Petra sells 299 carat diamond for $12.18 million
Petra Diamonds has sold a 299.3 carat diamond recovered in January at its iconic Cullinan mine, in South Africa, to Belgium-based Stargems DMCC for $12.18 million.
The exceptional Type 11a white gem-quality rock achieved a price of $40,701 per carat, which exceeds the $34,386/ct received for the 424.89 carat “Legacy of the Cullinan Diamond Mine” in May 2019.
The freshly sold find adds to other most famous diamonds unearthed at Cullinan, such as “The Blue Moon of Josephine”. This 29.6 carat blue diamond sold for $48.5 million in 2015, a world record price per carat for any diamond sold at an auction at the time.
The company’s board approved such reorganization in January, and Petra expects to finish the process around the end of March.
Petra’s shares slumped by more than 80% last year as the covid-19 pandemic battered the global diamond sector, with mines forced to shut down while consumer demand continued to fall.
Source: Mining.com
Meghan Markle accused of wearing earrings from Mohammed bin Salman
The Duchess of Sussex wore the dramatic diamond earrings to a state dinner in Fiji, three weeks after the Saudi crown prince allegedly ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Meghan Markle’s representatives hit back Tuesday at a bombshell news report that she faced an official complaint of bullying from several Kensington Palace staff members, and blasted “spurious allegations” related to another problematic choice — a pair of earrings worn to a state dinner in Fiji.
As reported by the Times in the UK, the Duchess of Sussex wore diamond earrings to the dinner during her and Prince Harry’s visit there in 2018. The Times said the earrings were a wedding gift from controversial Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Times said.
The dinner, hosted by the president of Fiji, took place three weeks after Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered at the Saudi embassy in Turkey a killing that U.S. intelligence agencies say was ordered by bin Salman.
At the time, multiple outlets, including Elle, reported that the dramatic diamond earrings were borrowed from the royal family.
According to the Times, the duchess didn’t deny that she said the earrings were borrowed, “despite being aware of their provenance.” But in a statement, her spokesperson objected to “spurious allegations regarding the use of gifts loaned to the duchess by the Crown.”
People magazine reported that the earrings were gifted on March 7, 2018, from the Saudi royal family, who is represented by bin Salman. The crown prince met with the queen at Buckingham palace during a three-day visit to launch a Saudi U.K. economic and investment partnership. At the time, bin Salman was viewed by Western leaders and the media as a potential force for progressive change in the Middle East, but that view changed with the death of Khashoggi.
Neither Meghan or Harry was present when the earrings were received by Buckingham Palace, People said. As is protocol, any wedding gift of this nature remains the property of The Crown, People added. According to The Sun, her lawyers said that her were aware who the earrings were from, while Meghan wasn’t aware of rumors that bin Salman was involved in Khashoggi’s murder.
The Times report comes five days before Meghan and Harry are set to appear on CBS in a highly-anticipated, “wide-ranging” interview with Oprah Winfrey. It appears timed to cast Meghan in a less glowing light.
The Times report said current and former palace employees approached the newspaper, concerned that the Winfrey interview would be one-sided and that the palace had not adequately addressed their concerns about the bullying.
The interview already has been recorded, and the legendary talk-show host says in promotional ads that the couple reveal “shocking things” about Meghan’s “almost unsurvivable” time in the royal family. The couple also are expected to discuss their decision to stop being working royals and re-locate to Meghan’s home state of California.
A spokesperson for the Sussexes said the bullying allegations reported by the Times make them victims of “a calculated smear campaign” that is based on “misleading and harmful misinformation.” The statement said the duchess was “saddened by this latest attack on her character, particularly as someone who has been the target of bullying herself and is deeply committed to supporting those who have experienced pain and trauma.”
Attorneys for the Sussexes also refuted the bullying allegations, saying that The Times is “being used by Buckingham Palace to peddle a wholly false narrative.”
The fact that such allegations are being aired publicly shows how bitter the conflict has grown between the Sussexes and the royal establishment since the couple left the U.K. at the end of 2019.
The employees told the Times they were bullied by the U.S.-born former TV actress after she married Prince Harry in May 2018. One former employee, who was not named in the Times story, said they had been personally “humiliated” by Meghan, while another aide discussed experiencing “more like emotional cruelty and manipulation.”
An official October 2018 complaint, made by Jason Knauf, the couple’s communications secretary at the time, also said Meghan drove two personal assistants out of the household and was undermining the confidence of a third staff member, the Times said.
Royal sources additionally told the Times about a tense atmosphere in Kensington Palace where Meghan and Harry lived alongside Prince William and Kate Middleton until splitting their Sussex and Cambridge households at the beginning of 2019. The Times said staff would be “reduced to tears,” while another, anticipating a confrontation with Meghan, reportedly told a colleague: “I can’t stop shaking.”
