Zimbabwe’s state owned Minerals Marketing Corporation opened a 316,000 carat diamond auction, which will close at the end of the week an official said.
“This is the third auction we have conducted this year as there were some administrative issues which were taking place within the organization,” MMCZ’s General Manager Tongai Muzenda said by phone on Wednesday. The last auction was held in July.
The auction, which began on Sept. 9 and will close on Sept. 13, has attracted buying interest from Belgium, Dubai, India, Israel and South Africa, but Muzenda declined to name the companies bidding, citing confidentiality.
Zimbabwe expects to produce 4.1 million carats of diamonds this year, up from 2.8 carats in 2018. At the peak of production in 2012, the southern African country’s output was 12 million carats.
A labourer in Bundelkhand region turned second time lucky when he got another diamond within a week in a piece of land he took on lease from the district administration in Panna district. The value of the diamond is estimated at about Rs 20 lakh, a mineral resources department official said.
The lessee, Kishor Kushwaha, a resident of Sarkoha village got the diamond of 5.69 carat in a field in the area in Panna district. He deposited it with the mineral resources department office on Saturday, said Panna diamond office authority Anupam Singh.
Panna district, 413 km north east of Bhopal in Bundelkhand region, has the only diamond producing mine in the country, which is under operation, as per the department officials.
Panna diamond office authority Anupam Singh said, “The diamond that the lessee has found may get him about Rs 20 lakh on its auction. Earlier, the same person got a diamond of 4.4 carat about a week back, which was, however, of better quality and was valued about at Rs 20 to Rs 25 lakh. The lessee was assisted by three others in his work.”
The labourer got the piece of land on lease on March 1, 2019 and the lease period will expire on December 31, 2019. “It rarely happens when a person gets another diamond twice within a week or so,” he said.
Talking to the media Kishor said, “I am extremely happy that Mother Earth blessed me with this gift of diamonds. I make both ends meet by doing labour work. I will share whatever money I get with my partners Ajay Singh, Mahadev Kushwaha, Purshotam Lal and Vimal who also put in hard labour.”
He said he wanted to spend the money on education of his children.
Shares in Botswana Diamonds PLC jumped Thursday after it extended two “strategic” diamond licences for further two years, as it considered forming a joint venture to develop the projects.
Shares in Botswana Diamonds were 9.9% higher at 0.54 pence in London on Thursday.
Botswana Diamonds – through its wholly-owned Sunland Minerals Ltd subsidiary – extended the Prospecting Licences PL232 and PL235 in Botswana to the end of September 2021.
The firm explained the “key” licences were “strategically located” in the centre of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, covering 500 square kilometres. Botswana Diamonds has already identified “prospective drill ready targets” following “intensive” work at the sites.
Botswana Diamonds said it was “already in extended discussions” with a “major” diamond producer regarding the formation of a joint venture for the next phase of the work on the licences.
Alrosa sold 14 polished diamonds weighing a total of 108 carats, and 48 fancy colored polished diamonds weighing 131.6 carats in total.
Companies from Israel, the US, Belgium, India, Hong Kong and Russia participated in the tender. The next polished tender in Israel is scheduled for this fall.
Pavel Vinikhin, Director of the DIAMONDS ALROSA cutting division, commented: “There is a continued interest in large polished diamonds over 3 carats in the market. Our assortment mostly consists of such stones.
In Israel, we presented polished diamonds of different colors and cuts. Despite the relatively weak market, the auction went well, and we are pleased with the results”.
The Nizam of Hyderabad’s diamond encrusted ceremonial sword and Shah Jahan’s jade hilted dagger are some of the items being put up for auction.
Several precious artefacts of the Nizam era and diamonds mined from Golconda during the Qutb Shahi period will be put up for auction at global auction house Christie’s at New York on June 19. The diamonds, better known as the Golconda Diamonds, are flawless precious stones expected to fetch a whopping amount of money for the auctioneers.
The event by the 253-year-old auction house is titled ‘Maharajas and Mughal Magnificence’. According to reports, several precious Golconda diamonds are being put up for auction along with the Nizam of Hyderabad’s diamond encrusted ceremonial sword set with diamonds, rubies and emeralds.
Among these, one of the most precious stones is the 10.46 carat Pink Golconda diamond. An internally flawless stone, the value of the diamond is estimated to be between $1.5 – $2 million. The diamond was unearthed during the Qutb Shahi era from the banks of river Krishna, 200 km southeast of Golconda.
