News
Indian jewellers promote natural diamonds amid competition from lab-grown stones
Falling prices for lab-grown diamonds and their resulting rise in market share are transforming India’s diamond jewellery market and prompting jewellers to take proactive measures.
Yesterday
Ethiopia opens first gold refinery to serve region
Ethiopia has inaugurated its first gold refinery, a $50 million joint venture that the government hopes will establish the country as a regional hub for precious metals processing, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced over the weekend, according to Reuters...
Yesterday
Anglo American bets R11.2B on South African mining's future
Anglo American has reaffirmed South Africa's potential as a premier mining investment destination, even as the company commits R11.2 billion ($677 million) to an ultra-high dense media separation iron-ore project at Sishen in the Northern...
Yesterday
Nornickel forecasts $4 billion in precious metals revenue for 2026 - report
A senior Nornickel representative noted that the company expects to generate $4 billion in revenue from precious metals sales this year.
Yesterday
Russia to build first permanent REM magnet plant
In 2028, Russia is set to start the construction of its first plant for manufacturing permanent magnets from rare-earth metals (REM) in the city of Glazov, to be commissioned in 2029 with an initial capacity of 500 tonnes per year, said Andrey...
Yesterday
Gaetano Cavalieri: As they say, never waste a good crisis
07 march 2022
Dr. Gaetano Cavalieri has served for more than 20 years as president of CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation. Uniting national jewellery and gemstone associations from more than 40 countries, including Russia, and many of the industry’s major corporations and international associations, CIBJO is the industry’s oldest international organization, having been established in 1926. In 2006, the CIBJO was the only organization granted the official status of a consultant to the UN Economic and Social Council on the development of the global jewelry industry. Gaetano Cavalieri kindly agreed to answer questions from Rough&Polished related to the most pressing topic for the world community today – the COVID-19 coronavirus.
The activity of the Fabergé Foundation continues, the number of the Foundation’s members is increasing
28 february 2022
Valentin Skurlov is an art expert, jewellery historian, honourary academician of the Russian Academy of Arts, expert of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, scientific secretary of the Fabergé Memorial Foundation, consultant-researcher on Fabergé works of the Russian Department of the Christie’s Antique Auction House. He is the author of the book “In Search of the Fabergé Archive” that is the result of about 40 years of work with the Fabergé’s heritage. He was honored with many titles and awards and is a full Cavalier of the Orders of Carl Fabergé (2002), of A. K. Denisov-Uralsky (2008), of Mikhail Perkhin (2010), and of Franz Birbaum (2012). Valentin Skurlov told Rough&Polished about the scientific research, discoveries and recent achievements related to the Fabergé dynasty’s legacy.
African Diamond Council: “We make every effort to be the diamond trade’s most encouraging emissary between the public and private sectors”
21 february 2022
Dr M'zée Fula Ngenge became Africa’s highest-ranking diamond administrator by serving as Chairman of the African Diamond Council (ADC). After celebrating 40 years in the global diamond industry this month, this experienced Mining Engineer and highly respected Senior Strategy Advisor acts as a professional liaison within the international diamond trade and is well-positioned to influence, both, the public and private sectors. In 1986, the world's first Diamantaire of African descent successfully assisted to introduce Ideal & Super-Ideal Cut diamonds to the global diamond supply chain. These highly sought-after Hearts & Arrow diamonds have rapidly increased in popularity since the 1990s. Through his authoritative alliances, he vigorously administers, defends and promotes eighteen unified African diamond producing countries, which impressively represents 67% of the world diamond production in carat weight and which contributes more than $8.5 billion in revenue to the global diamond industry. This accomplished diamond official also served as Chief Administrative Developer in 2000 and became Project Launch Team Coordinator in 2001 for Kimberley Process (KP), a diamond certification scheme to eradicate blood/conflict diamonds. In 2001, Dr M'zée was a principal trustee and decisive proponent to establish Dubai as a major diamond and jewelry manufacturing center, laying the foundation for the successful launch of Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) in 2002. In early 2017, M'zée drafted a bold and assertive revenue recovery proposal that urged the Republic of Angola to implement "Operation Transparency" in late 2018 and internationally lauded campaign that was effective in combatting illegal immigration, unlawful exploration of diamonds as well as environmental crimes related to the plundering of natural resources, such as diamond smuggling. In addition to this, at the beginning of 2019, Dr M'zée was assigned as Chairman and Managing Director of the African International Diamond Exchange (AIDEX), Africa's most transparent rough diamond supplier for four diamond exchanges in Antwerp, the Diamond Exchange District in Ramat Gan, the world's largest diamond bourse in Mumbai as well as the largest Free Zone in the United Arab Emirates. At the end of 2019, he was entrusted as Chairman of Board of Trustees for the African Diamond Trust Fund (ADTF), a fully integrated, autonomous financial depository and vault operator for ethically mined rough diamonds originating in Africa. Here, in an exclusive interview with Rough&Polished, Dr M'zée Fula Ngenge gives a clear picture of Africa’s diamond industry and his perception of the country’s future…
Angola wants diamond buyers to travel to Luanda
14 february 2022
Angola is one of the leading rough diamond producers in the world, according to the Kimberley Process. It, however, has been exporting the bulk of its diamonds mainly to Dubai. The Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) had of late been trying its best to get Luanda to ship its rough stones to Belgium.
