India’s exports of polished diamonds suffered yet another big fall in September, down 22.9 per cent, according to the latest figures from the GJEPC (Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council).
That’s a marginally better performance than August, when year-on-year exports were down by 23.8 per cent. Between April and September total foreign sales fell 20.6 per cent (all figures in US dollars).
Actual monthly sales tell a different story from year-on-year decreases. Total foreign sales for September were $1.29bn, compared to $1.04bn in August and $908m in July.
Across the whole gems and jewelry industry in India, gross exports were $2.54bn, down 15.9 per cent year-on-year (compared to 22.9 per cent for polished diamonds).
Exports of polished lab growns – still a tiny minority of all diamond sales – were down 16.5 per cent to $111m.
A pair of fancy vivid orange-yellow diamond earrings sold for almost $8m at Christie’s Hong Kong.
They were the lead item in the Magnificent Jewels sale that raised just over $60m on 29 October.
The Oriental Sunrise earrings feature a pair of Type 1b oval mixed-cut diamonds – 12.20 carats (VVS2) and 11.96 carats (VS1) – surrounded by white shield and tapered baguette-cut diamonds, set in platinum and gold. The pre-sale estimate for the earrings was $6.4m to $10.3m.
Among other highlights was a necklace of 26 oval-shaped rubies (5.38 carat to 1.27 carat), some of them listed as “pigeon blood red” – with white pear and marquise-shaped diamonds, that sold for $6.4m.
A Cartier ring, set with a Type IIa 12.60-carat D-color, IF clarity round-cornered rectangular brilliant-cut Goloconda diamond, sold for $1.4m. The high estimate was $1.1m.
Chow Tai Fook (CTF), the jewelry chain with 7,500 stores across mainland China, posted a 21 per cent plunge in retail sales value (RSV) in the three months to 30 September, as gold prices hit an all-time high.
The Hong Kong-based company warned that interim profits for the half year to September could fall by 42 to 46 per cent.
Gold prices have broken multiple records in recent months and currently stand at just over $2,700 an ounce.
Central banks, particularly China’s, have been aggressively buying gold to diversify their reserves and reduce reliance on US dollars, thereby forcing the price up.
Before the gold surge CTF reported a record high revenue (up 18.5 per cent) and core operating profits for the year to 1 March (FY 2024).
Core operating profit for the year surged almost 29 per cent to US$1.58bn (HKD 12.2bn) with the company saying business had been boosted by post-Covid improvements in mobility and retail activity, especially tourism from mainland China to Hong Kong and Macau, which saw retail sales values rise by 32 per cent and 53 per cent respectively.
But in its latest quarterly update, CTF says: “Macro-economic externalities, particularly record gold prices, continued to weigh on consumer sentiment, a phenomenon observed across the industry”.
Same store sales across its franchised stores on mainland China fell by 24 per cent, and by 31 per cent at its outlets in Hong Kong and Macau.
Gem Diamonds says revenue for the three months to 30 September (Q3 2024) was $42.7m, a year-on-year rise of 36 per cent.
The company has seen above-average recoveries of +100-cts diamonds (13 so far this year compared to an historic average of eight) and other high-value diamonds from its Letseng mine, in Lesotho.
The highest price achieved during the quarter was $45,537 per carat for a 10.98 carat pink diamond.
The UK-based miner sold 26,617 carats, down 11 per cent year-on-year, but saw average per carat prices increase 18 per cent to $1,603.
Six diamonds sold for over $1m during the quarter, contributing $22.6m, and five +100-cts were recovered.
Letseng – 70 per cent owned by Gem and 30 per cent by the Lesotho government – is the highest dollar per carat kimberlite diamond mine in the world.
Total YTD 2024 sales are $120.5m, compared to $103m at the same point last year.
Petra reported a revenue slump for Q1 2025 after deferring the sale of almost all its South African goods because of persistent weak demand.
The UK-based miner said its only revenue for the quarter ending 30 September was $8.5m for an 18.85-carat blue diamond recovered at Cullinan Mine, South Africa, and $14m for goods from its Williamson mine, in Tanzania.
Total revenue for the quarter, including profit share arrangements, was $23m, down 77 per cent compared to Q1 FY 2024 and 80 per cent compared to Q4 2024.
Petra said its combined tenders 1 and 2, which took place this month, after the end of Q1, brought in $76m.
Average per carat prices were up 13 per cent to $113, compared to the last tender it held, in June. But like-for-like prices were down 9 per cent. Higher prices were due to a better product mix. The company said it had withdrawn 88,000 carats (worth around $3m) of brown goods because of poor demand.
“Our combined first and second tenders indicate continued weakness in the rough diamond market, more than offset by Petra’s product mix,” said CEO Richard Duffy in the Q1 FY 2025 operating update and final sales results for Tenders 1 and 2 FY 2025.
He said Petra was further reviewing cash generation opportunities in the face of ongoing market weakness and a stronger rand.
“We remain committed to our target of net cash generation for the full year in FY 2025,” he said.
“We continue to expect prices to show some improvement in CY 2025, with market fundamentals being supportive in the medium-to-longer term.”
De Beers’ diamond production fell by 25 per cent during the quarter ending 30 September, and could fall even further.
Parent company Anglo American said output for Q3 was 5.6m carats, compared to 7.3m for the same period last year. It reduced production because of challenging market conditions and warned that it would “continue to assess the options to reduce production going forward”.
