Twitter

Diamonds – Mining, Lab-Grown and Conflict/Blood

Signet, Synthetics, and a Complex Holiday Season – by Joshua Freedman (Rapaport Magazine – January 20, 2025)

New Home

Poor results at the US’s largest diamond retailer reflected a fragmented and changing market rather than a crisis in consumer demand.

Signet Jewelers’ disappointing holiday results had a dampening effect on the industry’s mood. Same-store sales at the US’s largest diamond retailer fell 2% for the 10 weeks that ended January 11. The company slashed its guidance for the fiscal fourth quarter. Its share price fell 22% in one day.

What the results indicated, however, was not so much sluggish consumer demand as a complex US jewelry market that has forced retailers to strategize carefully. The key issue for Signet was product range, the jeweler’s new CEO, J.K. Symancyk, said at the ICR Conference 2025 on Tuesday, a few hours after the sales announcement.

Read more

Invisible engravings, ethical diamonds: the technology that tracks stones from mine to market (Euro News – January 2025)

https://www.euronews.com/

International laws prohibit the trade of diamonds from countries in conflict, but for now, it is impossible to be certain of the origin of the precious stones. A Polish laboratory has found the solution.

Could the diamond in your engagement ring come from a country in conflict, like Russia? Not legally, and there is now a technology developed by a European project in Poland that could prevent it from happening illegally in the future.

Read more

Canadian Mining Hall of Fame adds Boyd, Giustra, MacLean, Sheahan – by Colin McClelland (Nothern Miner – January 13, 2025)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Sean Boyd, the chair of Agnico Eagle Mines recalled when the company’s performance prompted CNN’s Mad Money host Jim Cramer to eat a crow sandwich on air. Boyd’s mother was watching. “That man wasn’t very nice to you today,” she said.

Cramer was recanting his conviction after only a poor quarter. Boyd never wavered in his commitment and actually booked the TV appearance to avoid accusations of ducking out when times were tough. “The producer said ‘Well, thanks for coming on, at least you got to give your side of the story,’” Boyd recounted. “And I said, ‘Remember: I called you,’ and he said, ‘That’s why you’re coming on again.’”

Read more

Korean market embraces lab-grown diamonds – by Back Byung-yeul (Korea Times – January 13, 2025)

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/

The global diamond market is undergoing a transformative shift, with lab-grown diamonds emerging as a formidable force. This shift is particularly evident in Korea, where these ethically sourced and cost-effective gems are quickly gaining popularity, carving out a niche in the wedding and anniversary jewelry sectors, according to Iris Arnold, CEO and founder of the U.K.-based jewelry company Novita Diamonds.

“Lab-grown diamonds are undoubtedly a game changer in the jewelry industry. They are revolutionizing the market by making diamonds more accessible and aligning with consumer values around sustainability and ethics,” Arnolds told The Korea Times in a recent written interview.

Read more

Are lab-grown diamonds too bling for their own good? – by Staff (Northern Miner – January 7, 2025)

Global mining news

Diamonds grown in the lab are shining brighter than natural stones by grabbing market share, but their kryptonite could be the low prices and large carats indicating they really are in a different category, analysts and companies surveyed by The Wall Street. Journal say.

Post-pandemic demand for diamonds surged in 2021-2022, but then prices dropped by 8% compared with the first quarter of 2020 and lab-grown diamond (LGD) prices plunged by three quarters, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing industry analyst Paul Zimnisky.

Read more

The Jewelry District, Episode 137: Guest Ian Smillie – by Kathy Passero (JCK Online – December 18, 2024)

JCK Online

JCK editor-in-chief Victoria Gomelsky and news director Rob Bates talk with human rights activist and author Ian Smillie, one of the architects of the Kimberley Process. Ian’s unlikely career began when he volunteered to teach high school in Sierra Leone more than 50 years ago and has led him to become a leading advocate for ending the “blood diamond” trade.

In this episode, Ian discusses his quest to improve life for artisanal miners, the threats they face from the rise of lab-grown stones, and his new memoir about a life dedicated to combatting global poverty. Victoria and Rob welcome Ian Smillie, a Canadian human rights activist who was instrumental in the campaign against blood diamonds.

Read more

Obituary: Diamond hunter Chris Jennings played a key role in finding Diavik deposit in Northwest Territories – by Matthew Hart (Globe and Mail – December 12, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

On Nov. 12, 1991, the Australian minerals giant BHP issued a spare, eight-sentence press release that dropped like a bomb on Canadian mining. At a tiny lake 300 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife, the company and its Canadian partners had discovered microdiamonds.

Canada would become a major diamond producer, but at the time the news stunned the mining community. Diamonds in the Arctic? A group of men and women who had spent their lives ransacking Canada for minerals gathered for a late-night meeting in Toronto as they tried to understand the news.

