News – Page 111 – The Diamond Certification Laboratory of Australia (DCLA)

China Troubles Dent Luk Fook Sales

Luk Fook’s same store sales dropped 10% in the third fiscal quarter amid economic weakness in greater China.

The depreciation of the Chinese yuan against the Hong Kong dollar led customers to purchase cheaper products in the three months ending December 31, the retailer said Thursday.

Luk Fook, one of Hong Kong’s largest jewelers, derives a significant proportion of its revenue from tourists visiting the municipality from the mainland. The weakening of the yuan during 2018 reduced the purchasing power of those consumers, causing same store sales at branches open for more than a year to fall 9% year on year in Hong Kong and Macau. Same store sales in mainland China slid 14%.

“The recent market sentiment was adversely impacted by the US China trade war, the depreciation of the yuan , and the downward pressure in the stock and property markets,” the company added.

Same-store gold sales in Hong Kong and Macau dropped 9%, while gem set jewelry purchases fell 8%. The currency effect led to a double digit decline in the average selling price of gem set products, the jeweler noted.

In China, same store sales of gold products plunged 16%, while sales of gem set jewelry decreased 5% for the period.

Luk Fook’s results are for its self operated stores, and exclude licensed shops, which form the majority of its stores on the mainland.

Source: Diamonds.net

Kim Kardashian shows off her new grillz

Kim Kardashian has splurged on a new accessory diamonds for her teeth.

The reality star debuted her ‘new grillz’ on Friday posing a picture to her Instagram page.

The image showed a close up of her blindingly white teeth, with the lower teeth all completely covered in tiny diamonds, and her upper teeth baring a tiny cross.

The grill looks to be one Kim collected in November, when she posted a photo after getting her mouth molded for the custom design by jewelry designer Dolly Cohen.

Kim’s husband Kanye West is rarely seen without a fancy grill, and the mother of three has added a few of her own to her jewelry collection.

Back in August she unveiled a Kim grill, which spelled out her name on her lower teeth in diamonds.

Source: dailymail

Tiffany & Co. Will Now Share Where Its Diamonds Come From

The luxury jeweler is leading a new era of diamond transparency with its Diamond Source Initiative.

Always wanted to know where your diamonds come from? Now you’ll be able to with Tiffany & Co.’s new Diamond Source Initiative that champions an era of diamond transparency.

In an industry first, Tiffany will be the only global luxury jeweler to provide consumers with geographic sourcing information specific to their diamond as the brand believes that knowing provenance is critical to ensuring responsible sourcing.

“Tiffany & Co. has long been committed to diamond traceability and going above and beyond industry norms to promote the protection of the environment and human rights,” said Anisa Kamadoli Costa, chief sustainability officer, Tiffany & Co. “A transparent journey of responsible sourcing reflects the many positive and far-reaching benefits along every step of the diamond supply chain.”

Building upon 20 years of investment in responsible sourcing, the Tiffany Diamond Source Initiative will allow the brand to trace each of its individually registered diamonds (0.18 carats and larger) by a unique serial number that’s etched by a laser and invisible to the naked eye.

The initiative has already been rolled out and today, provenance information is displayed alongside a selection of diamond rings in Tiffany stores around the world. In addition, geographic sourcing information for all individually registered diamonds will be made available to consumers via Tiffany & Co. sales professionals and customer service.

By the end of March 2019, Tiffany Diamond Certificates will also include provenance for individually sourced diamonds and in 2020, the brand will begin sharing the craftsman journey (such as cutting and polishing workshop location) of its diamonds as well.

Source: lofficielusa.com

Chow Tai Fook Sales Dip on Economic Slowdown

Chow Tai Fook followed a string of major retailers that have noted a slowdown in greater China as the jeweler’s same-store sales fell in the three months that ended December 31.

“A decline in same-store sales was recorded for both mainland China and Hong Kong and Macau markets in the third quarter amid uncertain macroeconomic environment,” the company said in a trading update Monday.

Same-store sales — at locations open for more than a year — dropped 7% year on year in China and 6% in Hong Kong and Macau. Same-store sales of gold products fell 11% in China and by 6% in Hong Kong and Macau, while gem-set jewelry declined 5% and 8%, respectively.

Other retailers have expressed similar caution about the region, with Cartier owner Richemont noting a slowdown in Hong Kong due to lower tourist spending resulting from a weaker yuan versus the Hong Kong dollar. Tech giants Apple and Alibaba also recently expressed concern about a decline in the region.

Hong Kong’s government this month noted that slower retail growth reflected more cautious consumption sentiment stemming from external uncertainties such as the US-China trade tensions and volatility in global financial markets.

