Alrosa has canceled its next two sales and urged caution from buyers and suppliers amid a steep downturn in the diamond market.
The Russian miner informed India’s Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) of the decision in the past few days, citing low demand. The move follows the GJEPC’s recent call for rough producers to act responsibly.
“Alrosa has decided to temporarily halt the allocation of rough diamonds in September and October 2023,” the company said in a note to the GJEPC, seen by Rapaport News. “We believe that this approach is going to have a stabilizing impact by strengthening the market’s supply-and-demand balance. This will aid the prevention of overstocking, especially with manufacturers closed for Diwali.”
Alrosa has continued to sell despite being under US sanctions since the Ukraine war began in February. The company’s revenue was broadly stable year on year at RUB 188.16 billion ($1.9 billion) in the first half of 2023.
Most of the rough goes to India, market insiders believe. That country’s diamond trade has suffered a serious crisis because of weak US and Chinese demand and competition from lab-grown stones. Inventories have piled up as the sales slump has outpaced manufacturers’ production cuts, leading to falling prices.
The GJEPC wrote to diamond miners earlier this month, asking them to be “responsible” when selling to prevent a worsening of the situation. In response, Alrosa said it “expresses equal concern and strives to reverse the existing trend of diminishing demand.”
The Russian company said it would welcome a similar position from other industry players, such as miners, cutters and retailers, “on the matter of rough-diamond purchases and sales” as a “reciprocal effort.”
The benefits of the miner’s decision should be visible in the market by the beginning of next year, it said in a separate statement Wednesday.
“Alrosa has always followed the practice of supporting market stability and leveling its volatility,” a spokesperson for the miner said. “Our solid and high-quality asset base and stable financial position allow us [to implement] such measures.”
By contrast, De Beers will continue to hold sights but take a “responsible approach” to sales, “just as we have previously when faced with challenging industry conditions,” a spokesperson for the Anglo American unit said. The company, which is holding its September sight this week, has already allowed customers to defer up to half of rough purchases for the rest of 2023.
“We will focus on additional supply flexibility as necessary to meet sightholders’ evolving requirements,” the De Beers spokesperson added.
The news comes amid growing expectations for a Group of Seven (G7) ban on Russian diamonds, with an announcement likely in two to three weeks, Reuters reported last Friday, citing Belgian officials. The World Diamond Council (WDC) is also facilitating a proposal for keeping Russian and non-Russian diamonds separate.
Western Australia’s Argyle mine was among nature’s preeminent treasure troves for nearly 40 years. At its peak, Argyle produced more coloured diamonds than anywhere else on Earth and earned an especially sparkling reputation for its unparalleled cache of pink diamonds.
Researchers have spent decades trying to unravel the origins of Argyle’s glimmering gems. Now, by dating minerals in the mine’s volcanic rock, scientists think they may have finally pieced together the process that created the deposit around 1.3 billion years ago. In a paper published on Tuesday in Nature Communications, the team posits that the breakup of an early supercontinent lifted Argyle’s salmon-coloured stones from crushing depths toward Earth’s surface.
Located 2,200 kilometers northeast of Perth, Australia, in the country’s rugged Kimberley region, Argyle mine once covered an area the size of 94 football fields. Between its opening in 1983 and closure in 2020, when mining the gems there was no longer economically viable, Argyle produced more than 865 million carats of rough diamonds. Most of these stones come in pale shades of yellow or brown. But a small percentage of the site’s diamonds radiate rich pinks, purples or reds. More than 90 percent of the world’s pink diamond supply including the nearly 13 carat Pink Jubilee has come from Argyle.
The pink hue of Argyle’s most lavish diamonds is linked to damage they underwent deep within the earth. According to Hugo Olierook, a geologist at Curtin University in Perth and lead author of the new study, these diamonds start out colourless. But immense tectonic pressure from colliding continents can alter the stones’ crystal structure, unlocking the potential colours hidden within. “The diamonds are being forced to bend and twist,” Olierook says. “If they’re twisted just a little bit, it will turn some of these diamonds pink.” Further twisting makes them become brown.
