Dubai-based manufacturer Choron has signed an agreement with Storm Mountain Diamonds to cut and polish a 108.39-carat stone from the Kao mine in Lesotho.
Storm Mountain, a joint venture between Namakwa Diamonds and the Lesotho government, recovered the type IIa diamond in March. The stone is one of the largest pink diamonds ever discovered, Storm Mountain said last week.
“Storm Mountain continues to consistently deliver extraordinary diamonds, and this diamond further cements the Kao mine as the primary producer of pink diamonds globally,” said Storm Mountain board chairman Robert Cowley. “We are thrilled to enter into this agreement with Choron, and we look forward to the next chapter of this diamond’s story.”
Storm Diamonds will retain a minority share in the stone, while Choron will manufacture and market it, Choron CEO Anshul Gandhi told Rapaport News. The company has not disclosed the other terms of the partnership.
“It is a privilege for Choron to unlock the secrets within this remarkable pink diamond, and we look forward to revealing the story of this historic diamond,” said Ghandi. “Our artisans will meticulously transform this rough diamond into an array of polished diamonds that will be remembered for generations to come.”
When it comes to large natural colored and D-flawless diamonds, the name Rahaminov immediately comes to mind. A family-owned business with an 80-year legacy, the company continues to provide consumers, collectors and connoisseurs with an unparalleled collection of rare cuts and colors, which include large pear-shaped natural yellow, rare cushion-shaped natural pink and round or fancy cut white diamonds, among many others. Due to similar values, Rahaminov Diamonds’ fine jewelry collections will now be featured in five of the renowned Bucherer retail network’s boutiques, which include one store in New York City and 17 other shops throughout the United States.
After being owned by the Bucherer family for three generations, in August 2023, Rolex acquired the company to evolve it and work with different heritage companies such as Rahaminov.
Amir Goldfiner, Rahaminov Diamonds President, said over the phone, “We are excited to partner with such a revered retailer as Bucherer. It feels like the perfect venue to showcase some of our stand-out one-of-kind styles, such as a unique blue diamond toi et moi ring and other special pieces in their boutiques. And it’s been wonderful working with their team to provide a range of natural colored and white diamond designs that tap into their customer’s needs. I look forward to expanding the collection further as we grow together.”
To kick off their partnership, the two companies threw an exclusive cocktail event at the New York flagship, the TimeMachine store, on December 6, 2023.
Rahaminov Diamonds’ heritage dates back three generations to the 1940s when the Rahaminov brothers became diamond cutters in Israel’s pioneering Buchara Diamonds cooperative, establishing their foothold in the diamond world with their expertise and eye for the rare stones of impeccable quality. The torch was passed in the 1980s to Tamara Rahaminov and her husband, Amir Goldfiner, who further built the company’s prestige and reputation by opening a Los Angeles-based office and transforming Rhaminov into a luxury brand. Today, the third generation, represented by daughters Nicol and Melanie Goldfiner, have imbued the family business with a relevant and modern slant, yet never straying too far from the company’s motto of “where the diamond inspires the design.” They have taken those words to heart, creating a collection of jewelry that starts with finding the most genuinely unique fancy cuts with character and presence and then designing around the stones. Each piece is crafted in platinum and/or 18K gold and focuses on one jaw-dropping diamond or awe-inspiring configurations of the different cuts and colors..
Bucherer, founded in Lucerne in 1888, has one of the most distinguished reputations in the watch and jewelry industry in Europe. In addition to its impressive range of luxury timepieces and exquisite jewelry from renowned brands, Bucherer offers its customers its own exclusive Bucherer Fine Jewellery collection and Carl F. Bucherer watches. The company is also a leader in certified pre-owned timepieces with a carefully selected range of the highest quality and guaranteed provenance. The company features over 36 exclusive European retail locations, including a flagship boutique in Vienna and Paris and retail stores that count fifteen in Switzerland, twelve in Germany, three in Copenhagen and four boutiques in London. By acquiring the American luxury watch dealer Tourneau in 2018, Bucherer established itself as the world’s largest watch and jewelry company in the U.S. and Europe.
Together, the two companies represent six generations of luxury jewels.
Petra Diamonds’ rough prices started to bounce back at its latest tender, indicating the market has “likely bottomed,” it said Thursday.
The company’s third trading session brought in $67.9 million from the sale of 519,397 carats, at an average price of $131 per carat. Prices were 19% higher on a like-for-like basis — comparing similar categories of diamonds — than at the fiscal year’s second tender, which ended in October.
Last week, the miner reported early results from the tender of $58.7 million from 462,794 carats, at an average price of $127 per carat. During the remainder of the tender, it sold an additional 56,600 carats for $9.3 million. That comprised 25,200 carats from the Cullinan and Finsch mines in South Africa, which yielded $3.1 million, and 31,400 carats from the Williamson mine in Tanzania, bringing in $6.2 million.
