Diamond News Archives

(IDEX Online) - The two-man crew of plane that crashed collecting workers for the Ekati diamond mine, in Canada, died because of instrument failure compounded by pilot error, says a report.

Pilots Will Hayworth and Zach McKillop came down in their eight-seat Air Tindi King Air 200 in January 2019.

"The accident was not survivable," says a newly-released report into the accident by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.

The plane crashed at about 700km/hour near Wha Ti, a small community northwest of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, where it was scheduled to to pick up workers for the Ekati diamond mine.

The report suggests the crew struggled to control the aircraft after the altitude meters failed, shutting down the autopilot in thick cloud.

Generic pic of a King Air 200...

(IDEX Online) - Christie's sold over $1.3m of jewelry at its latest online auction, with no sign of bidding being dampened by coronavirus.

The auction house said the number of unique visitors online had nearly doubled, compared with a similar sale a year ago, and almost 40 per cent of sales were to new customers. Four fifths lots sold above their high estimates.

The 12-day sale attracted bidders from 31 countries for over 150 lots, many by Bulgari, Cartier, David Webb, Graff, Tiffany & Co., Van Cleef & Arpels and Verdura.

Among the highlights of the auction were an emerald and diamond icon necklace by Graff that sold for $52,500; (low estimate of $10,000) emerald and diamond icon earrings, that sold for $43,750; (both pictured) and a ruby and diamond ring, that sold for $35,000.

Caroline Ervin, ecommerce jewels specialist at Christie's Americas, said "We were delighted with the amount of online engagement for this sale, which received an unprecedented number of unique visitors, over a 99% increase from April 2019, and from around the world.

"We worked collaboratively to enhance our digital educational offerings to include refreshed online collecting guides, videos, and interviews with specialists to better virtually connect with our audiences."

 ...