Argyle’s diamonds took on their pink and brown tints around 1.8 billion years ago, when a piece of what is now western Australia smashed into the northern Australian plate and warped the region’s rock. But this only explains part of Argyle’s origin story. When the continents collided, the area’s diamonds were buried in the mantle, hundreds of kilometers below Earth’s surface. If the crystals had been closer to the surface, their carbon atoms would have been compressed into a different structure, transforming them from shimmering diamonds to lumps of dark gray graphite.
A volcano was necessary to bring the molten diamonds up from our planet’s mantle. “You need some sort of tectonic trigger to bring them up to the surface,” Olierook says. As the melt rises, carbon dioxide and steam expand, sparking an eruption that he compares to popping a champagne cork. At Argyle, this eruption likely occurred at a beach, where sand and seawater interacted with volcanic rock called lamproite.
To determine when the eruption occurred, the team sliced two thin sections of Argyle’s volcanic rock and polished them down to a minuscule width. Analyzing the sample’s mineral makeup under a microscope, the researchers were able to pinpoint sand grains from Argyle’s ancient beach and to date them with the help of radioactive elements they contained. By dating the youngest sand grains, the scientists were able to estimate when the beach was buried in lava. They also used tiny lasers to determine the ages of titanite minerals, which formed in the rock when the magma melded with quartz in the beach sand.
Comparing the ages of the youngest sand grains and the oldest titanite crystals allowed the researchers to estimate that the eruption at Argyle occurred between 1.3 billion and 1.26 billion years ago. This age range was older than previous estimates, which surprised Olierook and his colleagues. “We had a betting pool going, and nobody got 1,300 million years,” he says. “That was one of those glass shattering moments.”
That eruption timing corresponds to a volatile period in Earth’s tectonic history when one of the first supercontinents, called Nuna, was splintering apart. The team posits that this instability may have reopened a seam along the continental boundary where Argyle is now situated. This in turn sparked the volcanic activity that brought the diamond-bearing melt toward the surface, creating Argyle’s expansive diamond deposits.
The new time estimates add crucial context for understanding the volcanic eruption at Argyle, says Evan Smith, a researcher at the Gemological Institute of America, who researches the geology of diamonds but was not involved in the new study. “The previous age constraint for Argyle was younger, and it was a lot less clear how to frame the eruption in a broader geological context,” Smith says. He thinks the new study adds exciting evidence that these “eruptions are related to bigger processes that affect whole continents rather than being isolated, random burps of magma.”
Olierook thinks similar events may have occurred at other continental boundaries around the world. Most diamond-bearing deposits are found in the middle of continental plates where rock is exposed. This makes Argyle an outlier. When the mine was first discovered, most geologists thought that searching for diamonds along continental plate boundaries which are often uplifted by ancient mountain belts and buried beneath soil and sand was futile.
Though gem mining in these regions remains difficult, Olierook believes there are plenty of diamonds to be found in the rough. “I think all of them will host some sort of coloured diamonds,” he says. “They may all be brown, but with a little bit of luck, there could be a few pinks in there.”
Van Cleef & Arpels’ Legend of Diamonds High Jewellery collection is an epic statement of the maison’s most exceptional crafts.
It could be said that the story behind Van Cleef & Arpel’s Legend of Diamonds collection began in 2018 with the discovery of an extraordinary rough. The Lesotho Legend is the fifth-largest diamond rough found in the southern African country’s Letseng Mine – which, apart from having provided this and other legendary gemstones, is known for its commitment to complete traceability of rough stones. Van Cleef & Arpels, which for decades had bought no roughs, preferring to start with cut and faceted stones that are already suitable for use in jewellery, found the stone much too rare to pass up. Breaking with its own customs, the French jeweller acquired it. In the words of President and CEO, Nicolas Bos: “This is the first time in decades that we’ve been involved in a project from its starting point – the extraction of the stone – to the creation of a High Jewellery collection. The appearance of this extraordinary rough stone gave us this unique opportunity to tell a story around the diamond.”
