Exclusive
Diamond market crash is Africa’s opportunity, not its crisis – M'zée Fula Ngenge
Global natural diamond supply is forecast to fall below 95 million carats this year, the lowest since 1987. For Dr. M'zée Fula Ngenge, chairperson of the African Diamond Council (ADC), this is not a death knell but a clarion call. In an exclusive...
Yesterday
Tracr passes 5 million rough diamonds milestone as De Beers expands provenance push
De Beers Group's blockchain-enabled traceability platform Tracr reached a significant milestone in 2025, with more than 5 million rough diamonds individually scanned and registered, up from 2.8 million cumulative registrations reported in 2024. The...
28 september 2026
South African diamonds head to Hong Kong: SDT partners with BRINKS for JGW 2026
South Africa’s State Diamond Trader (SDT) has confirmed the country's participation in Jewellery & Gem World Hong Kong (JGW) 2026 through a partnership with BRINKS. SDT marketing and communication manager Tsholofelo Gopolang Tselapedi...
14 september 2026
David Benderly: PermaScribe seeks to put trust mark on diamond table, not just girdle
In this interview with Rough & Polished’s Mathew Nyaungwa, PhotoScribe Technologies president and chief executive David Benderly explains how PermaScribe differs technically from conventional laser inscription, its potential to strengthen security, and...
31 august 2026
The great reset: Paul Zimnisky on supply catharsis, De Beers' bargain and the case for natural diamonds
The natural diamond industry is in the throes of its most profound reset in a generation. Supply is plunging to its lowest level since 1987 and De Beers—once valued at over $9 billion—is reportedly being sold for as little as $1 billion.
Lab-grown...
10 august 2026
India’s gem and jewellery industry getting back on track
02 november 2020
By July 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had reached a rather alarming stage in India. And, not surprisingly Surat, the biggest diamond cutting centre of India was badly hit too. So, the city saw a massive exodus of diamond industry workers leaving the city in large numbers. This eventually left most of the diamond units big and small closed, with workers employed in these units leaving the Gujarat city every day, as they were left with no source of income. The Surat Diamond Workers Union President Jaysukh Gajera feared at that time that 70 per cent of the workers who were leaving the city may never come back.
Japan's diamond market: spring, summer, autumn, winter and … spring again?
26 october 2020
Several decades ago, Japan was one of the world's major diamond jewellery consumers, along with the United States. That said, there was virtually no diamond market in the country until the middle of the 20th century. The question arises as to how it gained momentum and powerful development and why it is now in the slow lane? Let's try to figure it out.
Angola liberalizes mining industry
19 october 2020
Angola is experiencing a new moment in its political history, with governance now led by the new President of the republic, João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, who replaced José Eduardo dos Santos, who led the country's destinies for 38 years. The new Head of State chose to fight corruption, impunity and nepotism as the banner of his government but at the same time has listed reforms in different sectors of the national life, such as the bet on the diversification of the national economy with a strong bet on agriculture. The basis of an entire economy that aims to be revitalized.
Can the diamond market take revenge?
12 october 2020
The diamond market suffering from an oversupply of rough diamonds and changes in the consumer priorities in retail turned out to be a fertile ground for the seeds of COVID-19 that is devastating to the global economy. The coronavirus almost completely froze the diamond trade and forced major players to make unprecedented concessions to their customers - that said, the sales figures have been 10 times less than usual for a long time. Nevertheless, August, traditionally strong for the diamond market, maintained its status despite the fact that the tourist activity being the main driver of demand during this period was clearly lower than last year. The signs of a new cycle in the market were the resumption of jewellery sales in China, an increase in the workload at the Indian cutting and polishing units, as well as an increased demand for rough diamonds. The signs of recovery are very slight now and the situation is entirely dependent on the possible repeated national lockdowns that can decrease the anticipated holiday sales when the industry could take revenge for five difficult months of this year.
Namibia’s diamond production and exports in 2006-2020: from one crisis to another
05 october 2020
Namibia is among the largest global diamond production countries and exporters. Namibia’s offshore rough diamonds are beyond competition as they are brought to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean in the safest form, and their extraction using mining vessels is not very expensive and the value of one carat is several times higher than that of the diamonds mined from the kimberlite rocks in Africa.
Will diamonds shine brighter than other luxury items?
28 september 2020
According to Bain & Company (The Global Diamond Report 2019), the global jewellery market in 2019 was estimated at approximately $330 bn. Diamond jewellery sales are estimated at $80 bn, and its luxury segment accounts for about 10% (~$8 bn) of the sum. For comparison, the luxury watch market is at $39 bn over the same period, leather goods at $57 bn, and the apparel market at $64 bn (Luxury Goods Worldwide Market Study, Fall-Winter 2019). The fashion market accounts for about a quarter of the total luxury goods market. According to the experts from the McKinsey agency (A multifaceted future: The jewelry industry in 2020), the jewellery market should develop following the luxury apparel market.
Botswana and the global economic crisis
21 september 2020
At present, in terms of diamond mining, this country rightfully has a world lead in the diamond production and the value of rough diamonds. Botswana is also among the major rough diamond exporters in the world.
Junior companies in the diamond industry in Canada and Russia
14 september 2020
Junior companies in the mining industry are understood as small and medium-sized enterprises, the purpose of which is the prospecting and exploration of new mineral deposits. At the same time, upon the discovery of a deposit, a junior company can either sell a licence to a mining company or start developing it on its own. The juniors can develop into large mining companies or specialize exclusively in geological exploration.
Sodiam, a time bomb
07 september 2020
Until September 2017, the end of the ‘never-ending’ presidency of José Eduardo dos Santos, Angola’s diamond industry was quite an obvious system common for such forms of government control. All decisions were taken by the family of the head of the state in the person of its most pro-active member - Isabel dos Santos, the president’s eldest daughter. By coincidence, she was also Africa's first female U.S. dollar billionaire.
ALROSA gets second bailout
31 august 2020
Industry insiders increasingly spread rumors that the decision to purchase the ALROSA's rough diamonds by Gokhran has been made in principle and that the diamond sorting and grading have allegedly already begun under this agreement. The value of this transaction ranges from $0.5 bn to $2.0 bn but most believe that the deal will be at the level of $1 bn. The situation resembles the crisis of 2008-2009. However, the current crisis has a number of differences.
