News – Page 64

Sarine to Buy Majority Stake in Grading Lab GCAL

Sarine Technologies has agreed to acquire a majority share in New York-based Gem Certification and Assurance Lab (GCAL) amid a push to expand in the American market.

“At the beginning of last year, we started ramping up our activities in the US,” Sarine CEO David Block told Rapaport News on Thursday. “Due to that, the discussions with regard to this [deal] ramped up along with our involvement in the US market. This [deal] should be quite a significant jump in the scope of our business in the US.”

Israel-based Sarine has signed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding (MoU) to purchase the stake for an all-cash consideration, it announced in a statement on Wednesday. The parties plan to reach a final agreement in a few months once due diligence is complete, Block said. The companies have not disclosed the sale price or the size of the share.

GCAL will continue to offer its customers the same products and services as before the deal, and its executives will remain in charge, Sarine said.

However, while currently operating out of a single location in New York, GCAL will be able to implement Sarine’s e-Grading — an automated grading service using artificial intelligence (AI) — to develop the lab’s capabilities across the US and globally. The companies will begin integrating their technology and services even before the deal closes, Block explained. Sarine will continue to offer its services independently outside the US.

Founded in 2001 by Don Palmieri, family-owned GCAL is known for providing diamond certificates carrying a guarantee, rather than just reports that act as a description of grades. In 2021, it launched 8X, a cut-grading standard that it claims is more exacting than the industry’s triple Ex score.

“Sarine’s technologies will allow us to continue to abide by [our] key code of ethics while still expanding our services to meet the growing demand by consumers seeking confidence that their acquired products and services meet all norms of quality and sustainability,” said GCAL chief operating officer Angelo Palmieri.

Source: rapaport.com

20,000 jobs lost in Surat as diamond demand fades

Plummeting demand for cut and polished diamonds in the West and China has pushed some 20,000 workers out of work in the last one month in Surat, where 80% of the diamonds sold globally are polished.

Surat, the main centre of India’s diamond industry, offers employment to some 800,000 workers in its 4,000-odd cutting and polishing units. But work has been drying up, forcing the units to work at 60-70% capacity, said Damji Mavani, secretary of Surat Diamond Association (SDA). It also means fewer workers are needed.

“Fear is looming large in the diamond city of Surat whether the recession of 2008 will be repeated this year too,” said Bhavesh Tank, vice president of Diamond Workers Union, Gujarat. “Orders are fewer and so the workload is less. Therefore, the units are reducing workforce. Some units are cutting down work days so that they do not have to pay the workers on days when they are not working.”

According to Tank, nearly 20,000 diamond workers in Surat have lost jobs in the last one month.

The US is the biggest market for cut and polished diamonds, followed by China.

India’s diamond exports began slowing in November last year. According to data from the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), overall gross exports of cut and polished diamonds in the April to November period of FY23 declined by 5.43% from the year-ago period.

Another reason is the dropping price of the polished pieces. While the price of rough diamonds continues to be high, that of the polished ones have softened due to low demand, which is impacting the margins of diamantaires and forcing them to reduce workforce.

Mavani of SDA said the workers who have lost their jobs will find work in other areas. “There is a 30% vacancy in most of the factories,” he said.

However, there’s an air of uncertainty in Surat due to the fear of recession in the US, Europe and China. “We do not know when the situation will improve. It may take one year for a robust uptick in demand from overseas markets,” the SDA secretary said.

“With the pandemic in China making a comeback and there are no signs of respite from the war between Russia and Ukraine, inflation soaring in some parts of the world, we are out there for some tough times,” said Vipul Shah, chairman, GJE ..

Shah said the drop in price of polished diamond is eating into the margins of traders.

Traders said business in polished diamonds is also sluggish because of the seasonal lull, lingering economic uncertainty, and the slowdown in China. Although China eased its Covid-19 lockdowns last month, another outbreak stifled the recovery ahead of their Lunar New Year.

Source: economictimes.indiatimes

GIA Launches The Digital Diamond Dossier

The start of 2023 marks a significant milestone in the digital transformation of the global diamond industry – the launch of the fully digital GIA Diamond Dossier, the most widely available diamond grading report in the world. The GIA Diamond Dossier is available for D-to-Z diamonds from 0.15 to 1.99 carats without colour treatments. Printed GIA Diamond Dossier reports issued before January 2023 remain valid.

