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
Diamonds of the Third Reich and Some Specific Features of Managing Global Raw Materials Markets. Part 3.
11 february 2008
Activities of American secret services made it possible to assume that a source of rough diamonds for the Third Reich war industry might be De Beers Company. This somewhat confirmed strange unwillingness by Ernst Oppengamer to take De Beers stocks to the USA.
Diamonds of the Third Reich and Some Specific Features of Managing Global Raw Materials Markets. Part 2.
05 february 2008
In the 30s of the last century Brazil was the only rough diamonds exporting country, thе Government of which was loyal to Hitler. The rest significant exporters (in the first instance the South African Republic) were either a part of the British Commonwealth, where De Beers Corporation directly controlled recovery and marketing of diamonds , or such control was exercised through agreements signed with the Central Marketing Organization (for example, Forminier Company in Belgian Congo).
Diamonds of the Third Reich and Some Specific Features of Managing Global Raw Materials Markets
30 january 2008
Once Saudi Sheik Yamani, one of the OPEC founding fathers, when asked to what extent the oil price was hinged on OPEC decisions and to what on market factors said, “The first two figures (before the dot) are determined by OPEC and the last figures (after the dot) by fundamental factors.” The idea that modern markets can be managed in varying degrees is shared by almost all their participants and analysts and this should not be taken as some revelation.
"ALROSA should determine its sales strategy"
25 december 2007
On 13.12.2007, ALROSA Vice-President Sergey Ulin was authorized to streamline the company’s sales. Here are some opinions on ALROSA’s sales policy expressed by Rough&Polished experts.
Nightmare incarnate of Cecil Rhodes
27 november 2007
In the late 19th century Cecil Rhodes, the De Beers Corporation founder, evaluating possible risks to his plans in Africa named the “Yellow Peril”, unexpectedly for all, and said that he would never let Chinese immigrants into Rhodesia. At the time, C. Rhodes had quite enough problems with Boers, Ndebeles and Shonas and there were no omens of any Chinese competitors, political or economic, even on the horizon. Great Britain, France and Germany were absorbed in slicing the “African pie” while China was dormant in its semi-colonial state and any serious Chinese expansion in Africa at that time seemed fantastic.
Diamond VAT
13 november 2007
ALROSA’s decision to abandon, starting from 01.01.2008, the VAT exemption when selling diamonds in the domestic market produced a very lamentable reaction on the part of Russian diamond cutters. In the opinion of the Leviev Group’s spokesman, “if this intention will be effected it will mean an end to the Russian diamond-cutting industry”.
Diamond cutting in Africa: pro and contra
24 october 2007
This October, the International Antwerp Diamond Conference-2007 showed that a range of industrial professionals were skeptic towards the idea of developing national lapidary industries in the African diamond-mining countries and that populist argumentation in favour of African diamond cutting had little in common with economic realities.
Synthetic diamonds assault jewelry market
08 october 2007
In September, the attention of Rough&Polished experts was attracted by the largest in the world plant put into operation in the USA to make synthetic diamonds.
Some specific features of the "Russian diamond cutting"
13 september 2007
There are no low-interest credits and no banks specializing on investments in the cutting industry in Russia. Therefore, if Russian cutters “play the game” they are doomed to defeat in the market.
The Role of and Outlook for Speculative Operations in the Diamond Market
13 september 2007
One of the most prominent tendencies influencing the development of the global raw diamond market is the growth of speculative operations with raw diamonds in their number and range.