Anglo also provided an update on plans to sell or demerge its platinum and steelmaking coal assets as part of its “accelerated portfolio simplification” to focus on copper and other more profitable parts of its business, but make no mention of De Beers.
The UK-based company announced in May that it would be seeking a new owner for De Beers, following a bid by mining rival BHP to buy out Anglo.
Duncan Wanblad, chief executive of Anglo American, said: “As previously announced, we reduced rough diamond production from De Beers in response to market conditions.
“The diamond market remains challenging as the midstream continues to hold higher than normal levels of inventory and the expectation remains for a protracted recovery.”
So far this year De Beers has produced 18.9m carats, a 21 per cent drop on YTD 2023.
De Beers says it will, for the first time, disclose the country of its diamonds’ origins – Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, or Canada.
The move is designed to meet growing consumer demand for ethical sourcing and transparency, together with a desire to understand the journey of their particular diamond.
De Beers currently sells its rough output to sightholders in aggregated boxes marked only as DTC (Diamond Trading Company) without indicating the country in which they were mined.
It says it will initially provide data on the country of origin for all diamonds over 1.25 carats that are newly registered on its Tracr traceability platform, and over 1.0 carats from January 2025.
De Beers says advanced algorithmic matching enabled by artificial intelligence now allows it to digitally “disaggregate” diamonds to confirm their specific country of origin.
“For the first time in history, we have the technology to provide our customers with the provenance of their diamonds at scale,” said Al Cook, CEO of De Beers Group.
“We know that our clients care deeply about sustainability and want to understand the good their diamonds have done. Our ambition is to offer them the story of every De Beers-sourced diamond, tracing its journey and positive impact from its origin to its crafting.”
The UK miner Vast Resources appears to have finally secured the release of a parcel of 129,400 carats of rough diamonds that have been held at Zimbabwe’s central bank since 2009.
“The Attorney-General’s Office has approved the terms of a settlement agreement relating to the historic claim and has recommended this to the relevant governmental institution for signature in order to resolve this longstanding matter,” it said in a corporate update on 10 October.
“Accordingly, the fully executed settlement agreement is currently awaited to enable the company to complete the process of recovery.” It did, however, caution that settlement of the long and complex legal wrangle over the diamonds had yet to be signed.
“Shareholders will be advised of further developments,” it said, “but shareholders are also reminded that whilst the board remains confident, there can be no guarantee of a successful outcome.”
The diamonds were “surrendered as evidence that the mining firm had exploited diamonds on claims previously owned by De Beers,” according to the business weekly Zimbabwe Independent.
De Beers left the Marange diamond fields in 2006, claiming it had failed to find viable reserves, after a decade of exploration.
Vast Resources (then known as African Consolidated Resources) subsequently discovered massive alluvial diamond deposits there, which prompted the Zimbabwe government to revoke its mining licenses within months, and evict it.
Lucapa Diamond and Petra Diamonds provided a glimmer of hope for the precious gemstones market on Tuesday by posting stronger revenues and production figures, signalling a potential recovery in the depressed diamond market.
Australia’s Lucapa achieved third-quarter revenue of $16.9 million, an 86% year-on-year increase, driven mainly by the sale of high-quality diamonds, averaging $3,033 per carat.
This growth was also attributed to the company’s access to higher-grade mining blocks, a result of strategic river diversions aimed at mitigating the impact of flooding at the Lulo operation in Angola.
Nick Selby, Lucapa’s managing director, expressed optimism about the future, especially with the access gained to the higher-grade Lazaria gravel, historically known for producing large, high-value diamonds.
“We are aiming for a strong finish to the year,” Selby said, noting that the company sold a 176-carat diamond for $3 million, further boosting results.
Africa-focused Petra Diamonds also reported promising figures, with production rising by 7% to 679,625 carats for the quarter ended September 30. The increase was driven by higher grades at the company’s flagship Cullinan mine in South Africa and its Williamson mine in Tanzania.
Petra’s chief executive officer, Richard Duffy, attributed this growth to “solid performances” from these mines, despite weaker market conditions.
To counteract the softness in the rough diamond market, Petra deferred in August the sale of a significant portion of its South African diamonds. Its combined first and second tenders, however, indicated a 13% increase in overall average prices, thanks to an improved product mix, which included a standout 18.85-carat blue diamond from Cullinan that fetched $8.5 million.
Despite ongoing challenges in the global diamond market, both Lucapa and Petra’s results reflect resilience and strategic adjustments, injecting cautious optimism into a sector eager for recovery.
As both companies continue to leverage high-value diamonds and strategic planning, industry observers remain hopeful for sustained market improvements heading into the end of the year holidays, which tend to help boost diamond sales.
LVMH saw revenue from its watch and jewelry division slip by 5 per cent during the first nine months of 2024 to $8.2bn.
Across all its 75 maisons the French luxury conglomerate reported a 2 per cent dip for the same period, to $66.1bn.
LVMH said it had shown “good resilience” and that it remained confident in an uncertain economic and geopolitical environment
It said it would “maintain a strategy focused on continuously enhancing the desirability of its brands, drawing on the authenticity and quality of its products, excellence in distribution and agile organization.”
LVMH’s eight watch and jewlery brands – Bvlgari, Chaumet, Fred, Hublot, Repossi, Tag Heuer, Tiffany & Co and Zenith – generated a total of $11.8bn in 2023. The company does not provide a brand-by-brand earnings breakdown.
It said the third quarter decline in revenue across all LVMH brands was largely due to a stronger yen and lower growth in Japan.