Tom Moses, GIA Executive Vice President and Chief Laboratory and Research Officer, said, “The launch of the digital GIA Diamond Dossier report starts the conversion of all GIA’s laboratory reports to a modern digital format. This important change improves data security, offers efficiencies across the supply chain and reduces our reliance on paper.”

The first digital GIA Diamond Dossier report was issued at the GIA laboratory in Ramat Gan, Israel, on Monday, 2nd January 2023. More than 33 million printed GIA Diamond Dossier reports were issued since the introduction of the service in 1998.

Pritesh Patel, GIA’s Chief Operating Officer, added, “In 2025, when all GIA reports are digital, retailers and consumers will find greater convenience and a more immersive experience. Eliminating printed reports is an important advancement, reducing the impact of using, shipping and storing the nearly 40 tons of paper and plastic that go into printed GIA reports each year.”

The secure digital GIA Diamond Dossier is available in the reimagined GIA App or on computers, tablets and phones through the robust and secure online GIA Report Check Service and the GIA advanced application programming interface (API) for commercial users. The digital report service includes a Report Access Card with the report number, a QR code linking to the digital report and 4Cs information to embed into receipts, invoices and e-commerce sites.

The new GIA App is widely available for Apple and Android devices. The Android app for China is in development and will be available at a later date. The GIA Match iDTM inscription matching service is expected to be available in the first half of 2023, accessible exclusively through the reimagined GIA App.

Printed GIA Diamond Dossier reports issued before January 2023 remain valid.

Antwerp Diamond Polishers Develop Device That Uses AI to Grade Colored Stones

Chroma Diamonds founded by Alexander Appels and Jan De Henau is a relatively new company in the Antwerp diamond district, which specializes in colored diamonds. Stymied by the relatively “subjective process of color grading”, the 2 have set out on a mission to develop a device that provides more objective measurements for the grading of colored stones.

The device will utilize AI gathering data points and becoming smarter with each new set of inputs. They believe with sufficient time the device would learn enough to be able to more accurately grade certain stones, especially in resolving cases where certain grading criteria place the value of diamond on the edge of a color category but not quite enough to satisfy it being classified in the next grade above.

“Customers come to us with high expectations. After all, the value of their diamond is determined by, among other things, the color and intensity of that color, and let it (partly) depend on the cut and the people in the grading office, we hear. Because it is they who assign the diamond an official color, and therefore also determine its value definitively,” explains Appels.

Though this idea is not new to the Diamond District the duo has taken things one step further receiving support from the innovation process of the City of Antwerp. They plan on using and testing the device in their own business first as proof-of-concept before taking it to the greater market.

Source: Bloovi

Stolen Dresden diamonds recovered in Berlin police raid

German police seized large parts of the stolen treasures from the 2019 looting of Dresden’s famous “Green Vault.”

During a raid in Berlin in the early hours of Saturday, police special forces and public prosecutors found and secured 31 items representing a “significant part” of the stolen artifacts, authorities said.

In an initial inspection, investigators found that several pieces appeared to be intact, among them the hat decoration and star of the Polish Order of the White Eagle from the stolen diamond set.

The items were transferred to Dresden under the protection of special police forces, where they’ll be examined forensically and then by specialists from the Dresden State Art Collections to check their authenticity.

The Dresden incident was one of a number of heists carried out at German museums in recent years. In November, thieves broke into a museum in Bavaria and made off with nearly 500 ancient gold coins worth several million euros.

In 2020, a Berlin court convicted three men of stealing a 100-kilogram (220-pound) gold coin worth $4 million from a museum in the center of the German capital.

Source: mining.com

Top Lots Smash Estimates at Phillips Jewelry Sale

A pink-diamond necklace led the most recent jewelry auction at Phillips, smashing its high estimate to bring in $1.9 million following a “fierce” bidding battle.

The oval, 4.05-carat, fancy-intense-pink diamond pendant by Boodles was estimated at $800,000 to $1.2 million at the December 13 New York sale. It is one of eight lots in the top 10 that beat their presale high price tags.

In total, the sale garnered $7.4 million, with 81% of items on offer finding buyers.

