Indian jeweller's 12,638-diamond ring sets world record

 

An elaborate floral-shaped ring sporting 12,638 tiny diamonds has earned a place in the Guinness World Records, but its Indian creator has no plans to sell his priceless design just yet.

Called “The Marigold – The Ring of Prosperity,” the chunky circular band weighs a little over 165 grams (5.8 ounces).

“It’s wearable and comfortable,” said 25-year-old Harish Bansal, who described his audacious creation as a dream project. Bansal said he got the idea two years ago while studying jewelry design in the western city of Surat, India’s diamond hub.

“My target was always more than 10,000 diamonds. I trashed many designs and concepts over the years to finally zero in on this,” Bansal Said.

In a statement, his company said that each tiny petal in the ring’s eight-layer flower design was unique.

Bansal said he had already knocked back requests from prospective buyers.

“We have no plans of selling it right now,” he said. “It’s a matter of pride for us. It’s priceless.”

The previous record determined by Guinness, also set in India, was for a ring containing 7,801 diamonds.

Source: DCLA

Indian jeweller's 12,638-diamond ring sets world record

 

An elaborate floral-shaped ring sporting 12,638 tiny diamonds has earned a place in the Guinness World Records, but its Indian creator has no plans to sell his priceless design just yet.

Called “The Marigold – The Ring of Prosperity,” the chunky circular band weighs a little over 165 grams (5.8 ounces).

“It’s wearable and comfortable,” said 25-year-old Harish Bansal, who described his audacious creation as a dream project. Bansal said he got the idea two years ago while studying jewelry design in the western city of Surat, India’s diamond hub.

“My target was always more than 10,000 diamonds. I trashed many designs and concepts over the years to finally zero in on this,” Bansal Said.

In a statement, his company said that each tiny petal in the ring’s eight-layer flower design was unique.

Bansal said he had already knocked back requests from prospective buyers.

“We have no plans of selling it right now,” he said. “It’s a matter of pride for us. It’s priceless.”

The previous record determined by Guinness, also set in India, was for a ring containing 7,801 diamonds.

Source: DCLA

46-Carat pink diamond delivers heart and pear shaped stones

 

The gem-quality 46 carat rough pink diamond was sold by SML into a cutting and polishing partnership with SML’s preferred buyer, Safdico International.

Under the partnership agreement, SML retained a share in the margin to be generated from the sale of the resultant polished diamonds.

The Lulo partners are pleased to advise the results delivered from cutting & polishing the 46 carat diamond.

The rough diamond delivered three polished diamonds a 15.2 carat Heart and two Pear shaped diamonds weighing 3.3 carats and 2.3 carats.

The main delivery, a 15.2 carat Heart shaped diamond was graded by the Gemmological Institute of America (GIA) as Fancy Intense Orangy Pink, with a clarity grade of VVS1 and Excellent gradings for both polish and symmetry.

The 46 carat pink coloured diamond is the largest gem quality coloured rough diamond recovered to date from Lulo mining operations.

Source: DCLA

46-Carat pink diamond delivers heart and pear shaped stones

 

The gem-quality 46 carat rough pink diamond was sold by SML into a cutting and polishing partnership with SML’s preferred buyer, Safdico International.

Under the partnership agreement, SML retained a share in the margin to be generated from the sale of the resultant polished diamonds.

The Lulo partners are pleased to advise the results delivered from cutting & polishing the 46 carat diamond.

The rough diamond delivered three polished diamonds a 15.2 carat Heart and two Pear shaped diamonds weighing 3.3 carats and 2.3 carats.

The main delivery, a 15.2 carat Heart shaped diamond was graded by the Gemmological Institute of America (GIA) as Fancy Intense Orangy Pink, with a clarity grade of VVS1 and Excellent gradings for both polish and symmetry.

The 46 carat pink coloured diamond is the largest gem quality coloured rough diamond recovered to date from Lulo mining operations.

Source: DCLA

 

Hong Kong Nabs Suspects in Major Smuggling Case

Hong Kong customs officials seized 162 diamonds at a border with China last week, claiming the stones had been smuggled in a driver’s trouser pocket.

The goods had a market value of around HKD 6.4 million ($826,000), making it the largest diamond-smuggling case Hong Kong authorities had detected in the past three years, the Customs and Excise Department said in a statement Friday.

Officers intercepted a truck at Heung Yuen Wai Control Point, a crossing between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, and arrested the 33-year-old male driver, the statement reported. They later arrested another 33-year-old man in Sham Shui Po, a neighborhood of Hong Kong, in connection with the ongoing investigation.

“Customs will continue to take stringent enforcement action against cross-boundary smuggling activities through risk assessment and intelligence analysis,” the department continued. “Smuggling is a serious offence.”

The penalty for this type of crime is a fine of up to HKD 2 million ($258,000) and seven years’ imprisonment, it noted.

The incident comes after Chinese officials arrested 121 people in September in connection with alleged smuggling of diamonds. The suspects were accused of bringing CNY 3.88 billion (around $570 million) in goods into the country via illegal means since 2015.

Source: DCLA

 

Hong Kong Nabs Suspects in Major Smuggling Case

Hong Kong customs officials seized 162 diamonds at a border with China last week, claiming the stones had been smuggled in a driver’s trouser pocket.

The goods had a market value of around HKD 6.4 million ($826,000), making it the largest diamond-smuggling case Hong Kong authorities had detected in the past three years, the Customs and Excise Department said in a statement Friday.

Officers intercepted a truck at Heung Yuen Wai Control Point, a crossing between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, and arrested the 33-year-old male driver, the statement reported. They later arrested another 33-year-old man in Sham Shui Po, a neighborhood of Hong Kong, in connection with the ongoing investigation.

“Customs will continue to take stringent enforcement action against cross-boundary smuggling activities through risk assessment and intelligence analysis,” the department continued. “Smuggling is a serious offence.”

The penalty for this type of crime is a fine of up to HKD 2 million ($258,000) and seven years’ imprisonment, it noted.

The incident comes after Chinese officials arrested 121 people in September in connection with alleged smuggling of diamonds. The suspects were accused of bringing CNY 3.88 billion (around $570 million) in goods into the country via illegal means since 2015.

Source: DCLA

Lucapa Diamond Company sells Angola diamonds for $9M

 

Lucapa Diamond Company has pocketed a neat $9 million from the latest diamond sales from its Lulo alluvial mine in Angola.

The diamonds were sold through Lucapa’s partners, Empresa Nacional de Diamantes and Rosas & Petalas, for an average US$1550 per carat.

With 4269 carats sold, this brings the total proceeds from the sale to US$6.6 million.

Importantly, this sale price is higher than the year-to-date average of US$1371 per carat.

So far, Lucapa has sold just under 20,400 diamond carats over the 2020 calendar year for US$28 million.

Angola and Lesotho diamond exploration
Lucapa produces diamonds from both the Lulo mine in Angola and the Mothae kimberlite mine in Lesotho a small kingdom completely landlocked by South Africa.

The company faced some turmoil earlier this year when COVID-19 restrictions in Angola and South Africa dealt a blow to Lucapa’s operations.

Nevertheless, operations were back up and running at both mines soon after the end of the September quarter.

So far, Lucapa’s Lulo mine has produced 15 100 carat plus diamonds making it one of the highest dollar-per-carat alluvial diamond producers in the world.

At Mothae, Lucapa has produced over 30,000 carats of diamonds in just one year of production, with three diamonds at over 100 carats each.

Source: DCLA