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
ALROSA? The recommendation is Strong Buy!
28 may 2012
The transformation of ALROSA into a public company and its subsequent access to the stock exchange were accompanied by rosy forecasts from stock market analysts and by blissful expectations on the part of traders. Their reasoning was very convincing, almost flawless. The diamond market bounced over the pre-crisis levels, while ALROSA displayed the best financial results in its history... Yet, the company’s stock quotes followed a steady - one can even say scheduled – downward trend and instead of achieving the 45-ruble target slipped below 25 rubles.
Transformation of De Beers in the new century
21 may 2012
Since the start of 2000, the global diamond business has been going through epochal changes defining the prospects for its development in the foreseeable future. First of all, these changes are associated with the globalization of the world economy, which triggered fundamental transformations in the structure and organization of diamond trade involving major diamond mining companies, De Beers and ALROSA.
Is KP subverting Marange resolutions under U.S. guidance?
14 may 2012
The Kimberly Process (KP) chairperson, Gillian Milovanovic of the United States, recently surprised neutrals when she urged Indian diamond dealers to shun Zimbabwe’s Marange diamonds. Her argument was that the gems were still under sanctions for undermining democracy in the southern African country.
April market report
10 may 2012
Wisecrackers say that "statistics is an inaccurate science." As for accuracy I do not have any complaints, but I dare say that statistics is an unhurried science. Quarterly data on production, sales, exports and imports in the first three months of the year - in short, all the figures by which you can analyze the state of the industry - are published only in early May. Therefore, the current April report will be a bit more turned to the past. However, you may give an outlook for the future only based on previous experience.
Have mining giants lost interest in diamonds?
02 may 2012
Diamonds are losing their attractiveness in the eyes of the world's mining giants. Rio Tinto followed the suit of the industry leader, BHP Billiton, and is currently reviewing the rationale of going on with diamond mining operations within an appropriate reappraisal of the situation.
Baselworld 2012: reload
23 april 2012
The 40th – jubilee - annual exhibition of jewelry and watches, Baselworld 2012 completed its work in Switzerland. Should we wait another five years and Baselworld may celebrate its another anniversary, this time 100 years passed since the first Swiss watch fair in Basel, which was held in the eventful year 1917.
Double threat: natural but used + real but in vitro
16 april 2012
The first month of spring is traditionally associated with an ardent desire to put oneself in good shape and take off excess weight. Obviously, the diamond industry is also not alien to anything human. So, with the advent of March, two mining giants, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, said they planned to leave the diamond industry to "take off" their diamond business as being the least money making and also a whimsical asset. In addition, the U.S. diamond market in March was hit by news heralding the emergence of new competitors to the orthodox diamond.
March market report
09 april 2012
It seems that diamond marketers are susceptible to apprehensions more than anyone else. As soon as Rio Tinto announced its intention to go out of the diamond business, experts started to release excited comments: if two companies are planning to sell their diamond mines (shortly before that a similar desire was expressed by BHP), this means they are not optimistic about the future of the diamond market. Indeed, in case the two companies will decide to sell their assets, this will change the market structure. But should there be such a big worry about its future?
What is the value of Marange diamonds?
02 april 2012
This article is written by the correspondent of Rough&Polished who recently visited Zimbabwe trying to take a closer look at diamond operations in this country in the south of Africa.
National peculiarities of diamond business in Russia
26 march 2012
The results produced by the meeting of the Supervisory Board of ALROSA held on March 16 have encouraged analysts in investment companies and banks: their consensus forecast set the fair price for the diamond miner’s shares at 45 rubles (whereas currently they are traded at 31.85 rubles). Such predictions, based on a positive trend in financial results posted by the company, look quite convincing. But none of them takes into account one factor which is specific to Russia: regardless of how the company's balance sheet looks like, the authorities can "send to it a doctor," after which stock quotes start doing entrechat.
