Diamonds – Page 48 – The Diamond Certification Laboratory of Australia (DCLA)

Piaget’s Diamond Heliconia Necklace Brings to Mind a Stunning Tropical Bloom

Piaget Wings of Light Diamond Heliconia Necklace

The Diamond Heliconia Necklace, a creation from Piaget’s latest Wings of Light Collection, evokes a tropical bloom with 130 gorgeous pear-shaped diamonds.

Piaget’s latest high jewellery collection, Wings of Light, invites you to escape to a fantasy land of magic, mystery, romance and rarity. The creations embody a flourishing natural utopia, while capturing the splendour of a lush, secret jungle filled with hidden treasures. Drawing inspiration from exotic bird plumage, vibrant flowers and sunsets, a universe of extraordinary shapes and colours awaits.

Showing off the maison’s unsurpassed skill in recreating naturalistic pieces is this Diamond Heliconia Necklace. A breathtaking 130 pear-shaped diamonds and 16 brilliant-cut diamonds totalling 44.81 carats evoke the distinctive tropical blooms with flowering bracts.

The vines intersect to lead the gaze to a spectacular pear-shaped fancy vivid 6.46-carat yellow diamond. Remaining true to the precision the maison is known for, the necklace is a transformable piece that can be worn four different ways.

Source: Piaget

Threat of synthetics is an opportunity for diamond traceability

The Namibia Desert Diamonds General Manager of Sales and Marketing, Lelly Usiku, said the threat of synthetic diamonds has brought about an opportunity in the diamond industry to focus on the traceability of the precious stones to verify diamond origins from the mines to jewellery.

Usiku expressed these sentiments during a panel discussion on the diamond industry and its associated value chains. She further outlined that Covid-19 forced Namdia to investigate the possibilities of online trading in order to replicate the physical viewing with a virtual viewing experience.

Chief Executive Officer of Namdia, Kennedy Hamutenya, said in protecting the image of diamonds, the industry made a commitment in 2008 on the number of producers and manufacturers through the Kimberly Process. He said the process helped squeeze out undesirable elements from the diamond business.

According to Hamutenya, trading partnered states agreed to create a menu for the world and buyers that ensured diamonds on the market would not be associated with conflict diamonds. Conflict diamonds are diamonds mined in a war zone and sold to finance an insurgency, an invading army’s war efforts, or warlord activities.
“So, we said every country must implement systems and procedures from the very starting point of mining to the point of export to ensure that there is no penetration of conflict diamonds.

Today, as we speak, 99.8% of all our diamonds are clean, thanks to the Kimberly Process. We have done everything possible to prevent conflict diamonds to penetrate our pipeline,” Hamutenya stated.

According to him, Namdeb Holdings has spent N$3 billion on local procurement of goods and services for the last financial year.
Also, at the same occasion, Brent Eiseb, CEO of the Namibia Diamond Trading Company, elaborated on their mandate and said they sort and value diamonds. He noted that the process entails highly skilled employees as well as technology.
He added that whether diamond mining happens on land or offshore, the value is only confirmed when the stones go through NDTC’s evaluation process.

“This is an important process as it determines the value of royalties and taxes that is to be paid by producers to the government. Another mandate is to facilitate downstream diamond beneficiation.
We take about N$430 million in indexed diamonds and make them available for value addition in Namibia,” explained Eiseb.
He added that this process is vital because it requires quality infrastructure, especially in Namibia, for cutting and polishing of diamonds and also for creating the most job opportunities.

Eiseb concluded that the diamond industry is important in providing for the country at large through development diamonds. He indicated that 85% of total revenue that is created through the sales of diamonds ends up in state coffers through royalties, taxes, and levies that are payable and dividends.

Source: neweralive

Christie’s Sets $10M Price Tag on Muzo Necklace

A Muzo emerald and diamond necklace is expected to sell for up to HKD 80 million ($10.3 million) when it goes under the hammer at Christie’s Magnificent Jewels auction in Hong Kong on November 29.

