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
Israel Moving Ahead with New Polishing Factory for Large Diamonds
05 october 2015
Leaders of the Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) have presented the initial plans for the establishment of a new diamond factory for the cutting and polishing of large diamonds – from 10 carats and bigger – in the heart of the IDE complex in Ramat Gan. Management and members took part in a meeting in early September to provide information about the factory, which will be the next step in the IDE's stated aim of bringing manufacturing back to Israel.
De Beers says global greenfield diamond project pipeline remains “sparse”
28 september 2015
De Beers said the global greenfield diamond project pipeline remains sparse with just two scale projects currently in development. These were the Gahcho Kué project owned by De Beers and Mountain Province Diamonds as well as Stornoway Diamond’s Renard project. Both projects were expected to begin production in 2016, De Beers said in its latest "Diamond Insight Report". Three new greenfield mines commenced production last year. Alrosa commissioned a further new mine, Botuobinsky, early this year. Two of these mines (Grib, operated by Lukoil, and Karpinskogo-1, operated by Alrosa) are located in Western Russia.
Millennials: The New Marketing Challenge
21 september 2015
A global marketing campaign launched by Hearts On Fire which targets the so-called Millennials, people born between 1980 and the early 2000s, has put the spotlight on to the issue of how to market diamond jewelry to this category of potential buyers. The Millennials have already started to, or are about to, enter the marrying age, but, as marketers have discovered, this group's buying patterns are different from those of their parents and are extremely varied, thus making marketing to them a complex affair.
In the Chinese Currency Turmoil, the Jewellery Market has no Winners
14 september 2015
The dust has not even began to settle after one of the most dramatic monetary adjustment of the decade, but it appears clear that the jewellery and diamond sectors will be suffering serious consequences. On Tuesday, 11 August, the People’s Bank of China took the unexpected decision of depreciating the Yuan by almost 2%. In the following days, further cuts to the reference rate occurred. This has caused a global turmoil that still reverberates in the global investment markets.
IIJS 2015: A harbinger of good times for Indian G&J industry
07 september 2015
The recently concluded India International Jewellery Show (IIJS-2015) organized by the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) in Mumbai has rekindled hopes of the Indian gem and jewellery industry, which is going through a rough patch at present. The atmosphere at the Show was one of overall confidence towards the entire range of exhibited goods, though it was the gold jewellery section that attracted most of the visitors. This is not a new phenomenon, as it has always been the case as gold jewellery retailers go ‘shopping’ during the IIJS Show to stock up for the festival season that is just round the corner.
Diamond Industry in the Russian Federation
31 august 2015
Currently, the Russian Federation, despite a slight decrease in rough production in 2012 versus 2006, turned to be the world’s diamond production leader both by volume and value.
Indian diamond industry: Between a rock and a hard place
24 august 2015
When the going gets tough, the tough get going goes the saying and that’s precisely what the Indian diamond industry is doing at present. India’s diamond industry, especially the manufacturing sector has been going through tough times. The pressures facing diamond manufacturers and dealers are unprecedented, leaving the market in a state of chaos. But, for the resilient Indian industry, which has gone through worse situations in the past, panicking was not an option.
India’s diamond market events in July 2015
17 august 2015
The Indian diamond market was quite active during the month of July, considering it is a slow period up to September, after which overseas demand will hopefully pick up. Currently, the market is stable, but the diminishing demand from overseas consuming markets seems to be of concern to the Indian exporters. The USA, as always, is the sustenance besides the Indian domestic market with its continuous demand for polished stones of all quality, size and shape. However, demand from the domestic market was rather slow as July-Aug is a period when jewellery sales are lowest; and normally pick up when festivals begin by September.
Summing up the trading update of ALROSA: When the "hazard zone" is so close
10 august 2015
The data on ore diamond grades and amount of processed sands contained in the operating report released by ALROSA on July 21, 2015 were the least thing expected by industry experts and investors. The reason for this bears no relation to the exact conformity of the reported data to the targets announced by the company before the IPO in October 2013, which makes the results predictable. Right now, the market does not demand from ALROSA clear-cut reports stuffed with numbers and percentages, but it is in greater need of the company’s statements regarding its further plans. The plans, which will permit to secure the company's profit-earning capacity and resist the negative influence of business trends.
Namibia Aiming for Botswana-Style Diamond Deal With De Beers
03 august 2015
The diamond mining agreement signed by De Beers and Botswana in 2011 was widely seen as a landmark decision. And its implications are now being felt further afield, with Namibia looking for similar provisions in its new diamond sales and marketing agreement with the mining giant. And it seems that De Beers, like it or not, will have to accept most of the demands of the Namibian government.