And tell a story the maison certainly did.
The Lethoso Legend was sent to the best diamond cutters in Antwerp and yielded 67 diamonds totalling 441.74 carats. They were perfect Type 2A, D colour diamonds, with clarity ranging from Flawless to Internally Flawless (the highest standard) and, more importantly, the diamonds were cut to the taste and standards of Van Cleef & Arpels. The maison has a penchant for fancy cuts, ovals, pears, emeralds and Asscher, and, among them, the biggest specimen was a 79.35-carat oval-shape.
Collerette Mystérieuse transformable necklace
Van Cleef & Arpels told the story of the Legend of Diamonds over two chapters, envisioning first, a chapter that paid tribute to the Mystery Set technique that’s synonymous with the house, and the second, a chapter rendered in all white diamonds paying tribute to trends and timeless styles from its archives.
When the collection was finished in 2022, four years after its conception, it toured the world. After restrictions are lifted on this side of the world, the high jewellery pieces arrived in Japan earlier this Spring, and we flew over to join the launch event.
A legendary collection deserves to be spotlighted at a legendary location – and Meiji Kinenkan was it. The venue was built in 1881 as a dining and reception hall to receive important envoys to the Akasaka Temporary Palace, and it was there, under an exquisite Meiji Era mural of golden pheasants and peonies, that the Legend of Diamonds were presented to us. Over a fine meal of white asparagus mousse, smoked lobster and wagyu prepared by three-Michelin-starred chef Kei Kobayashi, who had flown in from Paris for the special occasion, we watched models glide between our tables and gasped over the extraordinary pieces that adorned their necks, ears, wrists and hands.
Chevron Mystérieux necklace and earrings with detachable pendants
The brief to Van Cleef & Arpels’ Design Studio, its workshops at Place Vendôme, was an ambitious one. Not only were the designers tasked to work with hugely important diamonds that were cut from the Lesotho Legend, but they were also tasked to uphold one of Van Cleef & Arpels’ most recognizable style through the 25-piece collection – the Mystery Set technique. Director Thomas Pozsgai recalls the first six months of designing the collection as “particularly intense” as the Design Studio rarely designs with diamonds that had not taken their final shape. The next challenge lay with the artisans, who used more than 30,000 hours of work to produce the pieces, taking into consideration the designs, the mechanical elements, the wearing comfort, and the transformative magic of the pieces.
The 25 Mystery Set Jewels chapter marks the first time Van Cleef & Arpels has used the Mystery Set technique on its entire collection. The setting technique, which was patented in 1933, conceals the metal on the pieces entirely so that only the beauty and sparkle of the stones come through. Only a handful of artisans today know the immensely difficult process of mystery setting. The gemstones, usually rubies, but also sapphires and more rarely emeralds and diamonds – are fitted onto gold rails that hold the jewels in place. Each jewel is meticulously, masterfully hand-cut with grooves so that they can be slid snugly on to the metal structure.
Traditional Mystery Set emeralds
The Legend of Diamonds – 25 Mystery Set celebrates the unique setting style, but it also celebrated another hallmark of Van Cleef & Arpels’ technical ingenuity – the transformability of its jewels, which is embodied by pieces such as 1938’s Passe-Partout model or the Zip necklace from the 1950s.
These techniques are best exemplified by key pieces like the Chevron Mystérieux necklace, which takes inspiration from 1950s fashion and the crossover collars that were a popular detail on evening gowns of the era. From the collar necklace, three majestic pear-cut diamonds hang precociously, the centre stone measures over 31 carats, flanked by two others weighing 12.18 and 12.07 carats respectively. And then of course, the beautiful composition of the sapphires and Mystery Set emeralds that make up the rest of the necklace, the complex setting showcasing the emerald’s intense and uniform gleam, uninterrupted by any hint of metal, and contrasted with the deep hue of the blue sapphires. The necklace is not just transformable in one way, but six. The central motif for example, could be worn as a pendant upon a simpler chain, and the two other diamonds can be worn as earrings.