The double rivière piece, designed by Edmond Chin for the House of Boghossian, contains 28 perfectly cut and matched, near-flawless emeralds, weighing a total of 117.60 carats. The gems were hand-selected by Boghossian CEO Albert Boghossian, the auction house said Tuesday.

Christie’s expects the necklace to prove extremely popular, given it sold the Grand Muzos, a pair of earrings containing emeralds from the same Colombian mine, for almost $100,000 per carat last year.

“The offering of this necklace marks a major moment in the auction world, and will no doubt create a stir among global connoisseurs,” Christie’s said.

Source: diamonds.net

102 Carat D Flawless Diamond Fetches $15.6 Million

A 102.39 carat D color flawless oval diamond was sold in a single lot auction for more than $15.6 million. The sale by Sotheby’s Hong Kong was the first time a diamond of more than 100 carats was sold in a combined online and live auction and such an important diamond was offered without reserve.

The diamond was purchased by a private Japanese collector who requested anonymity, Sotheby’s said in a statement. The person named the gem, “Maiko Star” after his second daughter. The same collector bought the 88.22 carat “Manami Star” at Sotheby’s in April 2019.

The sale of the Type IIa diamond the purest and rarest kind of mined diamond resulted in the highest price achieved for a diamond sold online and earned the most bids for a world class diamond. In addition, it was only the eighth diamond of more than 100 carats ever sold at auction. The auction house describes the diamond as “perfect,” not only because of its top color and clarity grades, but also for its “excellent polish and symmetry.”

However, the total price fell far short of what similar diamonds sold for at auction.

102.39-carat D-color flawless oval diamond sold in a combined online and live auction — 102.39-carat D-color flawless oval diamond

Lucapa’s sale fresh sign of diamond market recovery

Australia’s Lucapa Diamond and its partners in Angola have sold $5.6 million worth of diamonds from the Lulo mine at their latest event, a fresh sign that the market is slowly improving.

The miner, Angola’s national diamond company (Endiama) and Rosas & Petalas sold 3,862 carats at an average price of $1,450 per carat. The figure took total sales of diamonds recovered so far this year at Lulo mine to 16,128 carats and $21.3 million.

“As foreshadowed, the strong operational performance and record diamond recoveries at Lulo in July and August, together with a recovering diamond demand positively impacting prices, should bode well for Lulo in H2 2020,” Lucapa’s managing director Stephen Wetherall said.

Global demand for all types of diamonds fell between 2018 and 2019, affecting small stones producers the most, due to an oversupply in that segment that dragged prices down.

Increasing demand for synthetic diamonds also weighed on prices. Man-made stones require less investment than mined ones and can offer more attractive margins.

Just when the market seemed to have bottomed out, it was hit in March by the coronavirus pandemic. Its rapid spread forced some mine shutdowns and limited mobility of potential buyers, painting a bleak picture for even the largest diamond miners.

Conditions since have improved and De Beers, the world’s largest diamond producer by value, was the first major producer to come out with good news. It said earlier this month it had made about three times as much in sales of roughs in the seventh sales cycle of the year as it did in the previous event.

The Anglo American unit, which sells diamonds to a handpicked group of about 80 buyers 10 times a year at events called sights, sold $320 million worth of rough diamonds in the seventh cycle. That compares to the $116 million fetched in the previous sight and is not far behind the $400 million De Beers sold on average each month last year.

Angola’s diamond push
Lucapa’s improved sale also come in the midst of Angola’s fresh attempts to boost its local industry. The West African nation is the world’s fifth diamond producer by value and no.6 by volume.

According to official figures, however, only 40% of Angola’s kimberlite has been discovered.

The country’s industry, which began a century ago under Portuguese colonial rule, is successfully being liberalized.

Last year, Angola held its first public diamond auction and since then, producers no longer have to sell at below-market prices to a handful of buyers favoured by the state.

Endiama revealed in February it was seeking international partners in an attempt to place Angola among the world’s top-three diamond producers.

The country currently has 14 diamond mining projects, with the largest being the Catoca mine, which produces 61% of the country’s output.

Catoca is also the world’s fourth-largest diamond mine in the world. It is owned by a consortium of international mining interests, including Endiama, and Russia’s Alrosa.

