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
Diamond industry – summer reflections
04 july 2016
Summer is the most boring time for a diamond journalist. There is virtually no news in our market at this time of the year. Especially now, as all major players have already said that they do not expect changes in the market before the end of the year. We decided to take advantage of this pause to reflect on those problems of the diamond market, which are discussed in the media much less than prices and demand.
New man at the helm as Cleaver replaces Mellier as De Beers chief
27 june 2016
Is De Beers about to enter a new era following the stepping down of CEO Philippe Mellier after five years and the promotion to the top job of Bruce Cleaver? With the new man taking over on July 1, a month or so after De Beers made the announcement, the industry was quickly awash with discussions about what the changeover would mean.
Rough market continues to surprise with vigorous sales
20 june 2016
Who would have guessed? With 2016 approaching its mid-point, the diamond industry has seen rough sales of around $5 billion. Is it justified in terms of retail sales which must pull diamonds through the pipeline with higher sales? The answer appears to be a fairly resounding 'no', so what exactly is happening in the rough market?
What Future for the Zimbabwean Diamond Industry?
14 june 2016
The recent move by the Zimbabwean government to suspend all diamond mining concessions in Marange and Chimanimani, and to freeze the equipment of companies operating there has sparked outrage by both investors and foreign governments. The real reasons behind such move are still unclear. In a televised interview recorded in January, Mugabe claimed that the country was not receiving enough in terms of revenues, hinting at the fact that mining companies might have made disappear significant amount of diamonds. According to Mugabe's figures, so far the diamond business has generated only US$ 2 billion revenues, while the actual value of the diamonds mined would be in the range of US$ 15 billion. “A lot of swindling, smuggling, has taken place” said Mugabe, “and the companies that have been mining have virtually robbed us of our wealth. That is why we decided that this area should be a monopoly area, and only the state should be able to do the mining. You cannot trust a private company”. But there is also a softer motivation behind the consolidation plan, which is to increase efficiency and start an expensive kimberlite mining project in the area. This view had already been expressed by Minister of Mines Walter Chidhakwa in the past couple of years, but has encountered resistance by concession holders, who doubt its feasibility.
Online no longer enough as retailers aim to sell via all channels
06 june 2016
A funny thing happened on the way to the Internet to buy jewelry. It seems at least one online diamond and jewelry seller – none other than the leading company in the sector, Blue Nile – has decided that it needs an online presence in order to better sell its goods. Want to check a jewelry item before buying it? Just go to one the company's new 'webrooms' (only in the United States, at least as of now) have a look and feel and then go online either at the premises or elsewhere with your computer, tablet or smartphone and make the purchase. The touchy-feely approach started in 2014 when Blue Nile linked up with two Nordstrom stores to give potential buyers the opportunity to look at goods before placing an order online. Diamond rings on show at Nordstrom's Seattle store were not available for purchase, but shoppers could try them on and inspect them up close. Shoppers then had go to Blue Nile's website to carry out the purchase. Few industry observers failed to notice the irony of an experiment of letting potential buyers see the goods at bricks-and-mortar stores by the online jeweler which has been selling online for the past 15 years.
Of Botswana, Namibia and De Beers diamond sales agreements
30 may 2016
“We are a little wiser now, than we were years ago. We know there is a market out there,” Namibia’s information minister Tjekero Tweya was quoted as saying by a local daily, The Namibian in June 2015 when it was reported that De Beers had “agreed in principle” with Windhoek to introduce changes in a new diamond sales and marketing contract. The above quote captures the general feeling amongst politicians in Africa, particularly southern Africa, which produces the majority of the world’s diamonds, on the need to derive maximum benefits from their minerals. With the countries having shackled colonialism and finding ways to empower the increasingly economically uncomfortable natives, there had been calls for value-addition.
At crossroads…
23 may 2016
The diamond market in Mumbai was relatively slow in terms of trading in April, as domestic demand weakened thanks to the jewelers’ strike in the country. Festivals like Hindu New Year and Akshay Tritiya went by during the month with low jewellery sales. Trading in the diamond market was rather slow in both polished and rough diamonds, despite production picking up during the month. Jewellers planned to continue to protest 1% jewelry excise duty but the Indian government has stuck to its stand that luxury goods like jewellery need to be levied tax. Towards the end of April, the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) of India announced the provisional data which showed that India’s cut & polished diamond exports for March 2016 amounted to $1.82 bn as against $1.74 bn in Mar ’15, a rise of 4.34 percent. Rough imports recorded decrease of 5.31 percent to $1.39 bn for Mar ’16 as against $ 1.47 bn in Mar ’15. Rough exports showed an increase of 0.51 percent, registering $ 0.156 mn for Mar ‘16 as against $ 0.155 mn for Mar ‘15. A positive trend was seen in cut & polished imports, with a decline of 51.87 percent for the month of Mar ’16, recording about $0.26 mn as against $0.542 mn in Feb ’15.
Retailers at the Forefront of the Fight Against Diamond Misinformation
16 may 2016
Consumers have changed a lot. The stereotype of men and women walking into shops willing to be guided by the retailer in their choice is outdated. Today customers know (or think that they know) exactly what kind of product they want, and what price they should be paying for it. That is because they have access to a large amount of information, which was precluded to them until not so long ago.
Diamond market showed good results in April, but expects seasonal slowdown in May
11 may 2016
The results of April trading in the diamond market exceeded conservative expectations of experts once again. Demand for rough and polished diamonds remains stable enabling companies to post good sales. More and more market players admit that the situation has stabilized and they even take the liberty of venturing first cautiously optimistic forecasts. However, before one can confidently speak of any growth, the diamond market is to live through several months of seasonal hiatus.
Northwestern and Central Diamond Clusters in Russia
10 may 2016
Developing diamond production clusters in the Russian Federation may be viewed as a way to improving the competitiveness of the national diamond industry. At present, there are three diamond clusters almost taking their final shape in this country: the Central, Northwestern and Far Eastern Diamond Clusters. Each of them is different and includes various diamond business segments. This article describes the Central and Northwestern Diamond Clusters.