More than 110,000 Western Australian couples have celebrated a special occasion featuring a piece of Rosendorff’s fine jewellery.
An announcement to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said a meeting of creditors was set to get under way at 11am Thursday.
Richard Tucker of KordaMentha Restructuring, appointed receivers and managers of Rosendorff Diamond Jewellers, said the business was holding too much stock.
“We are running a short highly discounted sale through the store to materially reduce the current stock levels whilst a sale or recapitalisation of the business is pursued,” Mr Tucker said.
I have always loved the mystique of diamonds. I’m attracted to the joy and romance they bring to their beholders
Craig Rosendorff “It is a tremendous opportunity to acquire a very special jewellery item at very competitive prices and may also help save an iconic Perth jeweller.”
He said a secured creditor would support the receivers to ensure current special orders, repairs and lay-bys were completed in time for the special occasions they might be destined for.
“From proposals, to weddings and anniversaries, we understand the importance and significance these items have on people’s special memories,” Mr Tucker said.
Daniel Hillston Woodhouse of FTI Consulting has been appointed as administrator.
Rosendorff is an iconic West Australian luxury business specialising in diamonds and bespoke jewellery design headed by Craig Rosendorff.
In 1975 Mr Rosendorff renamed and launched what became one of the longest-standing diamond companies in Australia.
His rags to riches story has been dubbed The Diamond Dream.
“I have always loved the mystique of diamonds,” he says on the company’s website.
“I’m attracted to the joy and romance they bring to their beholders, the heritage and their connection to families across generations.”
The large, glamorous showroom in the centre of Perth on Hay Street has been the setting of many magnificent parties and events showcasing the designs of the Rosendorff team.
Mr Tucker said gift cards and store credits would be honoured while trade continues.
White knight rescues collapased Rosendorff Diamond Jewellers
The Rosendorff fine jewellery business will carry on but under new ownership following a deal struck by receivers appointed last month.
Insolvency firm KordaMentha confirmed today it had struck an agreement to sell the business set up by Craig Rosendorff in the 1980s to an unidentified WA buyer also involved in the jewellery trade.
The deal, expected to be finalised in two to three weeks, guarantees more than 20 jobs and covers the Rosendorff trading name, stock and intellectual property.
Receivers from KordaMentha were put into Rosendorff Diamond Jewellers at the end of April.
The business, which owes at least $4 million to creditors, has shrunk on falling sales in the past three years to just its flagship store in Hay Street Mall.
The deal covers the Rosendorff trading name, stock and intellectual property.
Today’s sale announcement coincided with news the receivers are stepping up a discount sale which has already brought in between $2 million and $3 million.
The West Australian revealed yesterday that administrators from FTI Consulting had identified “irregularities” in the company’s accounts while sheeting home blame for the collapse to the mining downturn.
They questioned a $1.8 million shortfall in stock and four transactions totalling $170,000 where jewellery “left the store without payment”.
FTI said “there were limited controls around the accounting and inventory functions, which have led to some anomalies in the financial accounts”.
However, it noted that such irregularities were not uncommon, and there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Mr Rosendorff.
The firm’s statutory report on Rosendorffs also noted that Mr Rosendorff, who has invested millions of dollars in the business over the past 30 years, had drawn increasing amounts out of the company as its financial situation deteriorated.
Between July 2017 and FTI’s appointment, those withdrawals totalled $1.8 million, including $582,000 in the past 10 months.
The administrators says Rosendorffs had been under financial pressure for two years, citing “cash leakage” and a steady decline in sales after 2011, triggered by the end of the mining boom.
Gordon Brothers is owed about $2.2 million, Rosendorffs’ staff $400,000 and trade creditors $270,000.
Tiffany & Co. has been expanding its workforce in sub-Saharan Africa, a region of almost one billion people where the jewelry giant doesn’t have a single store.
More than a quarter of the New York based company’s 1,500 global diamond cutters and polishers are now based in Africa, Chief Executive Officer Alessandro Bogliolo said in an interview in Cape Town.
Tiffany has factories in Botswana and Mauritius with staff subject to “intensive training” over two years, he said, making it the only western luxury brand that doesn’t outsource production of its African stones.
Botswana is the world’s largest diamond producer after Russia, and is the only African country where Tiffany both buys and prepares its stones.
