Diamond News Archives
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"Starting in our third quarter we really articulated the fact that over the past few years we've seen sales prices moving up rather rapidly. Now, when you layer on top of that the very quick moves in interest rates that we saw from the Fed, that translated into the mortgage rates, it really created an element of sticker shock," said Stuart Miller, chairman of Miami-based Lennar[1] in an interview on CNBC's The Exchange.
New home sales fell hardest in California, where prices are highest, according to JBRC. Sales dropped 40 percent annually in northern California and 49 percent in southern California. Sales were just 5 percent lower in the Midwest, where homes are far less expensive.
The California numbers are in line with the latest quarterly earnings figures from Toll Brothers[2], the nation's largest luxury homebuilder. It reported a 39 percent drop in new orders from California.
"In November, we saw the market soften further, which we attribute to the cumulative impact of rising interest rates and the effect on buyer sentiment of well-publicized reports of a housing slowdown," said Toll's CEO Douglas Yearley in the release. "We saw similar consumer behavior beginning in late 2013, when a rapid rise in interest rates temporarily tempered buyer demand before the market regained momentum."
While buyer traffic was lower in November and December compared with previous years, it has remained steady since August, according to JBRC's survey. Demand for housing is still very high. Mortgage rates did fall back in December, and builders like Lennar reported seeing a correlating jump in buyer traffic through model homes, though not contract signings.
"We saw traffic seasonally adjusted flat from November to December, so maybe Lennar's were up and everybody else's were...
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World famous jeweller Tiffany & Company has launched an initiative to provide greater transparency about the origins of its diamonds to customers, from miner to retailer.
Following in the footsteps of world’s No. 1 diamond miner De Beers, which is testing a blockchain technology-based platform aimed at clearing the supply chain of imposters and conflict diamonds, Tiffany has begun tracing each of its individually registered diamonds (0.18 carats and larger) by a unique serial number.
The “Diamond Source Initiative” identifies for customers the country where diamonds were mined, and, eventually, will also include information on where they were cut, polished and set.
The digits, etched by laser and invisible to the naked eye, provide consumers with the exact provenance and country of origin for the diamonds they are acquiring.
By 2020, the New York-based jeweller plans to add further information about the "craftsmanship" journey of its precious gems, such as cutting and polishing workshop location.
The program, known as the “Diamond Source Initiative”, is part of jewellers’ effort to attract younger shoppers, for whom the issue of sourcing is a key factor in their shopping behaviours.
"Diamonds, formed up to three billion years ago and brought to the earth's surface by a miracle of nature, are symbols of the most important moments in our lives," Tiffany CEO Alessandro Bogliolo said in a statement. "There should be nothing opaque about Tiffany diamonds."
Despite the establishment of the Kimberley Process in 2003, aimed at removing those so-called conflict diamonds from the supply chain, experts say trafficking of precious rocks is still ongoing.
While Tiffany controls most of the process that readies its diamonds for display cases, it buys its roughs from suppliers with various mines. The...
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Yellow vest activists are urging French citizens to empty their bank accounts and spark a massive run on the country’s banks in their longstanding fight with the government — which could lead to the collapse of its banking system.
The call for citizens to withdraw all their euros come as copycat protests are planned for Britain on the weekend.
The left-wing “People’s Assembly” activist group has invited thousands of people to wear yellow vests at an anti-austerity “Britain is broken” march in central London this weekend.
“See you on the streets and don’t forget your #YellowVests,” the group, which is demanding a general election to end the ruling Conservatives’ program of austerity, wrote on Facebook.
Meanwhile right-wing, Brexit-supporting activists have signalled their intent to hold demonstrations in British cities, including the capital, under the banner “#YellowVestUK”.
This comes ahead of the ninth straight weekend of protests across France, with yellow vests now issuing calls on social media for massive cash withdrawals from banks.
Protesters hope the move will force the government to listen to their demands, notably their call for more direct democracy through the implementation of popular votes that allow citizens to propose new laws.
Activist Maxime Nicolle called it the “tax collector’s referendum.”
In a video message, Nicolle said “we are going to get our bread back … You’re making money with our dough, and we’re fed up.”
WHAT COULD A BANK RUN MEAN?
If a bank run succeeds, the yellow vests could cause a complete failure of France’s banking system.
Unlike Australia, France operates on a Fractional Reserve System meaning their banking system holds a fraction of money that’s deposited by customers. The rest is used to make loans, creating new money....
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Canada’s Lucara Diamond (TSX:LUC) has kicked off the year with yet another massive find at its flagship Karowe diamond mine located in Botswana.
The 127 carat, top white gem diamond, is one of the of 129 precious stones of over 100 carats the company has recovered at the mine since it began operations in 2012. That tally includes 12 diamonds larger than 300 carats in size, of which five were recovered last year.
The 127 carat, top white gem diamond, is one of the of 129 precious stones of over 100 carats Lucara has recovered at the mine since 2012.
In addition to finding the world’s second-largest diamond, Lucara has sold 180 stones in excess of $1 million each and ten diamonds have fetched more than $10 million each.
“The recovery of this latest, high value, top white 127 carat diamond attests to the remarkable nature of the Karowe orebody, which has consistently delivered large, high value diamonds throughout its history,” chief executive Eira Thomas said in the statement.
The Vancouver-based company will focus this year on finalizing a feasibility study into potential underground production and life-of-mine expansion for Karowe that could extend operations from 2026 to beyond 2036.
The miner aims to recover between 300,000 and 330,000 carats from Karowe this year, out of 2.5-million to 2.8-million tonnes of ore processed, at an operating cash cost of between $32/t and $37/t processed.
The post Lucara Diamond kicks off the year with 127-carat find at Karowe appeared first on MINING.com....
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(IDEX Online) – IDEX Online has launched the 2019 edition of its much-anticipated annual Trade Fair Guide.<?xml:namespace prefix = "o" ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /?>
The guide provides extensive details regarding a wide range of trade fairs taking place this year, including dates, venues and contact information.
It also provides information relating to De Beers' sales dates in 2019, and ALROSA's dates for publishing details of its sales.
You can find IDEX's 2019 Trade Fair Guide here[1].
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