A “toi et moi” ring featuring a 3.61 carat fancy vivid yellow, internally flawless, pear-shaped diamond sold for $254,000 at the Phillips New York Jewels Auction.
It beat its low estimate of $240,000 but fell short of its $300,000 high estimate.
The platinum ring (pictured) set with a 5.03 carat D Color, internally flawless pear-shaped white diamond as well as the yellow diamond and isaccented with brilliant-cut diamonds and similarly cut diamonds of yellow tint.
Overall 70 per cent of lots were sold (by number and by value) raising a total of $2.58m
The auction, on 13 December, featured 146 lots with a strong emphasis on colored diamonds and gemstones, antique-cut diamonds, and signed pieces from renowned makers.
Cristina Rodrigo, specialist and head of sale, jewels, New York, said there was “a great deal of participation from across the globe, leading to strong prices for important pieces spanning style and price points”.
Lucara Diamond has unveiled the names chosen of the two largest diamonds recovered this year at its prolific Karowe mine in Botswana.
The 2,488 carat diamond found in August has been named Motswedi, meaning “water spring” or “the flow of underground water that surfaces to bring life and vitality” in the local Setswana language.
The 1,094 carat diamond recovered in September is now known as Seriti, which translates to “aura” or “presence” in Setswana. The name carries deep cultural significance, reflecting identity and legacy.
Lucara said the two diamonds were not just geological phenomena, but a testament to the “incredible potential” of Karowe and the company’s innovative approach to diamond recovery.
“Each stone tells a story millions of years in the making, and we are humbled to be the custodians of these remarkable gems as they prepare to enter the global market,” president and chief executive officer, William Lamb, said in the statement.
To honor the community’s involvement, Lucara awarded the winner of the Motswedi naming competition 100,000 Pula (about $7,325), while the winner for Seriti received 50,000 Pula ($3,660). Both winners will also be invited to tour the Karowe mine.
Lucara said it was considering sale options for both diamonds.
Motswedi and Seriti are two of six diamonds weighing more than 1,000 carat that Lucara has recovered at its Karowe mine since operations began. These include the 1,758-carat Sewelô in 2019, the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona in 2015, and the 813-carat Constellation, also in 2015.
Karowe is also credited for having yielded Botswana’s largest fancy pink diamond to date, the Boitumelo.
The mine remains one of the world’s highest-margin diamond mines, producing an average of 300,000 high-value carats each year.
Burgundy Diamond Mines reported an increase in prices but a dip in revenue from its Ekati mine, in Canada, during Q4.
Sales held in October and December raised $47m and $46m respectively (total $93m) the Australia-based company said today (17 December) in its interim sales report and company update. Average prices per carat were $80 and $106 (all figures US dollars).
Total proceeds for the previous quarter, Q3, were $118m, with average prices down to $83 per carat in what it described at the time as a “soft diamond market”.
Kim Truter, Burgundy’s CEO, said the results “bode well for a recovering diamond market”.
He said prices at the December sale reflected a higher quality parcel of goods sold, and said there had been gains in the mid to large size categories, relative to the October sale.
Burgundy bought the Ekati mine, 125 miles south of the Arctic Circle, in Northwest Territories, last June for $136m from the Arctic Canadian Diamond Company and plans to extend its life by developing underground operations.
“The company looks forward to reporting the results of its mine life extension work at the Sable underground project and the Misery underground operation, in addition to an updated Fox underground prefeasibility study, commencing in Q1-2025,” Burgundy said.
Botswana Diamonds has analysed and evaluated nearly 400 000 km of airborne geophysical and other exploration data using AI techniques and powerful computing, which would otherwise have been too big for timely analysis by humans.
In particular, the company has identified seven significant kimberlite targets on existing licences that have not been reported before.
The AI programme has also revealed compelling polymetallic targets in areas that are currently unlicensed.
Work is ongoing on these new areas of interest which now focuses on four main deposit types and 11 subtypes. These deposit types include elements such as gold, copper, silver, nickel, zinc and platinum group metals.
