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
China’s Way to Namibia’s Uranium Goes through Russian Diamond Fields
03 august 2009
The news released by information agencies about China’s readiness to buy a large amount of rough diamonds from Russia in 2009 and purchase virtually all ALROSA’s output assortment in 2010 creates a sudden intrigue and may have a pivotal impact on forecasts for the global rough diamond market. Despite the fact that the official representatives of ALROSA and Shanghai Diamond Exchange made almost simultaneous statements that they “did not know anything of such deals being prepared,” some objective reasons for such collaboration do exist.
1H 2009 Results: Point of No Return
30 july 2009
It is very likely that in the present circumstances the rough market will be forced to follow the shrinking polished market which will sufficiently quickly (and maybe irreversibly) result in a price slump for rough diamonds due to the workings of the classic “demand-and-supply” mechanism, which will leave no chance to be influenced by anyone.
Both imports and exports in June indicate bottoming out of slowdown
27 july 2009
Antwerp's imports and exports of rough and polished diamonds were lower in June when compared to the same month a year earlier, but the rate of the slowdown was below the average falloff reported during the first half of the year, according to an AWDC report made available to Rough&Polished. While this trend was somewhat moderate in respect to polished diamonds, it was especially apparent with regard to rough diamonds.
Everyone Has to Adapt
13 july 2009
Totally, the United States, Japan and Europe consume about 80% of diamond jewelry with the middle class once giving the law to this market but now appearing as most affected by growing unemployment. The growth of unemployment and situation on the diamond market are in stable correlation – in the first six months of 2009 the United States curtailed its diamond imports by more than 50% compared with one year ago, while Japan cut its imports by more than one third.
U.S. Budget Deficit is Correcting Global Gold Prices
13 july 2009
It is obvious that, as before, the main role of gold is to stabilize financial markets. Gold is to a lesser extent an industrial metal and this is why its price did not sagged under the impact of the crisis. On the contrary, it seemed to go up to the level of $1,000 per ounce, but the sharp drop in demand for jewelry on the major markets in the United States and India which was not offset by higher demand on investment markets (for bullions and coins) did not permit gold prices to rise.
Comeback to Global Monopoly as a Means to Overcome Crisis
16 june 2009
Is a merger between De Beers and ALROSA possible?
Something is Wrong with the Kimberley Process
03 june 2009
Ian Smillie, one of the architects of the Kimberley Process (KP) has announced he is leaving the management of Partnership Africa-Canada, a non-governmental organization (NGO). We shall eagerly agree with the disappointed Ian Smillie that the KP has turned out to be inefficient in attaining its declared goals. Since this sorrowful situation has been no secret for quite a long time it would be curious to find an answer to the question – Why did this breakthrough come to Ian Smillie right now, during the unprecedented crisis on the diamond market?
Epoch of State Guaranties
27 may 2009
The recent decision of the Flanders government to render support to the Belgian diamond industry has actually been the third similar move on the global market, after Russia and Angola. State guaranties are an instrument of support to the industry operating at rather high production costs in the diamond-mining countries and they are also instrumental to preserving the role of Antwerp as the traditional diamond center. In other words, the rough diamond marketers on the opposite sides of the diamond pipeline launched similar initiatives to preserve the market and clear it of speculative ballast.
When will Global Diamond Business Recover from Crisis?
25 may 2009
To devise an efficient strategy of development for the Russian rough and polished diamond industry there is need in new methods and patterns to forecast any further progress of the global diamond business. The world financial crisis affected the diamond pipeline in 2008, but its impact may be even more revealing in 2009. It is probable that correlations between major parts of the diamond pipeline may be radically changed.
Marange Diamonds: a Test for Kimberley
18 may 2009
A team from the Kimberley Process (KP) recently visited Zimbabwe on a fact-finding mission seeking, among other issues, to establish whether mass murders had occurred in Marange during a clean-up late last year by security forces on illegal diamond mining.
