News – Page 89

Harry Winston Wins Top Item at Christie’s NY

Christie’s sold a Kashmir sapphire and diamond bracelet to Harry Winston for $6 million on Tuesday, kicking off the December New York Magnificent Jewels season.

The piece, which led the auction house’s New York sale, featured a 43.10-carat sapphire surrounded by 67.90 carats of D-color, internally flawless diamonds. The final price fell within the estimate of $5 million to $7 million that Christie’s had given ahead of the sale.

“We are very proud to have purchased this extraordinary Kashmir sapphire, which joins the ranks of the finest diamonds and colored gemstones acquired by Winston to form our superb Legacy Collection,” Harry Winston CEO Nayla Hayek said in a statement Tuesday.

Christie’s brought in $44.6 million at the 10-hour Magnificent Jewels auction, with 95% of items selling by value and 91% by lot, it reported. Bidders took part from 39 countries, with the final sales total equal to 118% of the items’ combined low estimates.

Sapphires were a theme at the sale: A 1917 Van Cleef & Arpels ring featuring a 21.72-carat cabochon Kashmir sapphire ring went for $1.7 million, while a necklace with an 80.86-carat Burma sapphire in the center fetched $1.1 million. Meanwhile, a Cartier brooch set with an Art Deco Kashmir sapphire weighing 12.64 carats, formerly from the collection of Jean Stralem, realized $1.5 million.

Other highlights included a pair of earrings containing fancy-intense-purplish-pink and fancy-intense-pink diamonds, weighing 2.61 and 2.34 carats. The piece sold for $2.1 million.

The auction preceded the Sotheby’s New York Magnificent Jewels sale, which takes place Wednesday. A ring featuring a fancy-vivid-pink diamond flanked by two fancy-intense-blue diamonds — estimated at up to $12 million — will headline that event.

Source: Diamonds.net

Lucapa 100 carat diamond bonanza continues

Lucapa Diamond Company has recovered the 16th 100 plus carat diamond from the Lulo alluvial mine in Angola, Africa.

The 127 carat gem quality white stone is the third 100 plus carat diamond delivered this year.

Lucapa recovered the stone from the flood plain area in Mining Block 24 the first 100 plus carat diamond produced in this mining block.

It was found during Lucapa’s dry season operations.

“The recovery of this 127 carat stone, which is Lulo’s 16th 100 plus carat diamond recovered, continues to showcase the exceptional nature of the lulo alluvial deposit and highlights the potential of the mining campaign planned for these previously untouched and expansive leziria areas along the Cacuilo River,” Lucapa managing director Stephen Wetherall said.

The discovery was preceded by a 46 carat pink coloured diamond recovered at the Lulo mine last week. It was cut and polished into three diamonds.

Meanwhile, the largest stone in carat found at Lulo was a 404 carat diamond the largest recorded gem in Angola, which was discovered in 2016.

Source: australianmining

Indian jeweller’s 12,638-diamond ring sets world record

An elaborate floral-shaped ring sporting 12,638 tiny diamonds has earned a place in the Guinness World Records, but its Indian creator has no plans to sell his priceless design just yet.

Called “The Marigold – The Ring of Prosperity,” the chunky circular band weighs a little over 165 grams (5.8 ounces).

“It’s wearable and comfortable,” said 25-year-old Harish Bansal, who described his audacious creation as a dream project. Bansal said he got the idea two years ago while studying jewelry design in the western city of Surat, India’s diamond hub.

“My target was always more than 10,000 diamonds. I trashed many designs and concepts over the years to finally zero in on this,” Bansal Said.

In a statement, his company said that each tiny petal in the ring’s eight-layer flower design was unique.

Bansal said he had already knocked back requests from prospective buyers.

“We have no plans of selling it right now,” he said. “It’s a matter of pride for us. It’s priceless.”

The previous record determined by Guinness, also set in India, was for a ring containing 7,801 diamonds.

Source: dailysabah

46-Carat pink diamond delivers heart and pear shaped stones

The gem-quality 46 carat rough pink diamond was sold by SML into a cutting and polishing partnership with SML’s preferred buyer, Safdico International.

Under the partnership agreement, SML retained a share in the margin to be generated from the sale of the resultant polished diamonds.

The Lulo partners are pleased to advise the results delivered from cutting & polishing the 46 carat diamond.

The rough diamond delivered three polished diamonds a 15.2 carat Heart and two Pear shaped diamonds weighing 3.3 carats and 2.3 carats.

The main delivery, a 15.2 carat Heart shaped diamond was graded by the Gemmological Institute of America (GIA) as Fancy Intense Orangy Pink, with a clarity grade of VVS1 and Excellent gradings for both polish and symmetry.