Setting the rubies on the bezel
The Collerette Mystérieuse is another couture-inspired collar necklace that drapes across the wearer’s neck in a stunning explosion of diamonds and Mystery Set rubies, edged with a line of pink sapphires and square-cut diamonds that depicts delicate lace, fastened at the nape with a beautifully set diamond bow. Two shining white diamonds take centre stage – both perfectly proportioned emerald cuts, with one over 51 carats and the other just over 10 carats. The larger diamond can be detached to form a ring, and is complimentary to the Individual Mystery Set ruby design which can be placed on the pendant. The Individual Mystery Set technique is a later technique that the maison mastered in 1937, in which the stones could be held in the metal individually.
The second chapter, Legend of Diamonds – White diamond variations highlights the purity of white diamonds itself, celebrating Van Cleef & Arpels’ connections to the precious stone since 1906. The maison’s first jewellery sale, according to its archives, was said to be a heart set with brilliant white diamonds. White diamonds have always been reserved for Van Cleef & Arpels’ most precious motifs – and in this chapter, the maison has rendered some of the most meaningful motifs and pieces in its heritage into new high jewellery pieces.
Legend of Diamonds Envol de diamants necklace
We’re invited to see this important connection to its heritage for ourselves at the Legend of Diamonds event in Tokyo. The maison had arranged for a selection of its archived jewellery to be displayed alongside the new High Jewellery collection. The 1950s was a period of glamour and success, jewellery dripping with diamonds found its way to Hollywood and the big screen. Designs from this period prioritized the interplay of different gem-cuts on an openworked structure, and from the collection, the Fabulous Fifties necklace features this popular style splendidly. Complimenting the necklace is the Chemin de diamants ring, which embodies a distinct style the maison has used since the 1940s – the snowflake setting, which combines round diamonds of various sizes to create depth and sparkle.
The Envol de Diamants necklace was one that caught our attention. The original was a creation Van Cleef & Arpels made in 1956, a commission by Marcel Dassault to the famed pilot Jacqueline Auriol, who in 1953 became the first European woman to break the sound barrier. Paying homage to the 1956 necklace, the new Legend of Diamonds piece creates the illusion of an airplane’s tail in only white diamonds and gold.
Chemin de diamant ring and Fabulous Fifties necklace
Van Cleef & Arpels’ classic clips and brooches are honoured in the Face À Face Clips, a double facing jewellery brooch that imitates the arch formation of dancers in Diamonds, one of the three tableaux in the George Balanchine ballet Jewels. Ballet has fascinated Van Cleef & Arpels since the 1940s and ballerinas have featured heavily in its portfolio since then. This more abstract aesthetic of the Face À Face clip is more akin to the trends of 1930s, but maybe in some ways, more easily wearable on various occasions today.
The Legend of Diamonds collection, at long last arriving in Hong Kong, is not just an immensely beautiful collection to see and to own, but a celebration of an incredible milestone – the acquisition of a legendary stone, encapsulated in a legendary collection that spotlights the most important years in the maison’s history.
Sotheby’s raked in $13.1 million at its most recent jewelry sale in New York, with more than half of the goods surpassing their high estimates.
The lead item at the September 12 Important Jewels sale was a Harry Winston ring set with a round, 15.18-carat, E-color, VS2-clarity diamond, which brought in $69,440 per carat, for a total of $1.1 million, Sotheby’s said Wednesday. That amount was well above its $750,000 upper estimate.
Overall, Sotheby’s sold 84% of jewels on offer at the auction.
Royal Oak Selfwinding 34 and Royal Oak Selfwinding 37, both available in 18k white gold or 18k pink gold and both entirely set with brilliant-cut diamonds ranging from 0.5mm to 2.2mm in diameter. The 34mm versions have 2,255 brilliant-cut diamonds (approximately 6.6 carats) whereas the 37mm models include 2,123 brilliant-cut diamonds (approximately 7.2 carats), spread across the case, crown, bezel, dial, and bracelet. What’s more, the dials of all four pieces are also home to 13 baguette-cut diamond hour markers.