Botswana Diamonds used UK-headquartered Planetary AI’s ‘Xplore’ mineral prospectivity platform to perform the detailed analysis.
Xplore Platform is software that enables targeting of any element based on a plethora of geological and topographic information.
Botswana Diamonds chairperson John Teeling comments that these discoveries, in a few short months, are a major step forward in mineral exploration. One anomaly is especially intriguing to the company and the AI programme has reinforced the company’s belief that more diamond mines will be discovered in Botswana.
The company currently operates three diamond mines in Botswana and it also holds assets in South Africa.
Scientists in the UK have produced the world’s first diamond battery.
They say they’re a safe and sustainable alternative to lithium ion – and will last for an incredible 5,000 years.
They look like a conventional watch battery, but are much thinner and destined to power pacemakers, hearing aids and other healthcare devices, as well as satellites, deep space missions and remote sensors.
Nuclear fusion experts at the government’s UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), working with the University of Bristol, have developed the ever-lasting batteries using lab grown diamonds and an ultra-thin slice of radioactive material, the isotope known as carbon-14.
Neil Fox of the School of Chemistry at the University of Bristol said: “Carbon-14 was chosen as a source material because it emits a short-range radiation, which is quickly absorbed by any solid material.
“This would make it dangerous to ingest or touch with your naked skin, but safely held within diamond, no short-range radiation can escape.”
The semiconductor properties of the diamond convert the radioactivity into electricity, and it’s so hard that it prevents the radioactivity from escaping.
Botswana’s central bank left its main lending rate unchanged on Thursday, saying the economy was expected to operate below capacity and not generate demand-driven inflationary pressures because of a slump in the global diamond market.
The Bank of Botswana held its Monetary Policy Rate at 1.90% for the second policy meeting in a row. The rate is based on a seven-day instrument.
“The economy will contract this year primarily due to the downturn in the global diamond market and moderately recover next year,” central bank Governor Cornelius Dekop told a news conference.
The southern African country’s economy is largely dependent on the export of diamonds, and declining earnings from the precious stone have limited government spending.
The central bank also lowered its primary reserve requirement to 0% from 2.5% due to significantly reduced liquidity in the banking system.
Dekop said inflation was expected to average 2.9% in 2024 and 3.3% in 2025, compared with forecasts of 2.8% and 3.1% given at the bank’s previous monetary policy meeting in November.
The Bank of Botswana prefers inflation between 3% and 6% over the medium term. Annual inflation stood at 1.6% in October.
Diversified mining company Rio Tinto’s second Beyond Rare tender has achieved a strong result, underscoring the rarity and unique provenance of the diamonds on offer.
The auction, which featured some of the world’s most coveted natural fancy coloured diamonds, also showcased the continuing global demand for these rare treasures.
The collection, which comprises 76 diamonds across 48 lots, included an exceptional mix of pink, red, and violet diamonds from the now-closed Argyle diamond mine in Australia, as well as white and yellow diamonds from Rio Tinto’s Diavik mine in Canada.
For the first time, the tender also included seven “Old Masters”, notable historic diamonds from the Argyle mine, further elevating the event’s appeal to collectors.
The tender saw successful bids from 12 bidders spanning Australia, Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, the Middle East, Singapore, and North America.
“The continued strong global interest in highly collectible natural coloured diamonds and the resulting value creation, reflects their stature as works of art to be treasured for future generations,” commented Rio Tinto Minerals CEO Sinead Kaufman.
One standout lot, Lot 40, which featured a 4.04-ct pear-shaped pure white diamond from the Diavik mine, alongside two rare pear-shaped violet diamonds from the Argyle mine, was entrusted to Danish luxury jeweller Hartmanns. The company will work with Glajz, an Argyle Pink Diamonds Icon Partner, to create a one-of-a-kind heirloom jewellery piece from these diamonds.
