De Beers Will Quit Growing Diamonds for Jewelry

De Beers Group announced late last week that it will be suspending production of diamonds for jewelry at its Lightbox factory in Gresham, Oregon, pivoting instead to industrial diamonds for technology applications.

The company made the announcement Friday, in the midst of the Las Vegas jewelry trade shows.

The lab-grown pivot is part of a broader new strategy called “Origins,” which is designed to grow desire for natural diamonds while cutting costs.

In an interview with National Jeweler on Friday, De Beers CEO Al Cook elaborated on the decision, including on the future of Lightbox, the lab-grown diamond jewelry brand De Beers launched six years ago.

“Element Six used to produce diamonds because they were hard and they could be used industrially,” he said. “Now, with the price of synthetic diamonds coming down, it opens up this amazing set of technological activities. We’re in partnership with … a number of high-tech companies looking at how you use diamonds as components in the digital era.

“That bit for us is really exciting. And that’s where the future of synthetic diamonds lies for us.”

Despite the transition at the factory, Cook said Lightbox will continue as a brand, drawing upon existing stock for the immediate future.

“At the moment, we’ve got a lot of stones available to Lightbox. Production will continue for a few months to ensure that they’ve got a stock of beautiful lab-grown diamond stones they can sell.”

After Lightbox depletes its existing stock, “we’ll see where the brand goes and we’ll see what happens,” Cook said. “I think it’s too early to say.”

De Beers announced the launch of the Lightbox lab-grown diamond brand during the Las Vegas shows in 2018.

At first, De Beers was growing the diamonds for Lightbox at its Element Six facility in the United Kingdom.

In October 2020, it opened its $94 million Lightbox factory in Gresham, a Portland suburb.

In an attempt to control the direction of the lab-grown diamond market, De Beers set an $800/carat price structure for the line.

It also marketed Lightbox as jewelry for less-special special occasions, like Sweet 16s or graduations, not milestones like engagements or anniversaries, which, it posits, should be celebrated with natural diamonds.

Since the line’s launch six years ago, lab-grown diamond prices have dropped precipitously. Lightbox cut its prices by as much as 40 percent last month.

Cook said De Beers expects the trend to continue.

“For a lot of retailers out there, the incentive to sell natural [diamonds] and the incentive to sell lab-grown are reversed. There was a period of time, a year-plus ago, when retailers got more of a margin sometimes from selling lab-grown diamonds.

“They were cheap to manufacture, and they could be sold as near-equivalents to natural diamonds. We didn’t do that in De Beers Group. We made very clear through Lightbox that these were two entirely different propositions,” he said.

“Not everyone followed our approach. It is now very clear that for all the retailers I can speak to here at JCK, the margin you get by selling a natural diamond is far greater than the margin that you get by selling a lab-grown diamond. It’s also clear that the gap is going to grow rather than shrink. We expect the price of lab-grown diamonds to go down and down, to continue collapsing.”

As it transitions production at the Lightbox factory in Gresham, De Beers announced Friday that it also will be consolidating its Element Six chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond-growing facilities, going from three factories to the one factory in Oregon.

Source: DCLA

Lab Grown Threat to Botswana Economy

 

Lab grown diamonds are a threat to Botswana’s economic lifeblood, says the country’s president Mokgweetsi Masisi.

He was speaking to reporters on Wednesday (29 May) ahead of the first phase in a $6bn project to extend the life of Jwaneng, its flagship diamond mine.

“If lab grown diamonds take our space, then you and I are finished,” he said. He pledged to wage “a peaceful assault against lab grown diamonds, to give confidence to our partners and dampen any attraction to lab growns.”

He was departing for JCK in Las Vegas, where he also said he’d be lobbying the US over G7 sanctions on Russia that route all EU diamonds through a single entry point in Antwerp.

Meanwhile work is about to start to start of the first phase of the Jwaneng development, a establish a drilling platform at a cost of $1bn.

It began commercial operation in 1982 as an open pit operation run by Debswana, a 50:50 joint venture between De Beers and the Botswana government.

Open pit operations are expected to end in 2032 but underground mining could extend Jwaneng’s life to 2050 or beyond.

It currently represents about 40 per cent of De Beers total production (10.3m carats in 2022).

Three quarters of Debswana’s production is currently sold by De Beers. But under a new deal agreed last June, the state-owned Okavango Diamond Company (ODC) will see its share increase over the next decade from 25 per cent to 50 per cent.

Source: DCLA

Gem Diamonds finds sixth 100+ carat stone in 2024

Africa focused miner Gem Diamonds has unearthed a 212.9 carat Type II white diamond at its prolific Letšeng mine in Lesotho, less than a month after a previous major find.

The diamond, recovered on May 28th, is the sixth greater than 100-carat precious stone recovered this year at the operation, the company said.

