Diamond News Archives

Only those societies which still have a functional public interest / common good will survive; those ruled by the tyranny of self-interest will fall.

(IDEX Online) - A necklace of 33 exceptional jadeite beads sold for over $8.8m at Christie's Magnificent Jewels live auction in Hong Kong.

The beads (measuring approximately 15.0 to 12.3 mm) were set with an 11-carat cushion-cut Burmese ruby surrounded by oval-cut diamonds.

The piece (pictured) sold for $8,836,123 to a collector on the phone after "spirited competition".

Christie's said total sales at the event were $56.3m, with sell-through rates of 85 per cent by lot and 83 per cent by value.

"Our Hong Kong saleroom exhibited market vibrancy and strong buying momentum," said Vickie Sek, chairman of Christie's Asia Pacific jewelry department. ...

"We are delighted to have achieved strong prices across the diverse selection of fine jadeite, rare colored and colorless diamonds, as well as important colored gemstones."

(IDEX Online) - Signet says it's braced for more weddings this year than any time in the last 40 years, as couples finally exchange their vows after the Covid pandemic.

Gina Drosos (pictured), CEO of the world's largest diamond jewelry retailer, said there would be 2.5m nuptials in 2022, compared with the usual 1.8m to 2.2m.

"We know the average time between when people meet and when they get married is three years," she told the financial news network Cheddar News.

"But the pandemic has disrupted weddings a bit. People weren't able to have a big wedding over the last couple of years. They couldn't invite all of their friends or families. So that's pushed more weddings into this year than we've seen historically."

She went on to identify two other major trends for jewelry consumers - the return to work and the growing popularity of lab grown diamonds.

"People can't always see your shoes, they can't see your great new bag, but they can definitely notice the jewelry that you're wearing," she said.

"Jewelry is a purchase to express yourself. People are excited to do that again both in person at the workplace and in virtual meetings."

She said lab growns were not a big part of Signet's business yet. "But it certainly is fast growing," she said. "And lab-created diamonds are another way that customers are finding great value in an inflation year."

Signet is the the world's largest retailer of diamond jewelry - parent company to Kay Jewelers, Zales, Jared, Direct, JamesAllen.com and others - and now accounts for 9.3 per cent of all jewelry sold in the US....

The long-anticipated market bounce in stocks & bonds is now underway. How long will it last & how high will it go? Is this a resumption of the bull market? Or should investors use this rally as a gift from the market gods to sell, in preparation of lower prices ahead?