Read more

The Kimberley Process Has Failed at Its One Job. Let It Do Something Else. – by Rob Bates (JCK Online.com – December 5, 2024)

JCK Online

In mid-November, the Kimberley Process (KP) lifted its embargo against the Central African Republic (CAR); there’s a good backgrounder here. In this special guest editorial, Brad Brooks-Rubin — who has worked for the U.S. government, industry associations, and a nongovernmental organization (NGO) — gives his view on what this means for the certification scheme’s future.

Recently I walked into a jewelry store and asked about blood diamonds. The salesperson, leaning on their training, talked to me about the Kimberley Process certification scheme. Per the standard industry talking points, I was told that 99% of diamonds are conflict-free and that the KP helps support local development in diamond-mining countries.

Read more

The History Of The Argyle Pink Diamond Mines – by Prue Bell (Paul Bram.com – September 3, 2021)

https://paulbram.com.au/

Pink Diamonds are amongst the rarest precious items on earth. That is why they are the most collectible stones right now. To own a pink diamond is to own a piece of Australian and world history.

“Buying a Pink Diamond is like buying a Pablo Picasso while he was alive… In another decade, the Argyle Pink Diamond will emerge as the new Faberge egg, the thing myths are made of. The value of rarity is the most priceless factor” – THE AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS REVIEW.90% of the world’s pink diamonds have been discovered in the mines of North Western Australia in the Argyle diamond mines. “The Argyle pink diamond story has enthralled throughout the years following the remarkable discovery of the Argyle mine in 1979.

Read more

De Beers Capitulates on Diamond Strategy With Big Price Cuts – by Thomas Biesheuvel (Bloomberg News – December 02, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — De Beers has cut diamond prices by more than 10% across the board as the world’s biggest producer abandons attempts to put a floor under the slumping market.

The diamond industry has been struck by one of its deepest and most prolonged slumps in decades. What started as a post-pandemic slowdown has spiraled as inflation hit customer purchases, before a collapse in China’s luxury market further eroded demand. Man-made diamonds have also continued to undermine prices.

Read more

Interview: Why diamonds may be a computer’s best friend – by David Szondy (New Atlas – November 30, 2024)

https://newatlas.com/

We recently sat down with Adam Khan of Diamond Quanta – the company that wants to replace the silicon chip with ones made from diamond. We discussed the reason for this glittering idea, the challenges it presents, and the implications of the technology.

The past half century has seen a fantastic evolution in electronics and computers thanks to the silicon chip. In line with Moore’s Law, the number of transistors on a single chip doubled roughly every two years with a commensurate rise in computer power and drop in prices. The result is our modern age of handheld supercomputers, increasingly common AI, the internet, and all the other things that make those of us who remember punch cards feel very old.

Read more

Botswana to Set Up G7 Verification Node for Diamonds – by Joshua Freedman (Papaport Magazine – November 27, 2024)

https://rapaport.com/

Botswana will establish a certification point for rough diamonds entering Group of Seven (G7) countries next year, authorities announced Wednesday, with discussions underway for additional nodes in Namibia and Angola.

The development follows widespread opposition to a plan for Antwerp to be a “single node” through which all rough destined for G7 markets would pass to ensure it is not subject to Russian sanctions.

Read more

Want a Diamond? You’ll Need to Decide on Lab-Grown or Natural. – by Stephanie Cain (New York Times – November 2024)

https://www.nytimes.com/

Consumer misconceptions about diamonds can make the process of engagement ring shopping even more distressing.

With Thanksgiving marking the unofficial start of engagement season — late November through Valentine’s Day is when marriage proposals are common — ring buying is top of mind for many couples considering marriage.

The four Cs — carat, cut, color, and clarity — have traditionally been used to evaluate diamonds. Now, couples buying diamond engagement rings have another choice to make: natural diamonds, which are mined from the earth, or lab-grown diamonds, which are man-made but chemically identical.

Read more

EU Blasts KP Chair’s Comments, Plenary’s Lack of Progress – by Leah Meirovich (Rapaport Magazine – November 20, 2024)

https://rapaport.com/

The European Union (EU) has called out the behavior of Kimberley Process (KP) chair Ahmed Bin Sulayem at the most recent plenary, as well as the meeting’s failure to address a long-standing concern.

The union was disappointed that the plenary, which took place from November 11 to 15, failed to address the implications of the Russian war against Ukraine on the global rough-diamond sector for the third year, it said Monday. The omission has a detrimental impact on the credibility of the KP and on the reputation of natural diamonds, undermining consumer confidence, the EU explained.

Read more

Is the New Natural-Diamond Marketing Campaign ‘Worth the Wait’? – by Leah Meirovich (Rapaport Magazine – November 11, 2024)

Home

Natural diamonds have taken a big hit in the past few years. From the highs and lows of Covid-19 spending on luxury, to economic uncertainty and an oversupply in the midstream that has led to a persistently weak market, prices and demand have dropped. And that’s before you consider the effect of the younger demographic’s growing interest in lab-grown.

With significant obstacles to overcome, those in the trade have been looking for a solution to reengage Millennials, Gen Z and up-and-coming Gen Alpha consumers with the wonder, rarity and magic of a natural diamond. Enter De Beers and Signet Jewelers.

Read more