Chow Tai Fook saw lower sales volume but slightly better average prices due to a shift toward higher weights in its gold products, which account for approximately 60% of its total retail revenue. The average price of its gem-set jewelry fell 4% to HKD 6,600 ($841) in China and by 3% to HKD 11,500 ($1,466) in Hong Kong and Macau.

The jeweler reported that total retail sales grew 1% in China, boosted by 259 new points of sale that opened in the country during the quarter, while overall sales in other markets slipped 1%.

Source: Diamonds.net

Eurostar Enters Administration as Debts Mount

Eurostar Diamond Traders has entered restructuring proceedings in Belgium, having amassed substantial debts, according to the company’s court-appointed administrator.

The Antwerp-based diamond manufacturer owes more than $500 million to creditors across its global operations, Alain Van den Cloot, one of the administrators, estimated in an email to Rapaport News.

Two Antwerp courts designated Van den Cloot and a second attorney, Nathalie Vermeersch, as provisional administrators for Eurostar’s Belgian business last month. Their role is to help the company protect its assets and pay off its debts.

“The reasons why [Eurostar] suffered those severe losses the last two years are under investigation,” explained Van den Cloot, a lawyer at de Clippele Advocaten. “Receivables should cover some debts, but if that’s still the situation, I can’t assess right now.”

The court documents list the trustees of bankrupt Antwerp-based diamond company Exelco among those that petitioned the court, as Eurostar owed the Exelco estate $600,320 for an unpaid invoice.

However, Eurostar was also the largest trade creditor of Exelco’s US affiliate, as Exelco North America owed it about $6 million, according to that company’s November 2017 Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

Eurostar has lost its status as a De Beers sightholder, but is still operating, Van den Cloot added.

Source: Diamonds.net

Angola to host first competitive diamond bid sale

The first competitive bid sale of large and premium quality diamonds from the Lulo diamond mine will take place on January 31, 2019, in the Angolan capital of Luanda.

According to a press release issued by Australia’s Lucapa Diamond, owner of a 40% stake in the prolific mine, the stones for sale will the first diamonds offered in a competitive process under the new diamond marketing policy enacted by President Joao Lourenco and the Angolan Council of Ministers.

The bid is organised in by state owned diamond trading firm SODIAM while the diamonds are being offered by Sociedade Mineira Do Lulo, which holds the alluvial mining licence to the Lulo concession and works in partnership with Lucapa, who has a 35-year license for the project. Empresa Nacional de Diamantes E.P. and Rosas & Petalas, also form part of the partnership.

Seven exceptional Lulo diamonds, including a 46 carat pink and six top colour Type IIa white gems ranging from 114 carats to 43 carats, will be showcased.

“Lulo diamonds have already established a reputation as being among the highest quality gems in the world. Together with our Angolan partners, Lucapa is delighted that SML will now start showcasing these exceptional diamonds to the strong interest shown by the world’s leading diamantaires,” Lucapa Diamond Chief Executive Officer, Stephen Wetherall, said in the media brief.

Lulo, a 3,000 square kilometre concession located in Angola’s diamond rich Lunda Norte region, hosts the world’s highest dollar per carat alluvial diamonds and has produced some of the largest gem-quality rocks in the planet.

Angola is the world’s No.4 diamond producer by value and No.6 by volume.

ALROSA Sells $4.41B Of Rough Diamonds In 2018

ALROSA reported the sale of $323.7 million of rough in December and $4.41 billion for all of 2018.

ALROSA’s December sales of rough and polished diamonds increased by 38% YoY to $328.7, with polished diamond sales of $5 million.

Meanwhile, its total diamond sales in 2018 grew 6% YoY to $4.51 billion, with polished sales of $95.3 million.

“A 6% sales growth in 2018 was driven by both high demand for rough diamonds and positive price dynamics in the first half of the year, market demand was strong in all rough diamond categories, and traditional slowdown in demand in the second quarter due to seasonality was not registered this year,” said Evgeny Agureev, Member of the Management Board, Director of the United Sales Organization at ALROSA.

“In the second half of the year, buying activity in the low-priced product segment significantly deteriorated due to a weakening of the global market situation and both seasonality and destocking at a number of Indian midstream companies. At the same time, the company was actively engaged in optimizing its stocks, which made it possible to increase sales in physical terms, despite a decline in production in 2018 by 8% to 36.6 million carats.

“In December, sales in value terms increased by 20% compared to November 2018 due to a flexible pricing policy against the background of seasonal renewed demand and replenishment of stocks by the companies in the cutting sector, which took advantage of the pricing environment. Despite the cooling of the market in the second half of 2018, we expect that the final customer demand will remain at least stable,” he added.

Source: IDEX

Hong Kong Luxury Sales See Rare Drop

Retail sales of jewelry and other luxury items in Hong Kong declined for the first time in 17 months as global economic uncertainties impacted consumer sentiment.