The Times report also said staff had a “difficult” time on the couple’s royal tour of Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga in October 2018. Meghan had just announced she was pregnant with their son, Archie, and the tour was widely covered, with reporters covering every move she made and every outfit she wore.
Fashionistas raved about the “showstopper” blue cape Safiyaa gown Meghan wore to the dinner hosted by the president of Fiji. It was her first state dinner, and Elle reported that she accessorized the gown with earrings that were “borrowed from the royal family.”
At the time, Elle said Kensington Palace wouldn’t confirm to reporters which member of the royal family she borrowed the earrings from, but “some speculate it was the queen.” Another publication, The Court Jeweler, agreed that the earrings “definitely made a statement,” but thought they might have been borrowed from her mother-in-law, Camilla Parker Bowles.
Several months later, People magazine, citing a Daily Mail report, described how Meghan had been especially eager to make a good impression at the state dinner in Fiji. She wanted to complete her look with a tiara but Prince Charles said no, explaining to her that wearing such a sparkling accessory would be viewed as too “extravagant” in some Commonwealth countries.
Tiaras are usually reserved for royal weddings or state banquets with visiting dignitaries at Buckingham Palace, People explained.
“Meghan did not understand all of this because she was new to the role and so Prince Charles told her that it would not be appropriate,” the source told the Daily Mail at the time. Charles’s advice was “kindly” dispensed.
Source: mercurynews
Alrosa to Sell 242ct. Rough Diamond
Alrosa will auction a 242.31-carat diamond in Dubai later this month, one of the largest gem-quality rough stones the Russian miner has unearthed in the past decade, it said Friday. The opening price will be in excess of $2 million.
The March 22 sale will mark Alrosa’s 100th large-diamond auction. The company rarely trades Russian-mined rough diamonds of this magnitude — those that can produce a 100-carat polished stone or larger — because the law grants the state the right to examine and buy them.
“Even when it is possible to put them on sale on the market, we prefer to cut and polish the diamond[s] in-house,” said Evgeny Agureev, Alrosa’s head of sales. “Thus, today we are especially pleased to present this exceptional lot as part of our 100th international auction.”
Viewings will take place at Alrosa’s sales office in Dubai from March 14 to 21. Rough diamonds weighing 190.74 and 136.21 carats will also be available, as will several other stones above 10.8 carats.
Source: Diamonds.net
Lucapa recovers third 100+ carat diamond for 2021
Lucapa Diamond Company has discovered a 114-carat white diamond from the Lulo alluvial diamond mine in Angola, Africa.
The 114-carat Type IIa D-colour white diamond is the third diamond mined from Lulo’s mining block 46 (MB46) in the last eight weeks.
Lucapa managing director Stephen Wetherall said block 46 was the best mined block to date.
Lucapa stated that the new discovery demonstrated the value of Lulo’s Canguige catchment and its adjacent kimberlites.
“To date, MB46 has averaged one 100-plus carat diamond recovered for every ~33,000 billion cubic metres of gravel processed. This is the best occurrence rate for any block mined to date at Lulo, including the prolific MB08,” Lucapa stated.
The 114 carat diamond is the 19th 100-plus carat diamond recovered from Lulo.
Lucapa started commercial diamond production at the site in 2015.
The recovery follows Lucapa’s announcement of discovering a 215-carat diamond from its Mothae kimberlite mine in Lesotho, Africa this week.
Lucapa plans to expand Mothae to a 1.6 million tonnes a year processing capacity, a 45 per cent increase from its current rate.
Source: australianmining
De Beers Posts First Loss Since 2009
De Beers recorded its first annual loss since the aftermath of the global financial crisis as rough sales and prices slumped during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The miner’s underlying loss came to $102 million in 2020, compared with a profit of $45 million in 2019, parent company Anglo American reported Thursday. De Beers had not been in the red since 2009, according to Rapaport records.
“The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, and measures taken by governments in response, had a profound impact on global diamond supply and demand,” the group explained. “Much of the industry was temporarily unable to operate, with up to 90% of jewelry stores closed at the peak of lockdowns, first in China, then in Europe and the US.”
Revenue slid 27% to $3.38 billion last year as the coronavirus closed stores, froze the Indian manufacturing sector, and prompted De Beers to offer sightholders unprecedented purchase flexibility. Rough sales volume fell 27% to 21.4 million carats.
The company’s rough price index, which tracks prices on a like-for-like basis, dropped 10%, reflecting reductions De Beers made from the August sight onward. The average realized price slipped 3% to $133 per carat as the miner sold a larger proportion of higher-value rough than in 2019, with both midstream and inventory mix influencing this trend.
Underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell 25% to $417 million as a result. A depreciation and amortization charge of $417 million, as well as finance costs, pushed the company out of the black.
However, an easing of restrictions and better trading conditions led to a partial recovery in the second half, with China showing an especially strong rebound and US demand “encouraging,” De Beers added.
“Recent consumer demand trends have been positive in key markets, and industry inventories are in a healthier position, providing the potential for a continued recovery in rough-diamond demand during 2021,” the company noted. Covid-19 could still affect this optimism, it cautioned.
Source: Diamonds.net
Lucapa finds massive white diamond at Mothae
Lucapa Diamond Company has recovered a 215-carat diamond from the Mothae kimberlite mine in Lesotho, Africa.
The discovery is the largest Type IIa D-colour white diamond recovered through the 1.1 million tonnes a year Mothae plant since mining operations commenced in January 2019.
The stone is also the second 200-carat-plus and fifth 100-carat-plus diamond recovered through the plant.
Lucapa managing director Stephen Wetherall said the continued recovery of large diamonds at Mothae validated its recent investment decision to expand capacity at the mine.
The company plans to expand Mothae’s processing capacity by around 45 per cent to 1.6 million tonnes a year.
This is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2021.
“Lucapa has now produced 23 (100-carat-plus) diamonds, four of which are greater than 200 carats (across the two mines) and we, together with the (Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho) as mine partner in Lesotho and Endiama and Rosas & Petalas as mine partners in Angola, look forward to many more such exceptional mining recoveries,” Wetherall said.
The Lesotho Government holds a 30 per cent stake in the Mothae mine, with Lucapa holding the remaining 70 per cent.
Source: Australian mining
Diamonds with Fake Inscriptions Turn Up at GIA
The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has recently received “a number of” lab-grown or treated stones carrying natural-diamond reports and fake inscriptions, the organization warned.
Clients submitted the stones for updated reports or verification services, but the grading documents that came with the goods did not match the stones, the GIA explained Tuesday. The weights and grading scores of the lab-grown and treated diamonds were close but not identical to the original stones that appeared on the reports, and they all featured the corresponding natural-diamond report numbers in the form of counterfeit girdle inscriptions.
In one example, a stone submitted was a 1.51212-carat, D-color, VVS2-clarity, type IIa, lab-grown diamond with a cut grade of “very good.” However, the accompanying report — for which the client was seeking an update — was for a 1.50362-carat, VVS2, E, type I natural diamond with “excellent” cut.
In line with its policy, the GIA overwrote all the fraudulent inscriptions with X’s to obscure them, it added. The organization also issued new reports with the accurate details, and engraved the correct report number onto the girdle, and, where relevant, the phrase “laboratory-grown.” In these cases, it also considers informing the client that submitted the stone, law enforcement, and the public, the GIA noted.
Last month, the institute revealed that it had spotted three synthetic moissanites that clients had submitted with forged girdle inscriptions that disguised them as natural diamonds. The cases at its Johannesburg laboratory were the first times the GIA had discovered fake inscriptions on diamond simulants.
Source: Diamonds.net
DCLA pricelist 2021
DCLA gemological testing and diamond grading reports price list for 2021.
Swiss Watch Trade Sees 12th Month of Decline
Swiss watch exports fell 11% year on year to CHF 1.59 billion ($1.78 billion) in January, the 12th consecutive monthly drop, as demand slowed in the US and in key Asian markets.
Shipments to the US declined 11% to CHF 183.3 million ($204.5 million), partly because strong figures in January 2020 created an unfavorable comparison, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry said Thursday.
Supply to Hong Kong dipped 9% to CHF 169.3 million ($188.9 million) last month as market conditions deteriorated, while exports to the UK and Japan slumped due to the tightening of Covid-19 measures, it added. January also had one fewer business day than the same period a year earlier.
The negative figures outweighed a 58% jump in orders from China, for a total of CHF 255 million ($284.5 million), mirroring a continued recovery of the retail sector on the mainland.
Globally, cheaper watches saw a sharper downturn, with shipments of timepieces priced under CHF 200 ($223) sliding 31% by value. Exports of watches with wholesale prices ranging from CHF 200 to CHF 500 ($558) decreased 26%, while goods valued between CHF 500 and CHF 3,000 ($3,347) suffered a decline of 25%. Shipments of items above that price level slipped 4.1%.
The numbers point to a worsening of the situation versus December, when the global decline was the mildest since the start of the pandemic as Chinese demand rose. The trade hasn’t witnessed a year-on-year increase since January 2020.
“The result for the month will nonetheless have only a limited effect on the upward trend seen since last summer, and a return to significant growth is expected over the next few months,” the federation noted.
Source: Diamonds.net