The 46 carat pink coloured diamond is the largest gem quality coloured rough diamond recovered to date from Lulo mining operations.

Source: miningreview

Hong Kong Nabs Suspects in Major Smuggling Case

Hong Kong customs officials seized 162 diamonds at a border with China last week, claiming the stones had been smuggled in a driver’s trouser pocket.

The goods had a market value of around HKD 6.4 million ($826,000), making it the largest diamond-smuggling case Hong Kong authorities had detected in the past three years, the Customs and Excise Department said in a statement Friday.

Officers intercepted a truck at Heung Yuen Wai Control Point, a crossing between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, and arrested the 33-year-old male driver, the statement reported. They later arrested another 33-year-old man in Sham Shui Po, a neighborhood of Hong Kong, in connection with the ongoing investigation.

“Customs will continue to take stringent enforcement action against cross-boundary smuggling activities through risk assessment and intelligence analysis,” the department continued. “Smuggling is a serious offence.”

The penalty for this type of crime is a fine of up to HKD 2 million ($258,000) and seven years’ imprisonment, it noted.

The incident comes after Chinese officials arrested 121 people in September in connection with alleged smuggling of diamonds. The suspects were accused of bringing CNY 3.88 billion (around $570 million) in goods into the country via illegal means since 2015.

Source: Diamonds.net

Lucapa Diamond Company sells Angola diamonds for $9M

Lucapa Diamond Company has pocketed a neat $9 million from the latest diamond sales from its Lulo alluvial mine in Angola.

The diamonds were sold through Lucapa’s partners, Empresa Nacional de Diamantes and Rosas & Petalas, for an average US$1550 per carat.

With 4269 carats sold, this brings the total proceeds from the sale to US$6.6 million.

Importantly, this sale price is higher than the year-to-date average of US$1371 per carat.

So far, Lucapa has sold just under 20,400 diamond carats over the 2020 calendar year for US$28 million.

Angola and Lesotho diamond exploration
Lucapa produces diamonds from both the Lulo mine in Angola and the Mothae kimberlite mine in Lesotho a small kingdom completely landlocked by South Africa.

The company faced some turmoil earlier this year when COVID-19 restrictions in Angola and South Africa dealt a blow to Lucapa’s operations.

Nevertheless, operations were back up and running at both mines soon after the end of the September quarter.

So far, Lucapa’s Lulo mine has produced 15 100 carat plus diamonds making it one of the highest dollar-per-carat alluvial diamond producers in the world.

At Mothae, Lucapa has produced over 30,000 carats of diamonds in just one year of production, with three diamonds at over 100 carats each.

Source: themarketherald

Botswana Diamonds acquires Sekaka from embattled Petra

Botswana Diamonds (LON:BOD) said on Monday it had completed the acquisition of Sekaka, the exploration vehicle that belonged to embattled rival Petra Diamonds (LON:PDL) and which held three prospecting licenses in the country’s Central Kalahari Game Reserve.

In one of its licenses, Sekaka had singled out the KX36 kimberlite pipe, which is situated about 70 km from Gem Diamonds’ Ghaghoo mine, and 260 km north-west of Botswana’s capital Gaborone.

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Sekaka also had a recently built, fit-for-purpose bulk sampling plant on-site that includes crushing, scrubbing, dense media separation circuits and X-ray recovery modules within a secured area.

The acquisition includes an extensive database, built up over 15 years of exploration.

Botswana Diamonds believes the information contained in the database will provide substantial support to its future kimberlite exploration activities in the mining-dependent country, the world’s second-largest diamond producer.

“We are delighted that this acquisition has now closed. This paves the way to explore commercial development options for KX36 and begin to evaluate the extensive database in conjunction with ours to discover more kimberlites in prime diamond real estate,” chairperson John Teeling said in a media statement.

Diamond exports from the southern African nation dropped 42% to $1.49 billion in the first nine months of this year as production fell 29% to 12.3 million carats due to covid-related restrictions.

Botswana’s mining sector provides a fifth of the country’s GDP and 80% of its foreign exchange earnings.

Mounting woes
Petra Diamonds, the former owner of Sekaka, has been struggling for over two years. Its weak financial position pushed it to shed non-core assets and put itself up for sale in June.

The company reversed the decision in October, opting instead for a debt-for-equity restructuring. The deal would leave existing shareholders with just 9% of the company.

Petra is also dealing with allegations of human rights abuses at its Williamson mine in Tanzania, resulting from the actions of its security guards.