Revenues from jewelry, watches, clocks and other valuable gifts dropped 3.9% to HKD 5.88 billion ($750.8 million) in November, the municipality’s Census and Statistics Department reported Thursday. Sales in all retail categories increased 1.4%, but growth was the slowest in more than 12 months.

“The generally moderated growth in retail sales in recent months reflected more cautious consumption sentiment in the face of various external uncertainties such as the US-mainland trade tensions, and volatilities in the global financial markets,” a government spokesperson said.

Hong Kong-based jewelers Chow Tai Fook and Luk Fook raised concerns in November about the impact of the US-China tariff war and the depreciation of the Chinese yuan on the region’s consumer demand. While proceeds from jewelry and other luxury products jumped 16% to HKD 77.06 billion ($9.84 billion) for the first 11 months of 2018, growth slowed in September and October, according to government figures. The November decline matches Luk Fook’s warning that its same-store sales had dropped in late October and November.

Retail sentiment could suffer further due to a drop in the value of assets consumers own, as well as uncertainty in the global economy, the government added. A positive job market and growth in Hong Kong’s tourist industry — a major source of retail spending in the municipality — should partly support the sector, the spokesperson continued.

Monthly sales of jewelry and other luxury products in the municipality last fell in June 2017, when the market was recovering from a slump in tourism in 2015 and 2016.

Source: Diamonds.net

GEM DIAMONDS WRAPS 2018 WITH A 125-CARAT DIAMOND AT LETSENG

Gem Diamonds has announced the recovery of a 125 carat high quality white, Type IIa diamond. The diamond was recovered on December 20 from the Letšeng mine in Lesotho; it is the 15th diamond greater than 100 carats to be recovered in 2018.

On December 19, the miner announced the recovery of two high quality, white Type IIa diamonds from Letšeng: a 101 carat stone and a 71 carat stone, both recovered within a 24-hour period at Letšeng.

Back in November, Gem Daimonds published its production and sales performance report for Q3 (July 1 to September 30, 2018), showing a rise of 27% in diamond production at Letšeng totaling 35,755 carats. Revenue for the period totaled $21 million, including the sale of eight diamonds for more than $1 million each.

Source: israelidiamond.co.il

Lesedi La Rona May Once Have Been 2,774ct.

The second-largest diamond in history was probably twice as big before it broke into pieces, researchers at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) have claimed.

Similarities between the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona, the 812-carat Constellation and three other stones suggest they were all one large piece of rough weighing at least 2,774 carats before volcanic eruptions or mining processes split them up, the GIA said this week.

Lucara Diamond Corp., which discovered all five diamonds at its Karowe mine in Botswana in November 2015, had already claimed that one of them, a 374-carat stone, was once attached to the Lesedi La Rona. The GIA last year studied three of the other stones — the Constellation, as well as diamonds weighing 296 carats and 183 carats — and speculated that they were also from the same rough.

The theory was strengthened after the GIA gained access to faceted diamonds from the Lesedi La Rona and the 374-carat stone earlier this year, Dr. Ulrika D’Haenens-Johansson, a senior research scientist at the GIA, told Rapaport News Wednesday.

The five diamonds had similar visual characteristics in their rough form, and came from the same part of the Karowe mine at the same time. They also gave results under close gemological analysis that were so similar that it’s unlikely they were unrelated, Dr. D’Haenens-Johansson said. The nature of some of the stones’ surfaces also suggested they had become detached from each other.

“After the 2017 study, all we could do was speculate that all five stones were from the same rough,” she added. “After having the opportunity to examine all five stones in 2018, we are able to reach stronger conclusions. It is probable that there are other unaccounted pieces that would have been part of this historic rough.”

Lucara CEO Eira Thomas said the company had no reason to disagree with the GIA’s findings. Evidence indicates the larger stone broke up both because of natural effects and being knocked around during the recovery process, Thomas noted.

The company used X-ray transmission (XRT) technology to help it recover the five large diamonds. It has since installed additional XRT equipment at Karowe to ensure it unearths exceptional stones as early as possible in the process.

D’Haenens-Johansson presented the findings at the GIA’s International Gemological Symposium in Carlsbad, California, in October, and published a summary in the Fall 2018 issue of Gems & Gemology, the institute’s quarterly journal. The institute is preparing a full, peer-reviewed article in a forthcoming edition of the publication.

Lucara sold the 374-carat diamond to Graff for $17.5 million in May 2017, and subsequently sold the Lesedi La Rona to the same company for $53 million in September of that year. Graff recently unveiled several polished diamonds it had cut from the 1,109-carat rough.

The Constellation went for $63.1 million in 2016 to a partnership comprising Dubai-based Nemesis International and Swiss jeweler De Grisogono.

Image: The Lesedi La Rona. (Donald Bowers/Getty Images/Sotheby’s).

Source: Diamonds.net