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

Artificial intelligence learned to design port infrastructure for the Arctic

28 july 2023

Scientists of St. Petersburg ITMO University have taught artificial intelligence to design industrial and port infrastructure for the Arctic zone.

The development allows to design spaces in minutes using generative technology to create a detailed plan of the future object, which takes into account building regulations, terrain features and harsh climatic conditions, the press service of the university reports.

The AI-Designer program is created, in particular, to help companies involved in the development of the Arctic zone to arrange buildings and transport routes so that they are not heavily covered with snow, as well as to choose parameters of ice protection structures that are safe for the ecosystem.

"The natural and climatic conditions and design principles in the Arctic are different from other regions - even if they are only a few degrees south of latitude. For example, there is more snow in the Arctic zone, which already requires different approaches in design — and this is not only the choice of the concept, planning, preparation of working documentation, but also modeling, optimization of the entire production chain. And at each of these stages, AI is able to avoid inaccuracies and offer optimal solutions," said Peter Tarasov, an expert in the Department of innovative projects on the shelf of the Arctic Research Center.

Alex Shishlo for Rough&Polished