“I am honoured to be creating a jewelled treasure that reflects each magnificent birthplace of these three esteemed diamonds – Argyle in the remote East Kimberley region of Western Australia and Diavik, just below the Arctic Circle on the frozen edge of the earth in Canada’s Northwest Territories,” said Hartmanns owner Ulrik Hartmann.
Rio Tinto’s Argyle diamond mine, which ceased production in November 2020, was the source of nearly entirely the world’s total supply of rare pink and red diamonds. With 37 years of production, Rio Tinto continues to manage the Argyle Pink Diamonds brand, facilitating sales of remaining inventory and collaborating with prominent jewellers globally.
In addition to owning the Argyle Pink Diamonds™brand, Rio Tinto is the majority owner and operator of the Diavik mine in Canada. The company also continues to explore new opportunities in the diamond sector, with a recent joint venture agreement with Endiama, the national diamond mining company of Angola, to explore the Chiri kimberlite in Angola’s Lunda Sul province.
Angola has announced that Russian shares in two of its major diamond mines have been sold to an Omani-backed fund as a result of international sanctions, a government official said.
Russia’s diamond giant Alrosa was until now a joint owner of Angola’s Catcoa mine, the fourth-largest in the world, and Luele mine, in partnership with the southern African nation’s state-owned company Endiama.
The European Union imposed sanctions on Alrosa, also state-owned, and its CEO in January as part of a ban on diamond imports over the Ukraine war.
This led to “a block on the commercialization” of diamonds from Catcoa and Luele mines, Angola’s Minister of Mineral Resources and Petroleum Diamantino Azevedo said Thursday.
After “negotiations between the Angolan and Russian governments, as well as between Endiama and its partner,” Alrosa has now “officially ceased operating in Angola,” Azevedo said.
The company has been “replaced by Maden International Group, a subsidiary of the Sovereign Fund of the Sultanate of Oman,” the minister added.
He said the transition process was “already underway and should be conducted swiftly.”
The sale comes as the United States President Joe Biden was expected to travel to Angola on Dec. 2.
The visit, his first to Africa, underscores the strategic importance of the oil and mineral-rich country where a massive U.S.-led project is underway to export critical minerals.
Major African diamond producer Botswana will join Antwerp as an origin certifier of rough diamonds for export to the G7 which banned imports of Russian stones from the start of this year, a joint statement said on Wednesday.
The addition of Botswana looks set to salvage implementation of the ban. The initial system would have seen all diamonds go through Europe’s diamond hub in Antwerp for verification, backed by a new tracing system.
African diamond producers Angola, Botswana and Namibia, as well as diamond miner De Beers, had said the mechanism was unfair and would hurt their economies.
“Botswana and the G7 diamond technical team are now crafting a roadmap to address any identified gaps, aiming to have the export certification node fully operational in Botswana as soon as possible next year,” the statement said.
The Group of Seven (G7) nations ban on direct Russian diamond imports took effect on Jan. 1, followed by a ban on Russia-origin diamonds via third countries from early March.
The tracing system was meant to be up and running by Sept. 1, but the EU delayed the implementation to March 2025.
De Beers says it will further reduce the number of sightholders, in a move designed to build partnerships that “create value”.
The emphasis will be on quality rather than quantity, CEO Al Cook told the Facets 2024 conference in Antwerp yesterday (26 November).
De Beers wrote to its 69 current sightholders last month advising them that a new supply agreement, as of January 2026, would be determined by an objective selection and allocation process. It declined to comment at the time.
“There will be some partnerships around the polished side, some partnerships around the rough side, some partnerships around dealing, some partnerships that go all the way into retail, but every partnership must create value, and that’s really important for all of our industry going forward,” Cook told the conference.
De Beers last reduced the number of sightholders in January 2021, when it introduced new contracts dividing buyers into three categories – dealers, manufacturers and integrated retailers.
The number of De Beers sightholders peaked at around 350 in the 1970s. It had halved by 2001 and was further reduced in subsequent changes to the client structure.
