Diamond News Archives

Shifting relationship dynamics, changing perceptions of femininity and the fast adoption of e-commerce channels are paving the way for increased diamond jewelry consumption in China, according to Mabel Wong McCormick, managing director of Diamond Producers Association (DPA) in China. "Expanded symbolism for diamond jewelry indicating a wider range of 'moments' in life will give rise to more discretionary purchases especially among the country's Generation Z, or those born after 1995," she said.

"Diamonds are increasingly being bought to celebrate occasions such as landing a new job, securing a promotion or other personal achievements in a broader sense," McCormick told China Daily in an interview.

Last year, a survey conducted by the DPA on consumers in Beijing and Shanghai revealed that people's perceptions toward love have seen a departure from traditionally held beliefs like 'eternity and everlasting.' While the younger generation still uphold love, they are increasingly embracing the idea to 'seize the moment' and feel comfortable spending on iconic items like diamonds for more instant gratifications and self-motivation.

These finding sync with a study done by De Beers in 2018, which indicated that Chinese millennials and Generation Z had purchased almost 80 percent of all the diamond jewelry in China in 2017, compared to 60 percent in the United States.

While the giving of diamond jewelry as a token of love and commitment continues to constitute the majority of purchases, "it's encouraging to see these additional sources of demand emerge,"  De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver commented.

"Apart from marriage - the traditional occasion for diamond gift-giving, a new perception of personal meaningfulness is emerging that is closely associated to joy, confidence and pride in themselves, especially among women. These would...

Ever since President Trump nominated Judy Shelton^[1] to the Federal Reserve Board, the economics establishment has been letting Americans know just how crazy she (allegedly) is. And to illustrate that the establishment is bipartisan, the condemnation of Shelton has come from both the left and the right. For example, an American Enterprise Institute fellow has an article in The Hill warning of “Trump’s bizarre Federal Reserve nomination,”^[2] while National Review’s resident monetary wonk, Ramesh Ponnuru, wrote in Bloomberg^[3] that Shelton not only has a history of pushing very bad policies, but now is apparently flip-flopping just to get the job. And on Twitter, an econ-watcher has a long thread^[4] detailing all of the self-evidently nutjob positions Shelton has advanced over the years. Why, she’s not just for the gold standard, but she’s against FDIC! And she thinks the Fed’s 2% (price) inflation target erodes your property rights. Can you imagine?!

And to show that I’m not just cherry-picking, here’s what a Google News search returned for me just now when I typed in “Judy Shelton”—and be sure to read the subheadings as well as the titles:

With this kind of opposition, it won’t surprise you to learn that Shelton has been quite forcefully condemning the whole central bank apparatus. Back in May, when she was being vetted by Trump (but before her actual nomination), Shelton gave an interview to the Financial Times^[5] in which she criticized the entire concept of the Federal Reserve:

How can a dozen, slightly less than a dozen, people meeting eight times a year, decide what the cost of capital should be versus some kind of organically, market...

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Junior diamond miner Lucapa reported that its latest sales of diamonds from the Lulo alluvial mine in Angola and the Mothae kimberlite mine in Lesotho has taken total sales from both mines to US$35.5 million for the year to date.

In its latest sale, Lucapa had sold a run of mine parcel of 3,558 carats of Lulo diamonds for S$4.4 million, at $1,234/ct. This took total sales of Lulo diamonds to date in 2019 to US$26.5 million at US$2,764/ct. Lucapa pointed out that the latter sale did not include the high-value 46-carat Lulo pink diamond, "which is being considered for cutting and polishing by the Lulo partners to capture margins from beyond the mine gate. A second rough diamond sale of Lulo-produced diamonds will be held before the end of September 2019.

A -parcel of 4,376 carats of Mothae diamonds sold for $1.8 million. A 36-carat, D-color stone was withheld as it is considered for cutting and polishing "to capture margins from beyond the mine gate."

The latest sale took total Mothae sales to date in 2019 to $9.0 million at $539/ct. The most recent recovery at Mothae is 64-carat D-color Type IIa diamond....