It recently reported a 36% fall in revenue and a net loss of $223 million (168.7 million pounds) for the year ended June 30, as the coronavirus pandemic deepened the company’s financial woes.

Source: mining.com

Gem Unearths 179ct Rough Diamond

Gem Diamonds has recovered a 179 carat rough diamond from its Letšeng mine in Lesotho.

The miner found the high quality, type I diamond on Thanksgiving Day, it said last week. The stone is the 16th diamond over 100 carats the company has found this year. Earlier this month, Gem Diamonds unearthed 104 and 111 carat specimens from the deposit.

The company has already found more diamonds over 100 carats this year than in 2019, when it reported 11 rough diamonds of that magnitude.

Letšeng also yielded a 14.09 carat, pink, type II diamond of high quality last week from its mine in Lesotho.

The miner unearthed the “top quality” type II stone from the deposit on November 24, it said Wednesday. The discovery comes after the company found a 77 carat yellow diamond at the mine in September.

Gem Diamonds has also found 14 diamonds weighing over 100 carats this year, including 104 and 111 carat diamonds earlier this month.

Source: Diamonds.net

De Beers Buys Petra Blue Diamonds for $40M

De Beers has purchased five rough blue diamonds from Petra Diamonds for more than $40 million in partnership with one of its sightholders.

The miner bought the Letlapa Tala collection together with South African wholesaler and manufacturer Diacore for $40.4 million, split equally between the two companies. The type IIb stones, which originated from Petra’s Cullinan mine in South Africa, weigh a total of 85.6 carats, with the individual diamonds ranging from 9.61 to 25.75 carats, Petra said Wednesday.

The sale price at the November 24 tender exceeded analysts’ predictions. Liberum believed the stones would fetch “in the region of $30 million to $40 million,” while Berenberg predicted approximately $26 million, they told Rapaport News.

“The result of this special tender affirms the very high value placed on blue diamonds,” said Petra CEO Richard Duffy. “We believe this to be the first time that five rough blue diamonds of significant size, color and clarity have been offered for sale at one time, and we are delighted that the collection has been bought in its entirety.”

Diacore, which specializes in manufacturing rare, fancy-color diamonds, has worked with De Beers before. It previously cut the miner’s 203.04-carat De Beers Millennium Star, and has also worked on other well-known stones, such as the CTF Pink Star, a 59.60-carat pink bought by Hong Kong jeweler Chow Tai Fook for $71.2 million in 2017. The manufacturer, with cutting facilities in Botswana, South Africa and Namibia, was also one of the pilot participants in De Beers’ Tracr blockchain initiative.

“We are excited and humbled to have the opportunity to unlock the unparalleled beauty of these rare and extraordinary natural diamonds and share them with the world,” said Paul Rowley, executive vice president of diamond trading at De Beers. “Cullinan has produced some of the most beautiful diamonds the world has ever seen, and these blue diamonds are no exception.”

De Beers and Diacore will select expert craftsmen to study and work with the diamonds before presenting them to the public, De Beers added.

De Beers previously owned the Cullinan mine. It sold the deposit to Petra for $149 million in 2007.

Source: Diamonds.net

Largest ever CVD laboratory-grown diamond hailed a “remarkable achievement”

The International Gemological Institute’s (IGI) Hong Kong laboratory has certified the largest chemical vapor deposition (CVD) laboratory-grown diamond received to date.

With a finished weight of 12.75 carats, this collection-quality man-made gemstone was fashioned from a 46.20 carat CVD-grown rough crystal.

According to its creator, Shanghai Zhengshi Technology, it is the largest CVD lab-grown diamond ever produced.

“For the past 15 years, IGI has been at the forefront of lab-grown certification and education,” stated IGI CEO, Roland Lorie. “With this milestone, the Institute continues to establish itself as the prominent leader in the industry and opens the door for future opportunities to exceed current gemological standards.”

IGI gemologists confirmed the 12.75ct stone was Type IIa, giving it exceptional chemical purity and transparency, with VVS2 clarity, F color, and triple-excellent marks in cut-quality and finish.

Following detailed scientific analysis, the laboratory substantiated that the stone had not undergone any post-growth treatments, so it can be categorised as a pure CVD diamond.

“A laboratory-grown diamond of this carat weight, with such a high clarity and color grade, is a remarkable achievement in CVD cultivated diamond technology,” said IGI Hong Kong managing director, Bob Van Es. “As the industry leader in the certification of laboratory-grown diamonds, IGI will continue to follow these new developments closely.”

This news comes only three months after the IGI analysed the Guinness World Record-holding biggest black lab-grown diamond.

Source: professionaljeweller