Source: Mining.com

Ana de Armas Stars in The Natural Diamond Council’s First Ever Celebrity Campaign

The Natural Diamond Council (NDC) announces the imminent launch of its first ever celebrity campaign, starring the actress Ana de Armas.

Ana de Armas is a rising Hollywood star. She recently received a Golden Globe nomination for her role in Knives Out, and she’ll soon appear in the upcoming James Bond film, No Time to Die. Ana de Armas also shines throughout this new multipart campaign, which was developed to celebrate the myriad connections with which natural diamonds are worn or exchanged, and to bring awareness to the Natural Diamond Council’s “Only Natural Diamonds” online platform. The Natural Diamond Council represents seven of the world’s leading diamond producers, all of which must follow the group’s ethical codes, with an emphasis on mindful and sustainable mining practices and the support of women and families in diamond-mining communities. The “Only Natural Diamonds” portal serves as a window of discovery into this natural diamond universe.

The campaign—which was lensed in coastal Portugal, directed by Manu Cossu and photographed by Camilla Åkrans—will be released on September 20, 2020, during the first ever virtual Emmy Awards. Teasers will be dropped in the weeks leading up to the ceremony, and information about the campaign will appear on the NDC’s website from September 16, 2020.

Ana de Armas was approached for the project as she radiates with poise and modernity, and she epitomises an ascendant, free-thinking generation. Her elegant, effervescent and easygoing demeanor reflects the next chapter in the history of natural diamonds; a mindset in which the traditional tenets of diamond-wearing and exchanging are dismantled, leaving an open playing field in their place. From a barefoot party in a fragrant vineyard to a tangerine sunset along the Portuguese coast—diamond baguettes catching and diffusing the glowing rays as the sun slides into the horizon—this new attitude is casual, fun, energetic, present, and, most importantly, driven by connection and experience. Whether heading to a reunion with loved ones after months of isolation, seeing your best friend for a glass of wine after a long day, or taking a twilight walk with a partner, each and every moment is its own—and every moment is like no other.

“I love thinking of diamonds this way, as special emblems of even the small personal moments in our lives,” says Ana de Armas. “They represent joy and warmth and beauty.”

The campaign’s 30-second hero spot airing at the Emmys will be complemented by a series of shorter video segments, spotlighting the various relationships portrayed from the clip. She is seen in laid-back outdoor settings with friends, with a parent, and with a partner. In this, a fresh, opened-up association continues to be emphasised: diamonds are not solely the purview of romantic interests or formal occasions. They are meant for every type of connection.

This new campaign marks a number of firsts for the Natural Diamond Council, in addition to welcoming its first Hollywood headliner. It is the first celebrity-fronted campaign for a diamond group (brand agnostic), adding an important contribution to an industry that supports the livelihoods of roughly 10 million people worldwide. This is also the first campaign dedicated to NDC’s “Only Natural Diamonds” platform, and the first marketing initiative by the NDC to showcase such a diverse roster of jewellery designers that work with natural diamonds in exceptionally modern ways.

“Ana is a true talent, and the dynamism she exemplifies is exactly what we seek to do daily in our support of the natural diamond industry,” says David Kellie, CEO of Natural Diamond Council. “This campaign redefines traditional diamond moments, celebrating a variety of personal connections with these natural stones. It’s a more contemporary approach to the diamond dream, for meaningful moments large or small.”

A selection of the designers and brands featured in the campaign, all of which use diamonds from the Natural Diamond Council’s producers, include: Anita Ko, KATKIM Fine Jewelry, De Beers Jewellers, Ana Khouri, Delfina Delettrez, Gabriel & Co, Zoe Chicco, Eriness, London Jewelers, Jade Trau, Lorraine Schwartz, Suzanne Kalan, Fernando Jorge, Vanleles, Foundrae, Marla Aaron, Nikos Koulis and more.

