 9 o’clock and chronograph minutes and hours at 3 and 6 o’clock, but now the subdials are oval shaped. Omega also manages to preserve the signature tachymeter scale, despite setting the bezel with diamonds, by placing it on an aluminum half-bezel just inside the gem-set ring. For those who don’t want the 90-diamond bezel option, it’s also available without gems.

The Omega Speedmaster 38 in 18k yellow gold with 90 diamonds set into the outer bezel. OMEGA

There are two models, one in 18k Sedna gold, Omega’s proprietary red gold alloy with copper for the warm color and palladium for extra strength. The half-bezel on the red gold model is “cappuccino,” a color introduced on a similar 38 mm model two years ago in steel. The hands and arrowhead index markers are also gold, and the strap is beige. The second model is 18k yellow gold with a green half-bezel and green strap.

The caseback is engraved with the Speedmaster’s iconic Seahorse insignia. OMEGA

The movement is the same elite caliber used in larger Speedmaster and Seamaster models, the Co-Axial 3330, an automatic movement with a 54-hour power reserve. You can’t see it because the caseback is closed, but what you can see back there is an engraving of the Speedmaster’s iconic Seahorse, also called the Omega Hippocampus. In Greek mythology, the hippocampi were sea monsters with the heads of horses and the lower bodies of fish. 

Source: DCLA

Ernie Blom Wins First Round of WFDB Court Fight

Ernie Blom has won the first stage of a legal battle against the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB), from which he stepped down as president last month. 

A court has threatened the WFDB with a $27m fine if it complies with a request to suspend him as a bourse member.
Mr Blom challenged the right of the WFDB to have him banned from one of its member bourses, the Dubai Diamond Exchange (DDE).
A commercial court in Antwerp has now made an interim ruling that prohibits the WFDB from having him suspended or excluded from the DDE, pending a further hearing.

Mr Blom, a diamond trader based in South Africa, clashed with the WFDB, of which he was long-standing president after a business disagreement. 
He insisted that the dispute resolution committee of the DDE did not have international jurisdiction to rule in a dispute between his two companies and three plaintiffs – Angel Diamonds, KMA Diamonds and Diampex –  in December 2019. 

He’d been ordered to pay $331,500 but refused to comply and initiated legal proceedings. As a result, in February 2020 the DDE announced it was suspending him.

It then asked WFDB to tell all 29 member bourses of the suspension.
But Mr Blom responded via his attorney, claiming the DDE had violated its own statutes as he had NOT in fact been formally suspended.
On 17 April Mr Blom announced that he was stepping down temporarily as president of the WFDB, a position he’d held since 2012, ahead of a court hearing that took place in Antwerp on 5 May.

At the time  Marc De Block, his Belgian lawyer, said: “While the DDE is well aware to have committed very grave errors against my client, and even explicitly acknowledged this, they stubbornly refuse to correct such actions.”
In its 12-page judgement, the court concludes that Mr Blom’s claims are admissible and well-founded.

It “prohibits the WFDB from having Mr Ernest Blom posted throughout the world as a suspended or excluded member of the Dubai Diamond Exchange (Diamond Bourse in Dubai) to all its members until such time as  a final judgement has been handed down on the merits of the case against WFDB.”
It goes on to warn the WFDB that it faces a penalty of 25m Euro ($27m) if it fails to comply.

Source: DCLA

Ernie Blom Wins First Round of WFDB Court Fight

Ernie Blom has won the first stage of a legal battle against the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB), from which he stepped down as president last month. 

A court has threatened the WFDB with a $27m fine if it complies with a request to suspend him as a bourse member.
Mr Blom challenged the right of the WFDB to have him banned from one of its member bourses, the Dubai Diamond Exchange (DDE).
A commercial court in Antwerp has now made an interim ruling that prohibits the WFDB from having him suspended or excluded from the DDE, pending a further hearing.

Mr Blom, a diamond trader based in South Africa, clashed with the WFDB, of which he was long-standing president after a business disagreement. 
He insisted that the dispute resolution committee of the DDE did not have international jurisdiction to rule in a dispute between his two companies and three plaintiffs – Angel Diamonds, KMA Diamonds and Diampex –  in December 2019. 

He’d been ordered to pay $331,500 but refused to comply and initiated legal proceedings. As a result, in February 2020 the DDE announced it was suspending him.

It then asked WFDB to tell all 29 member bourses of the suspension.
But Mr Blom responded via his attorney, claiming the DDE had violated its own statutes as he had NOT in fact been formally suspended.
On 17 April Mr Blom announced that he was stepping down temporarily as president of the WFDB, a position he’d held since 2012, ahead of a court hearing that took place in Antwerp on 5 May.

At the time  Marc De Block, his Belgian lawyer, said: “While the DDE is well aware to have committed very grave errors against my client, and even explicitly acknowledged this, they stubbornly refuse to correct such actions.”
In its 12-page judgement, the court concludes that Mr Blom’s claims are admissible and well-founded.

It “prohibits the WFDB from having Mr Ernest Blom posted throughout the world as a suspended or excluded member of the Dubai Diamond Exchange (Diamond Bourse in Dubai) to all its members until such time as  a final judgement has been handed down on the merits of the case against WFDB.”
It goes on to warn the WFDB that it faces a penalty of 25m Euro ($27m) if it fails to comply.

Source: DCLA

28 Carat Diamond Could Fetch $2 Million At Christie’s Online Auction

Christie’s is offering the largest D-color diamond to be sold at an online auction. What may be more important is that this sale could establish a new way of selling statement diamonds and gems.

A 28.86 carat, D color, VVS1 clarity diamond is the top lot at Christie’s Jewels Online sale, June 16 – 20. Its estimate is $1 million – $2 million, making it the highest valued lot ever offered for sale online at Christie’s.

With live auctions closed in response to the coronavirus pandemic, auction houses have turned to its already robust infrastructure of online auctions and it has paid off for the two largest auction houses, Christie’s and Sotheby’s, with sell-through rates well above 90 percent and many items surpassing estimates. However, what is being sold is limited to signed and unsigned period jewels at lower values than what are normally sold at live auctions.

Source: DCLA