ALROSA held its first auction this year for special size (over 10.8 carats) rough diamonds in Israel.
The company sold 92 large rough diamonds with a total weight of 1,570 carats. The overall revenue from sales amounted to $9.6 million. Firms from Israel, Russia, Hong Kong, Belgium, India, the United Arab Emirates and the United States participated in the auction, the miner said.
“The auction in Israel is the first in our schedule, and we are satisfied with its results,” said Evgeny Agureev, Member of the Management Board, Director of the United Sales Organization at ALROSA.
“Until the end of the year, we will hold five more auctions here. We also continue to analyze the situation in the global diamond market and see some difficulties with demand, however, in the next two months we expect it to recover.”
In 2018, ALROSA held six auctions for special size rough diamonds in Israel, with revenue for the year reaching almost $90 million.
Alrosa’s sales increased in the third quarter amid stronger demand and a move toward larger diamonds, the miner reported.
Revenue from rough stones rose 12% year on year to $949 million for the three months ending September 30, the Russian company said Monday. While sales volume fell 11% to 6.7 million carats, the average price grew 26% to $142 per carat. Prices have climbed 5.2% since the beginning of the year on a like-for-like basis, it added.
“Average realised prices for rough, gem quality diamonds grew, driven by both general demand growth and a higher share of large diamonds,” the miner explained.
Meanwhile, polished-diamond sales surged 83% to $24.1 million.
Production grew 2% to 10.5 million carats during the quarter as the miner increased ore processing at its Jubilee pipe, and raised output at the Udachny and Severalmaz divisions.
In the first nine months of the year, revenue from rough stones improved 9% to $3.59 billion, and polished revenue increased 9% to $74 million. By volume, sales for the period fell 9% to 29.1 million carats. Production dropped 11% to 26.4 million carats due to the shutdown of the miner’s Mir asset and the termination of open-pit mining at the Udachnaya pipe, Alrosa said.
Alrosa has offered some of its inventory for sale over the past year to offset the lower production. As a result, its stockpiles have decreased 11% to 15.5 million carats as of September 30, compared with a year earlier.
Alrosa maintained its forecast of an 8% decline in production to 36.6 million carats this year, compared with 39.6 million carats last year.
Image: Rough diamonds on a grader’s table. (Alrosa)
ALROSA subsidiary JSC Almazy Anabara has recovered a 28.59 carat rough diamond of deep greenish yellow hue the biggest yellow found so far this year.
ALROSA said that following an appraisal, the color of the stone has been determined as fancy intense yellow.
The diamond, discovered at Ebelyakh placer deposit in July, has dimensions of 11.40 x 19.00 x 17.50 mm, and has “insignificant colorless inclusions on the surface,” the miner said.
“This stone is unique because nature seemed to have prepared it for cutting in advance and gave it a pear-like shape,” said Evgeny Agureev, a Member of the Executive committee, and Director of the United Selling Organization of ALROSA.
The United Selling Organization and the company’s cutting division, DIAMONDS ALROSA, have yet to study the diamond and decide whether to auction it as a rough stone or to cut and polished it.
The Almazy Anabara is a leader in producing fancy colored stones. In 2017, it produced a 27.85 carat pure pink diamond the largest pink stone in ALROSA’s history, and a large 34.17 carat vivid yellow diamond.
ALROSA plans to focus its cutting division on the processing of large and colored diamonds and the subsequent sales. Starting this year, ALROSA has been sorting colored diamonds according to a new technology, that includes almost all hues and color grades. Most of these diamonds are processed by DIAMONDS ALROSA the company’s polished diamond unit.
ALROSA produces at least 7,000 carats of colored diamonds per year. In September, it held a True Colors auction in Hong Kong, where it showcased a collection of 250 diamonds of different shapes and hues. The company said it plans to run such auctions regularly.
Alrosa the world’s largest diamond miner, will hold an auction for the sale of special size rough diamonds weighing over 10.8 carats in Israel from August 19 to September 6.
The company will auction 202 gem quality rough diamonds with a total weight of 3,165 carats. About 100 companies from Israel, Belgium, India, Hong Kong and Russia were invited to participate in the auction.
“The end of summer is traditionally a good time for auctions the demand for rough diamonds is growing. It is also relevant for Israel where our goods are always in demand and most local companies specialize in large size rough diamonds. According to all these factors we made changes to our plans and increased the number of stones for the sale. Now we look forward to a high demand for our diamonds and good results of the auction,” said Evgeny Agureev, a Member of the Executive committee, Director of the USO ALROSA.
Under Russian law, diamonds of special sizes weighing over 10.8 carats can only be sold at auctions.
ALROSA will hold another auction in Israel in November.
The Mouawad Group has acquired the 51.38 carat Dynasty diamond, the central diamond in a collection offered for sale by ALROSA.
The total revenue from the sale of the Dynasty collection amounted to about $10 million.
Fred and Pascal Mouawad, co-guardians of the jewelry firm, said: “We’re very proud of this important acquisition. We will add it to our repertoire of historic diamonds. What attracted us to the Dynasty is not only its exceptional quality but the transparency of its history and the fact it’s the largest and most valuable diamond ever sold by ALROSA. It’s a rare gem with a remarkable record.”
ALROSA sold the Dynasty diamond at a public auction on its electronic trading platform on August 2. The miner said that the Dynasty stone, a traditional round brilliant-cut diamond, D color, VVS1 clarity was the best quality large diamond ever manufactured in Russia, and also the most expensive stone ever sold by ALROSA.
The Dynasty collection consisted of five diamonds manufactured from a 179-carat rough diamond. It took a year and a half to create the collection which was manufactured by the firm’s cutting and polishing division.
ALROSA held the first auction for the sale of the collection last November where four of the five stones were sold with final prices coming in at about 30% over reserve prices on average, the miner said.
The Diamond Producers Association announced the launch of their operations in the country to build confidence among consumers.
India polishes 85 90 percent of the diamonds today accounts for only seven percent of the global polished diamond consumption. DPA believe this is a huge opportunity to build the India market by promoting the integrity and reputation of diamonds and ensuring the sustainability of the industry.
DPA has reached out to 3,000 retailers and will offer training and education in diamonds. DPA will expand training across the country.
The DPA is an alliance between ALROSA, De Beers, Dominion Diamond, Gem Diamonds, Lucara Diamond, Petra Diamonds and Rio Tinto. These are the leading diamond miners globally. Which together produce over 75 percent of the world’s rough diamond production.
DPA is also working with the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council to build trade relationships and best trade practices.
There are a number of ways to verify that your diamond matches the diamond certificate it is purchased with. If you purchased a diamond that is laser inscribed, ask your jeweller to show you the laser inscription under magnification. This way, you will always be able to identify the diamond as your own.
DCLA also performs a verification service, for both DCLA certified diamonds and for diamonds certified by other internationally recognised laboratories. Bring or send your diamond, together with the diamond grading certificate, to the DCLA laboratory and the diamond will be conclusively matched against the certificate. DCLA can then cold laser inscribe the diamond with either the diamond grading certificate number, or with a personalised message.
Ask the jeweller if the diamond certificate comes from an independent diamond laboratory or if it produced by a diamond merchant or retailer, then do your research. Make sure the certificate is issued by the DCLA or another highly respected diamond grading laboratory; DCLA is the only diamond grading laboratory worldwide to offer a full-replacement Diamond Grading Guarantee.
Petra Diamonds announced that it had recovered a 138.57-carat, Type IIa, D-colour diamond at its historic Cullinan mine near Pretoria in South Africa. The company said the diamond would be offered for sale in Johannesburg later this month.