Snow setting is the method of taking different-sized diamonds to create an irregular, yet cohesive, pattern. Think different-shaped snowflakes all coming together to cover the ground in glorious bright white. It sounds simple in theory, but managing to blanket a surface with a mosaic of diamonds in varying sizes is no easy feat. However, when done right, it results in a dramatic display that, if I may argue, is more visually interesting than uniformly diamond-paved surfaces. To be clear, this isn’t the first time Audemars Piguet has used snow-set diamonds — the 2015 Diamond Punk and 2017 Diamond Outrage high jewelry pieces already showcased the arduous technique. However, these are the first Royal Oaks to get this dazzling treatment.
De Beers decided to call time on offering lab-grown diamonds for engagement rings even as the man-made alternatives continue to cannibalize demand in one of the company’s most important markets.
After vowing for years that it wouldn’t sell stones created in laboratories, in 2018 De Beers reversed that position and only this year started testing sales of the diamonds in the crucial engagement-ring sector.
The diamond industry leader said Wednesday that the trial showed that it wasn’t a sustainable market.
De Beers’ move comes as the kinds of stones that go into the cheaper one- or two-carat solitaire bridal rings popular in the US have experienced far sharper price drops than the rest of the market, with the lower-cost lab-grown competition seen behind the collapse.
De Beers has said the current weakness is a natural downswing in demand after the pandemic, with engagement rings particularly vulnerable. The company concedes that there has been some penetration into the category from synthetic stones, but doesn’t see it as a structural shift.
Lab-grown diamonds — physically identical stones that can be made in matter of weeks in a microwave chamber — have long been seen as an existential threat to the natural mining industry. Proponents say they can offer a cheaper alternative without many of the environmental or social downsides sometimes attached to mined diamonds.
While the price of some natural stones used in lower-quality engagement rings have plummeted in the past year, the fall in lab-grown prices has been even steeper. De Beers has said it expects lab-grown prices to continue to decline as more supply comes into the market
Retailers would need to double the number of lab-grown carats they sell every two years, just to maintain profits, De Beers said.
Diamond processor and trader HB Antwerp said on Monday it had removed one of its three co-founders from management following differences over strategy, a development that comes amid a pending sales pact with major producer Botswana.
Oded Mansori, who co-founded HB Antwerp in 2020 with partners Shai de Toledo and Rafael Papismedov, said he was taking them to court over his removal.
“On September 1, HB terminated Mr Oded Mansori’s management role in all the HB Companies,” the Belgian company said in a statement, citing a “sharp difference in strategic vision and approaches to business”.
The government of Botswana, the world’s No. 1 diamond producer by value, said in March that it had agreed to buy a 24% stake in HB Antwerp. As part of the deal, state-owned Okavango Diamond Company would supply HB with an undisclosed quantity of rough diamonds for five years.
The deal is yet to be signed.
Mansori, a long-time diamond dealer, said in a separate statement that he was “determined to defend his vision and to fight for the wellbeing and the future of HB,” and that “a legal process is currently underway in court.”
Mansori, who declined to comment further, said he was still a shareholder in the company.
HB also has a partnership with Lucara Diamond Corp, buying stones of 10 carat quality and above from the Toronto-listed miner’s Karowe Mine in central Botswana at prices based on the estimated polished outcome of each diamond.
Lucara did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the legal tussle could impact its own deal with HB Antwerp.
In 2022, HB Antwerp partnered with Microsoft to track mined gems via blockchain, as consumers focus on clearing the supply chain of fraudsters and diamonds mined in war zones and sold to fund insurgencies.
Other diamond miners, including Anglo American’s unit De Beers, also use blockchain platforms to trace their diamonds and verify authenticity.