Following its Emmys debut, the campaign will be featured in print media, including Vogue and Vanity Fair’s respective November 2020 issues, The New York Times, and at online publications ranging from Bustle to Who What Wear. It will, additionally, be featured on non-linear TV, from Hulu to Amazon Fire. The Natural Diamond Council will also distribute campaign materials through its owned channels, including its website, which will feature behind-the-scenes footage and an interview element with Ana de Armas, as well as comprehensive information about the brands and designers that are seen. The campaign will have a global presence, also running in the United Kingdom, China and India.

Source: prnewswire

HB Antwerp Buys Sightholder’s Cutting Factory

HB Antwerp has acquired the manufacturing facility of Belgian large-stone specialist AMC Diamonds, gaining 13 employees alongside the company’s machinery and technology.

“With this acquisition, HB Antwerp confirms its ambition to bring the diamond-polishing process back to Antwerp in its entirety by combining the typical Antwerp savoir faire with the latest techniques in the field of laser technology, blockchain and [artificial intelligence],” a spokesperson for HB said.

Two-thirds of HB’s workforce now comprises technicians such as diamond polishers, software engineers and mechanical engineers, the company explained. It plans to carry out more recruitment in the coming months, HB added.

AMC, a De Beers sightholder, will maintain this status, and still has manufacturing facilities, a spokesperson for the company noted.

HB, which diamantaire Oded Mansori cofounded, partnered with Louis Vuitton earlier this year to buy the 1,758-carat Sewelô diamond from Lucara Diamond Corp. It also agreed to purchase all of Lucara’s rough over 10.8 carats through the end of 2020.

It since hired Boaz Lev from Malca-Amit as operations director and one of its managing partners, and hired former Antwerp World Diamond Centre spokesperson Margaux Donckier as director of communications and external affairs.

Source: Diamonds.net

US citizen charged with running diamond Ponzi scheme, cryptocurrency scam

A 51 year-old US citizen has been charged with running a diamond and cryptocurrency based Ponzi scheme.

The US Department of Justice said on Friday that Aman was the operator of a Ponzi scheme from May 2014 to May 2019. Together with his partners, Aman allegedly solicited individuals to invest in “diamond contracts,” in which their money would be used to buy large, rough, uncut diamonds.

These diamonds would then be cut and polished in order to be resold at a profit. To instill trust in the organization, Aman said that funds were backed by his own physical colored diamond stock, apparently worth $25 million.

As is the case with many Ponzi and get-rich-quick schemes, investors expect to see a cut of the profits and without this, Ponzi schemes are exposed and collapse quickly. Therefore, Aman allegedly used investor funds to pay off earlier investment “interest,” and as more investors joined the pool, the transfer of funds down the chain continued without any legitimate profit obtained from diamond purchases.

When funds ran low and the operator was at risk of being exposed, he allegedly created “Reinvestment Contracts” to entice users to roll over their cash into new ‘deals’ in order to buy Aman time to sign up new investors.

However, this could not carry on forever, and US prosecutors say that Aman set up Argyle Coin as the Ponzi scheme was on the verge of collapse. Argyle Coin claimed to be a cryptocurrency project backed by diamond trading, and as a fresh wave of investment poured into the coffers, only a “fraction of the money received” was used to create a cryptocurrency token.

Instead, the DoJ says the majority of the funds were used to pay off investors from the previous Ponzi program, under the names Natural Diamonds Investment Co. and Eagle Financial Diamond Group Inc.

“During the course of the Ponzi scheme, Aman and his partners collected over $25 million from hundreds of investors,” prosecutors say. “Aman allegedly used the money to make purported interest payments to investors, to pay business expenses, to pay commissions to the partners, and to support his own lavish lifestyle.”

Investor funds were allegedly used for purposes including housing rent, horse purchases, and riding lessons.

In 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission obtained an emergency court order to freeze Argyle Coin’s operations. The US District Court for the Southern District of Florida granted a request for a temporary restraining order and asset freeze while the cryptocurrency organization was investigated.

Aman is facing charges of wire fraud, which could result in up to 20 years behind bars, as well as restitution payments.

Source: zdnet

De Beers sales hint diamond market has bottomed out

De Beers thinks the recovery is at an early stage and that it will take some time to get back to pre-pandemic levels of demand. (Image courtesy of De Beers Group.)
De Beers, the world’s largest diamond producer by value, revealed on Friday it made about three times as much in sales of roughs in the seventh sales cycle of the year as it did in the previous event.

