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
A Sanction War over Ukraine Means Troubles for Gold Jewellery
27 october 2014
While the jewellery sector has not been directly targeted by the dangerous game of sanctions and counter-sanctions played by the United States and the European Union on one side and Russia on the other, it has indeed become one of its collateral victims.
Between a rock and a rough surface: Africa’s woe as it seeks to cut, polish diamonds
20 october 2014
De Beers said in its inaugural Insight Report, which was released last month that the global diamond cutting and polishing sector remains fragmented, with midstream companies under pressure from a mishmash of increasing costs in the upstream, the availability of credit and price-point requirements from their retail customers.
Alrosa’s planned exploration activities boon for Zim
13 october 2014
With Alrosa now actively involved in Botswana’s Orapa, it was also interesting to hear that the diamond giant was set to prospect for precious stones in Zimbabwe with DTZ-OZGEO, a Zimbabwe-Russia joint venture company.
India’s link with gold
06 october 2014
When an Indian thinks ‘gold’, the perception goes far beyond the metal as a possession of wealth, an ornament or just a pure investment vehicle. For an average Indian, Gold is ‘security’ - something that no other investment can offer. If one studies the pattern of gold consumption in the country over the years, you can see that the appetite for the yellow metal has always been high, irrespective of what the market news might say. If the occasion demands, nothing can stop Indians from buying gold coins, jewellery, etc. ... even high prices.
The Five-Year Plan of Andreev
29 september 2014
When you talk with experts from Antwerp or Israel about ALROSA, they often say that "the market has changed a lot since the Russian company emerged on it in 2009." Russia has been mining diamonds for more than 50 years, but only recently ALROSA started to be recognized as a fully competent participant of the diamond industry and moreover as its leader. During the five years under the direction of Fyodor Andreev, the company managed not only to move from the verge of bankruptcy - ALROSA was able to step out of the shade of De Beers and earn a reputation of a reliable partner.
Exceptional Way of Fluorescent Severalmaz
22 september 2014
Last March, ALROSA commissioned the second phase of the concentrator at the Lomonosov Mine in the Arkhangelsk Region. Having cleared the second phase for operation, Severalmaz, which develops this diamond field, will be able to raise production to 5 million carats in 2021, thus bringing its contribution to ALROSA Group’s total output to about 10%. Currently, Severalmaz provides 2%.
The Next Global Diamond Hub could be Virtual, and Chinese
15 september 2014
The industry is busy debating the destiny of old and new diamond hubs, but this geographic battle might become completely irrelevant in a few years’ time.
Upsurge in Rough Diamond Smuggling in Central African Republic
08 september 2014
After suspension of its membership in the Kimberly Process (KP), the organization set up for curbing the circulation of conflict diamonds, since May 23, 2013 the Central African Republic (CAR) has not officially exported even a single diamond mined on the territory of the country. This resulted in the loss of substantial revenues to its economy.
De Beers proves to be a cash cow for Anglo American
01 september 2014
De Beers was fast proving to be a cash cow for the diversified mining group, Anglo American, as it was recently described in some sections of the media as a “star performer” for Anglo during the first six months of the year.
Kristall + ALROSA = Merger with Far-Reaching Consequences
25 august 2014
Organizationally, the diamond industry in the USSR was characterized by a truly Spartan simplicity and logic. Mines, mining companies and processing plants were part of the association called Yakutalmaz. Polished diamonds were made by the factories grouped within the Kristall Manufacturing System. Almazyuvelirexport sold goods overseas. The idea to integrate all of these specific activities into a conglomerate apparently never occurred to the Council of Ministers of the USSR. The Russian government did not think about it either when it established the diamond mining company called ALROSA. However, the prospect of vertical integration started to loom in dead earnest before the Russian diamond industry in 2014.