Type IIa diamonds are the most valued and collectable precious gemstones, as they contain either very little or no nitrogen atoms in their crystal structure. Boart diamonds are stones of low quality that are used in powder form as an abrasive.

The Letšeng mine is one of the world’s ten largest diamond operations by revenue. At 3,100 metres (10,000 feet) above sea level, it is also one of the world’s most elevated diamond mines.

Diamond miners are going through a rough patch as US and Chinese demand for diamond jewellery continues to be weak and the popularity of cheaper laboratory grown diamonds continues to rise.

In 2015, man-made diamonds had barely made an appearance as a competitor to natural diamonds. By last year, these stones accounted for more than 10% of the global diamond jewelry market, according to industry specialist Paul Zimnisky.

The market values of small to medium diamond mining companies, including Canada’s Lucara (TSX: LUC), South Africa’s Petra (LON: PDL), and Gem Diamonds itself, are around $100 million or less. This is only about a third or a fourth of the price the large stones they aim to find may be worth.

Source: DCLA

Lucapa recovers 195-carat diamond from Lulo mine

Lucapa Diamond announced Tuesday that together with its Lulo alluvial mine partners, Endiama and Rosas & Petalas, the company has recovered a 195 carat Type IIa diamond from its Lulo mine in Angola.

The diamond is the sixth largest and the 44th +100 carat diamond to be recovered from the Lulo mine, the company said, adding that the 195 carat Type IIa diamond is the fourth +100 diamond to be recovered at Lulo this year.

The mine, which hosts the world’s highest dollar-per-carat alluvial diamonds, began commercial production in January 2015. Only a year later, it delivered the largest ever diamond recovered in Angola a 404 carat white stone later named the “4th February Stone”.

Lucapa has a 40% stake in the Lulo mine. The rest is held by Angola’s national diamond company (Endiama) and Rosas & Petalas, a private entity.

Angola is the world’s fifth diamond producer by value and sixth by volume. Its industry, which began a century ago under Portuguese colonial rule, is successfully being liberalized.

Source: DCLA

Flawless 53 carat Diamond Could Sell for $5m

A 53.04 carat D colour, internally flawless diamond is expected to fetch up to $5m when it is sold a Sotheby’s New York.

The Type IIa pear-shaped lose stone will lead the Magnificent Jewels sale on 7 June.

A GIA report from last November describes the diamond as having very good polish, good symmetry and no fluorescence.

The diamond, which carries an estimate of $3m to $5m, will be among the first items sold under Sotheby’s new price structure (introduced on 20 May) under which buyers pay a reduced premium – down by 26m per cent on their purchases.

Another highlight of the auction, also with a $3m to $5m estimate, is a David Morris necklace of Kashmir sapphires 2.40 cts to 11.37 cts and graduated oval-shaped diamonds.

Source: DCLA

Priyanka Chopra’s $43M Necklace Is Literally Straight Out Of A Museum

Earlier this week, Priyanka Chopra attended Bulglari’s 140th anniversary event in Rome. And as a global brand ambassador, of course, she was totally decked out in diamonds.

Alongside celebrity supporters like Anne Hathaway, Chopra wore a dazzling piece from the brand’s “Aeterna High Jewelry” collection. With seven massive stones affixed to a unique, wavy choker, Chopra’s necklace was a hero piece for sure. But what made the design so special is that it’s one of the most precious (and expensive) designs the brand has ever created — at a cool 43 million dollars.

Priyanka’s Dazzling Diamonds
According to Bulgari, the lavish necklace took “over 2,800 hours to complete.” Made up of 140 carats worth of diamonds, the necklace — dubbed the Serpenti Aertena — retails for a whopping 43 million dollars. The statement choker featured pear-shaped drop diamonds, the largest sitting front and center.

The intricate design was specially designed for the occasion, with its carat count symbolizing the brand’s 140 year anniversary. The entire collection is so ornate, it was unveiled at a museum — it truly doesn’t get much more iconic than that.

Paying the diamonds their due, Chopra went for a fairly simple off-the-shoulder gown by designer Del Core. A fitting choice for the fancy occasion, her custom look featured a cape-inspired detail and a peplum waist. The sweetheart neckline lent itself nicely to the accessory du jour.

Source: DCLA

Botswana Diamonds expands its land holdings in the Kalahari

Diamond exploration company Botswana Diamonds has been granted four prospecting licences – covering just under 2 332 km2 – in the Kalahari of Botswana.

The prospecting licences are in the same general area as Gem Diamonds’ Ghaghoo mine, as well as Botswana Diamonds’ own KX36 project.

“I am pleased that we have been awarded these prospecting licences in the Kalahari of Botswana, which we believe will be the next major diamond-producing area in the country.

“Exploration is a long game, particularly diamond exploration, and we believe the industry is going through a structural change which will see the natural product, particularly from Botswana, find its premium niche in world markets,” chairperson John Teeling comments.

Source: DCLA