Total rough-diamond revenue for the first fiscal half, which included three tenders, came to $187.8 million, down 7% year on year, the company noted. Like-for-like prices for the six months fell 13% compared to the equivalent three tenders the year before.
US polished-diamond imports dropped 21% to $1.5 billion in October, recording a fifth consecutive year-on-year decline, according to recent data from the US Commerce Department. The decrease reflected a fall in the volume of imports as well as a lower average price. Polished imports have not seen a year-on-year rise since May, when the timing of the JCK Las Vegas show prompted an 18% increase.
Source: US Commerce Department data; Rapaport archives.
About the data: The US, the world’s largest diamond retail market, is a net importer of polished. As such, net polished imports — representing polished imports minus polished exports — will usually be a positive number. Net rough imports — calculated as rough imports minus rough exports — will also generally be in surplus. The nation has no operational diamond mines but has a manufacturing sector, so it normally ships more rough in than out. The net diamond account is total rough and polished imports minus total exports. It is the US’s diamond trade balance, and shows the added value the nation creates by importing — and ultimately consuming — diamonds.
Christie’s New York Jewelry Auction Fetches $38.1 Million
Important fancy-colored diamonds and Kashmir sapphires led Christie’s December 6 Magnificent Jewels auction in New York. The sale of approximately 157 lots achieved more than $38.1 million.
However, what was billed as the top lot of the sale was withdrawn at the “11th hour without explanation,” according to a gem dealer who attended the auction. Christie’s confirmed this a few days later, again without explanation.
“California Sunset” earrings withdrawn before going to sale. Its estimate was $7 – $12 million
The lot was a pair of fancy vivid orange-yellow diamond earrings weighing 12.20 and 11.96 carats. The earrings were named “California Sunset Diamonds” and had an estimate of $7 million to $12 million.
Lucapa Diamond Company sold four special-size rough stones with a total weight of 609 carats for $17 million at a recent tender in Angola.
The type IIa diamonds, which weighed 41.23, 123.83, 208.78 and 235.47 carats, were recovered from Lucapa’s Lulo alluvial mine in Angola, the miner said Monday. They were part of a tender by Sodiam, Angola’s national diamond-trading company.
The 235 carat stone, which Lucapa unearthed last month, is the second-largest Lulo has yielded. Meanwhile, the 208 carat, retrieved in October, achieved the highest price of all four diamonds, Lucapa noted. The entire parcel averaged $28,000 per carat.
“The outcome of this tender is very encouraging as it once again clearly indicates the strength of the market for these exceptional, rare and high-value stones of which Lulo is a consistent producer,” said Lucapa managing director Nick Selby. “This is a positive result for Lucapa in a year when the diamond industry generally suffered weakness in pricing.
With India about to resume rough-diamond imports and Russian diamonds potentially having a restricted flow into the market in 2024, we are optimistic that we will see improvement and stability in diamond prices across all sectors of the market in the new year.”
Sodiam’s tenders generally include rough from Lulo, as well as from the Catoca and Luele mines.
Roller machine used to separate and sort flat shaped and non- flat shaped rough diamonds. DTC Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana.
Anglo American will slash De Beers’ budgets in response to the diamond-market downturn, the parent company said Friday.
“At De Beers, we are taking a different approach as the business has performed very well operationally. What’s gone against us is the market,” Anglo CEO Duncan Wanblad said at the group’s annual investor update. “Demand and prices for diamonds have fallen as global GDP [gross domestic product] growth has fallen.”
The current downturn is likely temporary, and there are signs the market is “beginning to turn,” Wanblad added.
“Nonetheless, we are focused on streamlining De Beers, reducing the annual overheads by $100 million in a sustainable manner,” the executive continued. “We have also reduced capex [capital expenditure] for next year, with our investment focused on the highest-value opportunities we see in southern Africa from existing assets as well as on the exploration front.”
De Beers has incurred a loss in the second half of 2023 following sales of just $80 million at the October sight, Wanblad explained. Sightholders expected the recent December trading session to be a similar size.
Still, De Beers kept production steady in the second half of this year leading to an inventory buildup and has maintained its production plan of 29 million to 32 million carats for 2024, said Al Cook, the diamond miner’s CEO.
“We need to be careful with [production cutbacks], because a large number of our costs are fixed,” Cook continued at the same investor event. “So we need to avoid doing something that just disrupts mines, which then take a lot to recover from and doesn’t create the cost savings that you really want to drive out of this.”
The company has a “series of levers” it can pull in 2024 should the expected recovery not materialize and is working with partners in producer countries to identify options, Cook added.
Last week, De Beers announced it was changing its organizational structure and executive committee, with executive vice president and chief brand officer David Prager and acting executive vice president of strategy and innovation Ryan Perry set to leave in 2024.