While it also sources diamonds from mines in South Africa, Namibia and Sierra Leone, it won’t do business in Zimbabwe and Angola because of the human-rights situation in those countries, Bogliolo said.
“If you buy from a world class brand, it’s because you trust that this brand has done all that is humanly possible to guarantee that the product is not only crafted to the highest standard, but also ethical and traceable in its manufacturing,’’ the CEO said.
Ethical Jewelry
The move to hire and train African polishers and cutters comes as Tiffany strives to be completely transparent about how its diamonds progress from deep underground to the engagement rings of wives to be. That’s in line with a wider trend in consumer goods industries to tap into demand for products that younger shoppers see as ethical.
This year, the company started to share the origin of its diamonds with customers, an initiative Bogliolo believes will push the entire industry to follow suit.
Tiffany has been trying to recoup sales that have been hit by a slowdown of Chinese tourist spending in the U.S., including an expansion of the business in Beijing and Shanghai.
While Bogliolo said the jeweler has a lot of customers in Africa, they’re forced to leave the continent to make purchases as the retailer’s only outlets there are in Egypt.
However, the CEO said South Africa is an “interesting market” where the company might eventually open at least one store.
“There’s no doubt that we will have a more robust presence on this continent,” he said. “It’s just a matter of finding the right location and the critical mass in order to have a sustainable business.”
Tiffany shares have gained 32 percent this year, valuing the company at $12.9 billion.
Shares in Petra Diamonds jumped more than 8% on Friday after the miner announced it had dug up a 425.1 carat, D colour, Type II gem quality diamond at its iconic Cullinan mine in South Africa.
The discovery comes less than a month after Petra found a 100.83 carat gem-quality white diamond at the same mine, source of the world’s biggest ever diamond, which was unearthed in 1905.
“Earlier in March, Petra had recovered a 100.83 carat, white D-colour type II gem-quality stone”
The company, which appointed last month former gold miner Richard Duffy as chief executive, said both recoveries demonstrated the frequency of such large stones at Cullinan.
Petra, which has been seeking to turn around its fortunes after piling up debt to expand the operation, plans to sell the 425.1 carat diamond during the June quarter.
Diamond miners are struggling across the board, especially those producing cheaper and smaller stones where there is too much supply. In December, some of Rio Tinto’s customers refused to buy cheaper diamonds, while De Beers has been forced to cut prices and offer concessions to buyers.
Canadian diamond miner Stornoway Diamonds has produced 1.32 million carats in the 2018 financial year, missing its guidance of “at least 1.35 million carats” for the year, Mining Weekly reports.
President and CEO Patrick Godin said that 2018 was a “challenging year” for the company, as the ramp-up of underground production of the Renard 2 underground mine was “impacted by delays in equipment deliveries, a competitive labour market and the presence of more-than-expected low-grade mineralisation on the northern margin of the Renard 2 orebody”. However, the company’s third and fourth quarter production results “demonstrated significant improvements in grade and carat recoveries”. For 2019, Stornoway expects to produce between 1.8 million and 2.10 million carats.
As for sales, in 2018 Stornoway sold 1.04 million carats for gross proceeds of C$141 million ($106,362,645). In the fourth quarter, sales amounted to 253,929 carats, netting C$31 million (23,384,695).
Two jewellers from India have broken the record of Most diamonds set in one ring, by setting a staggering 6,690 diamonds into an 18 karat rose gold structure, shaped like a lotus flower.
Vishal Agarwal and Khushbu Agarwal, both based in Surat, Gujarat, constructed the ring using a base component and 48 individual diamond encrusted petals.
The lotus ring weighs more than a golf ball, with a total weight of just over 58 grams.
It took six months to design and craft the intricate ring, which has been valued at $4,116,787 USD.
Vishal created the design for the ring, and Khushbu, who owns Hanumant Diamonds, funded and provided the resources for the ambitious project.
The ring was manufactured by Hanumant Diamonds artisans, based in Mahidarpura, Surat.
The lotus ring took the record from Savio Jewellery’s Peacock Ring which earned the record in 2015, with 3,827 cut diamonds.
The idea for Vishal and Khushbu’s creation came from them wanting to raise awareness about importance of water conservation.
They decided to use their work to generate awareness and settled on a lotus flower design because it is the national flower of India, and because it depicts “the beauty growing in the water-world”.
