Diamond News Archives

“We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force.” — Ayn Rand

(IDEX Online) - Manufacturers in Surat are struggling as diamond certificates are delayed by India's pandemic travel restrictions.

They're being forced to wait for at least two months, rather than one in normal times, according to the Times of India.

The delays are severely hampering cash flow, especially for smaller operations.

Buyers increasingly insist on certificates because they're unable to travel and see the goods for themselves. 

  

Labs in Mumbai are working in accordance with Covid restrictions, and gems sent to the USA can take three months to be certified.

The cycle from buying rough to selling polished has been extended from 120 days to 180, according to Dinesh Navadiya, regional president of Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).

"Due to the delay in certification, smaller companies bear the burden of interest as the payments to raw diamond suppliers have to be done in time," he said.

Pic shows diamond merchants in Surat...

(IDEX Online) - Alrosa reported a 28 per cent increase in year-on-year revenue for Q1 from rough and polished sales -  up to $1.16bn.

The figure was down five per cent on the previous quarter and comprised $1.126bn of rough and $33m of polished.

In its quarterly operating results, the Russian state-owned miner said demand for diamond jewelry remained sustainably high at all the key markets. 

"Supply of rough diamonds is constraint by production capacities of the mining companies, and global production in the mid-term is expected to remain ~20% below its pre-COVID levels. Mid-stream stocks of rough and polished remain balanced," it said.

Polished prices in the midstream had overtaken pre-Covid levels by early this year and remained relatively stable throughout Q1, and demand for rough was consistently strong as cutters and polishers restocked.

Alrosa said it produced 7.5 m carats in the first quarter of 2021, and sold a total of 15.5 m carats.

Its diamond inventories as at the end of Q1 decreased to 12.8 m cts (Q4 2020: 20.7 m cts) and the average realised prices for gem-quality diamonds grew to $113 per carat, up 25 per cent  q-o-q (down eight per cent  y-o-y) on the back of a higher price index and a better sales mix. ...

(IDEX Online) - Tiffany & Co has ended its "most consistent relationship with the public " by ditching its daily page-three ad in printed editions of The New York Times.

The tradition dates back more than a century, to 1896.

The iconic jeweler, newly-acquired by the French luxury conglomerate LVMH, will maintain a similar ad spend with the paper, says the fashion bible WWD, but will divert more of it online.

"In an ever-changing world, perhaps Tiffany & Co.'s most consistent relationship with the public over the last century is its daily advertisement on page A3 of The New York Times, which began running in 1896," said Tiffany in a 2016 edition of This is Tiffany.

The jeweler famously used the ad in 2018 to urge President Trump to remain in the Paris Climate Agreement.

Alexandre Arnault, 28, son of LVMH boss Bernard, and now executive vice president of product and communications at Tiffany, is said to be sharpening the company's social media presence and moving away from a corporate tone to one that is more personal.

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