Diamond News Archives

(IDEX Online) - First Lady Melania Trump traded up the 15-carat Graff diamond engagement ring Donald gave her, for an even bigger and more expensive rock.

The president-to-be gave her a premium D-color, FL, emerald-cut diamond ring, before they wed in 2005.

But the former Solvenian model, aged 50, later had the stone replaced with a 25-carat diamond, according to British newspaper The Daily Express, as an anniversary present.

Trump, famous for doing a deal, joked that he got a 50 per cent discount on the original stone, though he barely needed it, with a net worth estimated by Forbes at $3.1bn.  

The first stone would be worth $3m today, the newspaper reported. The second, also from Graff, the iconic London-based jeweler, cost $3.5m and was a 10^th anniversary gift. It is far larger, but lower quality....

Silver prices are surging, making the metal one of the market’s best-performing assets in the second quarter, with investors seeking havens that can hold their value during times of economic uncertainty.

The Federal Reserve’s stated mandate is to “promote effectively the goals of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long term interest rates.” The first part is obviously a disaster right now, with more than 36 million Americans filing initial jobless claims in the past eight weeks, bringing U.S. unemployment to levels not seen since the Great Depression.

(IDEX Online) - Indian government officials are under increasing pressure to allow up to 30 per cent of diamond workers in Surat to return to work.

The cut-and-polish hub has been dormant since the COVID-19 lockdown was imposed on 25 March.

Authorities 200 miles away in Mumbai last week said jewelry businesses there could allow up to 10 per cent of their workforce to return, as long as they were fulfilling existing orders and observed strict social distancing rules.   

The Surat Diamond Association and the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council are calling for work to resume in Surat (pictured) with up to 30 per cent of workers.

Industry leaders say they need a decision soon to prevent thousands of laid-off migrant workers returning to their homes in Surashtra.

The Bharat Diamond Bourse in Mumbai has reopened and business is slowly resuming in India's key export markets - Hong Kong, China and UAE....