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
What Are The Implications For U.S. Jewelry Trade of Changing Population Patterns?
14 november 2016
If there has been one exceptionally clear trend during the US Presidential campaigns of 2008, 2012 and 2016, it is that the population of the world's biggest diamond and jewelry market has changed and is continuing to do so rapidly. At the time that De Beers launched its famous 'A diamond is forever' advertisement, following the end of the Second World War, the United States was an overwhelmingly white country, and even more so regarding income and wealth. Although white Americans still make up the bulk of the country's population of around 325 million, this group's birthrate has declined in recent decades and now stands at an average figure of about 1.8%. Meanwhile, the numbers of minority groups have grown, with the Hispanic and Asian populations showing a particularly strong growth rate. It is now estimated that the U.S. Hispanic population numbers in excess of 45 million, an increase of more than 2% over 2012, while the Asian population has grown to more than 20 million, with a growth rate of 2.9%.
Diamonds: production and trade by country
07 november 2016
Apart from Botswana, Russia, Angola, Namibia, Canada and South Africa, which in addition to diamond mining are developing diamond manufacturing, the pool of the world’s major diamond producing countries may as well include Australia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. These 8 countries account for about 95% of global diamond production.
Russian diamond manufacturing - before and after the abolition of export duty on diamonds
31 october 2016
The heads of Russia-based diamond cutting operations are not the most optimistic kind of people. Rather, they give the impression of purposeful and tired fanatics never getting younger while solving persistent problems - unlike cheerful managers skimming the cream off the market, especially in times of inflating ‘bubbles’ or recovery from the recession, which took place in the first half of 2016. Partly, the reason for this lies in the industry itself - a rough ‘bubble’ in the absence of correlation between rough and polished prices forebodes nothing good for diamond cutters. But this year, diamond manufacturers based in Russia have a new cause for concern, which is the abolition of export duties for rough diamonds, which took place in September. This move has eliminated the privileged environment for the domestic market. The situation for diamond manufacturers worsened so that in the view of some stakeholders 2016 may turn out to be the last year for this industry in its present form. The diamond manufacturing industry needs a quality leap in performance, as government support measures will not be enough after the abolition of the export duty, Bain says in its report on the state of the diamond industry.
The need of the hour
24 october 2016
Easily one of the best initiatives undertaken by the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) of India, the Special Notified Zone (SNZ) at the India Diamond Trading Centre (IDTC) in the Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB) premises is underutilized in some measures, according to a section of the Indian diamond industry members.
Information warfare for millennial’s wallet
17 october 2016
According to the Diamond Insight Report recently released by De Beers, global sales of diamond jewelry reached $ 79 billion in 2015, of which one third or $ 26 billion was spent by millennials, the generation born in the 1980s - 1990s. Anyone in the diamond business will tell you that the future belongs to millennials. There are about 220 million people in this age cohort having an approximate annual revenue of $ 60,000 in the four major diamond-consuming countries only (the US, China, India and Japan). They are already becoming the main actors in the consumption economy spending not less than people from older generations on jewelry purchases. It is a matter of course there is a no trifling struggle unfolding for the millennial's heart and wallet. This struggle involves not only classic jewelry brands, but also manufacturers of synthetic gems dreaming to snatch their piece of the pie. And any war, as we know, is not the field for fair play only.
Elegance and Splendour of Art Deco in Moscow Kremlin Museums
17 october 2016
The Moscow Kremlin Museums hosted an exhibition displaying a unique collection of the Art Deco era - women's clothing from the Kyoto Costume Institute, adornments dating back to 1910-1930 produced by famous jewelry houses Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, as well as original sketches and photographs from the archives.
Kimberley Process on global diamond production in 2015
10 october 2016
The participants of the Kimberley Process (KP) established in 2000 in Kimberley at the initiative of South Africa, Botswana and Namibia are diamond producing and diamond importing countries, which pursue the aim to prevent trading in the so-called "conflict diamonds" used for acquiring weapons and supporting anti-government and terrorist organizations. As of now, the KP has 54 participants, including the European Union, and since the latter comprises 28 member-states, the KP participants represent 81 countries. According to the data released by Kimberley Process, 21 countries contributed to global diamond production in 2015. Preliminary analysis of the above data shows that, in spite of higher diamond production going up by 2.10%, the value of globally recovered rough decreased by 4.24% due to a price drop by 6.21%. The average price of diamonds stood at US$ 108.96 per carat.
Midstream diamond business normalizing – De Beers
03 october 2016
De Beers said the diamond industry registered a challenging year in 2015, but more normal trading conditions returned to the industry’s midstream during the first half of 2016 as a result of actions taken to address inventory indigestion. The group said in its latest diamond insight report that events of 2015 crystallized many of the risks and pressures that midstream diamond businesses can face.
Millennials a larger, important unit for diamond industry despite financial constraints – De Beers
26 september 2016
De Beers revealed that it was optimistic about the millennials in its latest diamond insight report. It noted that globally, millennials were the largest consumer market for diamond jewellery – a generation which will soon reach its maximum earning potential.
Diamond Jewelry Gives Extra Sparkle to VicenzaOro Show
19 september 2016
The VicenzaOro show, organized by Fiera di Vicenza, took place from September 3 to 7, with the organizers expressing satisfaction with the footfall and buyer interest at the fair. The show, featuring a wide range of high-quality Italian jewelry, has been widely re-organized in the past year or so in a bid to make it more contemporary.