“We are delighted to conclude the year on such a high note,” said Benoît Repellin, worldwide head of jewelry for Phillips. “With enthusiastic bidding across the globe — from Egypt, to Korea, to Brazil — the sale demonstrated the continued appeal for rare colored and colorless diamonds, as well as for exceptional signed pieces.”

*A round cut-cornered rectangular modified brilliant-cut, 30.65-carat, fancy-intense-yellow diamond ring sold for $693,300, exceeding its $500,000 high estimate.*

NECKLACE WITH 42 ENGAGEMENT RING DIAMONDS

*Drake For All The Times I Wanted To Propose*

Drake isn’t afraid to fall in love, and now he’s got an insanely flashy piece of jewelry to prove it — a necklace with 42 engagement ring diamonds — for all the times he’s wanted to propose.

Celebrity Jeweler Alex Moss tells TMZ … Champagne Papi’s new piece is called “Previous Engagements,” a tribute to all the women Drizzy contemplated asking to marry him, but never went through.

In total, we’re told the piece’s 42 stones count for 351.38 carats in diamonds. On top of all the ice, it’s made using 18K white gold and was set using the eagle claw technique.

Alex tells us the entire thing took 14 months to complete and was built by hand in NYC … though he won’t reveal how much it cost.

Drake debuted it at Lil Baby’s birthday concert in Atlanta last Saturday at State Farm Arena.

42 may seem like a lot, but there’s always room to add more for The Certified Lover Boy.

Source: tmz.com

Sarine Claims Win in Infringement Case

*Sarine headquarters in Hod Hasharon, Israel.*

An Indian court has found five manufacturers in Surat guilty of copyright infringement and the illegal use of Sarine Technologies’ software, the Israel-based company reported.

“The court’s ruling has made it clear that any company using unlicensed or pirated Advisor software is breaking the law,” said Sarine CEO David Block in a statement Sunday, referring to its rough-planning technology. “We intend to aggressively protect our IP [intellectual property] and will continue taking action against any entities involved in infringement.”

Sarine took legal action against several companies in and around the Indian manufacturing city of Surat in May. Court commissioners visited the premises of the alleged infringers on May 18, Sarine said at the time.

The court has also ordered the entities in question — Gopi Impex, Nirghay Impex, Pramukh Gems, Dhiren Diamonds and Bhumika Gems — to remove the infringing software from their computers, according to the company, which provides diamond-scanning equipment for the manufacturing industry. Rapaport News was unable to reach the alleged infringers for comment.

Source: Diamonds.net

Lucara Expects to Sell More Diamonds for More Money in 2023

Canadian miner Lucara Diamond has announced that it expects to sell between $200 million to $230 million worth of diamonds from its Karowe mine in Botswana in 2023 – an increase over its previous forecast of $185-$215 million in 2022, IDEX Online reports.

Lucara also said it expects to sell 385,000 to 415,000 carats (up from 300,000 to 340,000 carats in 2022) and expects to recover 395,000 to 425,000 carats (an increase from 300,000 to 340,000 carats).

Recently, Lucara announced that it has extended its sales agreement with HB Trading to sell +10.8-carat rough diamonds from Karowe for another ten years. Lucara and HB partnered in 2020 to sell Karowe’s large, high-value diamonds “that have historically accounted for about 60% to 70% of its annual revenues,” according to a report by Rough & Polished.

472 Carat Diamond Lucara — *Rough Diamond from Lucara*

Source: israelidiamond

303ct. Golden Canary Sets Sales Soaring at Sotheby’s

The 303.10-carat Golden Canary fetched $12.4 million at Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels in New York on Wednesday, becoming the third most valuable yellow diamond ever sold at auction, the company reported.

The pear-shaped, fancy-deep-brownish-yellow stone is the world’s largest known internally flawless diamond. It is also the largest flawless or internally flawless diamond graded by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), Sotheby’s said Thursday. The auction house offered the piece without reserve, but predicted it would bring in more than $15 million.

The diamond was initially discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the early 1980s. Originally called the Incomparable Diamond, the stone was recut from its previous 407-carat shield shape to deepen the color and brighten the hue.

“The Golden Canary captivated me from the moment I saw it — with its monumental size, golden hue and impeccable clarity — it is truly an extraordinary diamond with immense presence,” said Quig Bruning, head of jewelry for the Americas at Sotheby’s.

Source: Diamonds.net