The results, said BMO Analyst Edward Sterck, show the diamond market may have bottomed out and be on the slow road to recovery.

“Whilst the market has been defibrillated, we think it will remain in intensive care for some time, although any improvement is good news for the smaller pure play producers with weak balance sheets,” Sterck said in a note to investors.

De Beers chief executive Bruce Cleaver showed mild optimism, saying the recovery was at an early stage.

“The company, however, expects further market improvement as covid-19 restrictions continued to ease in various locations and manufacturers focus on meeting retail demand for polished diamonds,” Cleaver said in the statement.

The executive said that overall industry sentiment has become more positive as jewellers in the key markets, such as the US and China, gained confidence ahead of the important year-end holiday season.

Lower prices, more flexibility
De Beers has continued to implement a more flexible approach to sales during the sixth and seventh sales cycles of the year, as a result of restrictions triggered by the pandemic.

The usual week long sight holder events have been extended towards near-continuous sales.

It has also cut prices of its stones, sometimes by almost 10% for larger diamonds, in an effort to spark sales.

Before the price reduction, De Beers had made major concessions to their normal sales rules allowing customers to renege on contracts and view diamonds in alternative locations.

Along with Russia’s Alrosa, the world’s top diamond producer by output, it has also axed supply of roughs to the market, but built up their own stockpiles.

The diamond giant noted that despite ongoing efforts, it expected it would take “some time” to get back to pre-pandemic levels of demand.

Source: mining.com

Sotheby’s is set to auction off one of the rarest diamonds in the world

Sotheby’s is set to auction off a 102 carat diamond that could become the most expensive jewel ever sold to an online bidder.

The stone, a 102.39 carat D Colour Flawless Oval Diamond, could fetch $10 million to $30 million. Only seven flawless white diamonds of more than 100 carats have ever been sold at auction. It is the second-largest oval diamond of its kind ever sold at auction.

“One hundred-carat diamonds as a rule are exceedingly rare,” said Quig Bruning, head of Sotheby’s jewelry department in New York. “One hundred-carat D flawless are even more rare.”

While Sotheby’s doesn’t have an official estimate, comparable diamonds have sold for between $11 million and $30 million in the past, Bruning said.

The stone, described by Sotheby’s as “the size of a lollipop,” will be sold at a live auction in Hong Kong on Oct. 5, but it will also be open to online bidders starting on Tuesday. If it’s purchased by an online bidder, it would likely top the record for the most expensive piece of jewelry ever sold online a pair of fancy blue and pink diamond earrings that sold for $6 million online in 2016.

The 102 carat stone was cut from a 271 carat rough diamond that was discovered in the Victor Mine in Ontario in 2018. The diamond was cut and polished over the course of a year by Diacore to bring out its “best brilliance, fire and scintillation,” according to Sotheby’s. The stone belongs to an elite subgroup of diamonds known as “Type IIa,” which are the most chemically pure type of diamond with the highest level of transparency.

Demand for the rarest, largest diamonds has strengthened during the coronavirus pandemic, as the wealthy have benefited from stronger stock markets and investors look for long-term stores of value in a financial world awash with cash.

While demand for everyday jewelry sold in stores has plunged since people aren’t visiting malls and shops as often, or wearing jewelry as often prices for so-called investible diamonds have remained strong. Wealthy buyers, especially in Asia and the Middle East, covet diamonds as the ultimate hard-asset, since they are durable and portable.

Sales of jewelry and diamonds online have also increased, as people buy more from home. Sotheby’s said its online jewelry sales have totaled $31 million this year, seven times more than the same period last year. It has sold three lots for more than $1 million online.

“The retail experience going into the store, trying things on that’s gone right now, or at the very least has changed substantially,” Bruning said. “A lot of things have moved online, and we have been able to really capitalize on that by showcasing things in a new and compelling kind of way globally.”

When asked whether the buyer of a 100 carat diamond would ever wear it, he said: “Absolutely. They want to enjoy them.”

Source; CNBC