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...
12 october 2026
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
Spring sales in the U.S. gave a good start to the season
08 july 2013
The American spring of 2013 gave a positive signal for the upcoming season, though it is too early to say about a wanton bloom. After low sales in March, when the bulk of the population was preparing to file tax returns and pay taxes, April retail sales appeared to be rising on the backdrop of lower unemployment, higher housing prices and a strong stock market.
Botswana’s Catch-22
01 july 2013
Botswana has been - for a long time - too reliant on diamonds as its major source of government revenue. A lesson was learnt in 2008 when the world’s economy made a complete volte-face resulting in a slump of global diamond prices by about 60 percent. The country’s budget deficit blew up to 15 percent of GDP, a move that forced the government to seek an emergency $1.5 billion loan from the African Development Bank to sustain its operations.
No one wants to be a leader
25 june 2013
The diamond industry is currently not in the best shape for what there is a whole set of reasons. This tangle of reasons is intertwined so intricately that industry players are spending month after month failing to guess how to tackle it. And every time the discussion ends in the same way: the community comes to the conclusion that the situation should be resolved by diamond mining companies.
Russian Jewellery Exhibitions: How Many Required?
24 june 2013
Most of the jewellery fairs and shows in Russia originated in the post-soviet period. They are arranged regularly and have a fairly constant number of participants. In full compliance with the world trends, jewellery exhibition activities in Russia are concentrated in the centres of gems and jewellery manufacture, in recreation centres and in densely populated hubs with high purchasing power. The latter is a dominating factor.
Diamond financing in India
17 june 2013
Much water has flowed under the bridge since the Indian diamond industry began its sojourn overseas many decades ago... to export polished diamonds! Today, India is a major player in the global diamond and jewellery business, aspiring to become the diamond trading centre of the world. The Indian industry has all along depended on expertise and finance for the growth. And it is needless to say that bank financing has played an immense part in its growth and success. But, the industry has been on logger heads with the diamond financing banks for years now.
Diamond Jewellery in Western Europe: The Demography of a Decline
10 june 2013
The last warning was launched only a few months ago at BaselWorld 2013, when experts reported that jewellery sales figures in Europe are showing “conflicting results”. Many countries are still experiencing a declining trend, while those who grow are doing it only at moderate pace. The implications of the financial crisis for the diamond jewellery business have been already explored far and wide, but this is only one side of the story. Together with the contingency of rising unemployment rates and low liquidity, Western Europe is facing a long-term structural problem: a changing society.
Indian diamond cutting and polishing sector
03 june 2013
History has it that India was once the main producer of diamonds, till diamonds were discovered in Brazil and Africa. Today, however, India is the main supplier of finished diamonds to the world. It is said that 11 out of 12 diamonds set in any jewellery in the world are cut & polished in India. To put it simply, irrespective of whichever part of the world you live and you buy diamond studded jewellery, there's a good chance you'll be taking home a diamond processed in India.
Diamond OPEC
27 may 2013
The latest meeting between Vladimir Putin and Jacob Zuma, which took place in Sochi on May 16, 2013, caused a number of optimistic comments in Russian and African media on the prospects for bilateral relations. Some saw these contacts as an attempt of a new "discovery" of Africa, Russia’s attempt to recapture at least some of the positions that have been lost as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union.
India should be engaged, not marginalised
20 may 2013
If one major trend has emerged in the modern diamond industry, it is the rise of India as the new centre of balance. India now polishes around 95% of the world diamond production, employing over one million people in the industry. But together with the employment and the large volume of money came the speculation. The wave of outrage that this earthquake has provoked in the stable diamond business is understandable, but less understandable is the mounting proposal that India should be excluded from the rough trade business in favour of old and trusted buyers.
Best performers in Russian jewelry business
13 may 2013
Nowadays, very low-end and very high-end jewelry set the style, says Valery Radashevich, a member of the Russian Jewelers Guild and expert of the ‘Estet’ Jewelry House. “A jewelry industry is an indicator of the economy state: demand for jewelry grows only when the population of the country feels confident about the future."