Angola is now working on the establishment of a diamond exchange, which will be second on the African continent. It first revealed plans to establish the diamond exchange in 2019 as part of the country’s ongoing reforms in the mining and energy sectors. The man tasked to spearhead the setting up of the diamond exchange is none other than Peter Meeus, who did the same in Dubai. He told Rough&Polished’s Mathew Nyaungwa, in an exclusive interview, that the diamond exchange will be located in Luanda and is expected to open later this year.
Kimberley Process is not static but dynamic, seeking to improve over time
07 february 2022
Paulo Mvika is a Mining Engineer, a graduated from the University of Friendship with the Peoples of Moscow, Russia, in 1990; he has a Post Graduate Diploma in Economic Evaluation of Mining Projects from the National Higher School of Mines in Paris, France, in 1992. During his professional career, he held several positions of responsibility in the mining industry at the Ministry of Geology and Mines and at the National Diamond Company of Angola as National Director of the Study, Planning and Statistics Office (1997-2003), National Director of Mines ( 2003-2009), Coordinator of the Mining Concession Negotiations Office, Executive Director of Endiama EP (2010-2017) and Executive Coordinator of the National Kimberley Process Commission (from 2014 to present). Paulo was also a Professor of Economics and Mining Legislation in the fifth year of the Geology courses at the Faculty of Science and Mines at the Faculty of Engineering of the Antonio Agostino Neto University. He is a regular Angolan participant in the Kimberley Process meetings from 2000 to the present, was a Chair of the Working Group on Artisanal Alluvial Production (2007-2017). Here, in an exclusive interview with Rough&Polished, Paulo Mvika speaks in detail about Angola’s KP Commission’s activities and future steps.
Maxim Zemlyakov: “Life must go on!”
31 january 2022
Maxim Zemlyakov is the former Director General of the Oryol-ALROSA company, and now he is the owner of ADMS, an Oryol-based company cutting and polishing natural and synthetic diamonds. He was appointed the Oryol-ALROSA’s Director General in 2007. After a competitive and successfully performing company that was among the companies with the lowest cost prices in the world and product quality meeting the world standards was declared bankrupt in 2017, Maxim Zemlyakov restored the diamond manufacture, invited his former employees and headed the previous team.
Is it worth buying a diamond ring?
24 january 2022
Today, the internet provides a piece of free-flowing information to everyone worldwide. Keeping the prices of any product secret is near to impossible. Social media and consumer feedbacks are challenging for a company to set prices on their own. The same formula applies to diamond trading as a commodity – let the consumer decide what diamond to purchase and set the price they are willing to pay for it. The retailers must focus on providing general education to the consumer to understand the characteristics specified on a certificate of a specific diamond that count towards its value.
New Angolan diamond marketing policy helps lift rough prices – Wetherall
17 january 2022
The Angolan administration of President João Lourenço introduced technical regulations for its new diamond marketing policy in 2018 whose objective was to improve the attractiveness and competitiveness of the national diamond industry and grow outside investment into the southern African country. Lucapa Diamond managing director Stephen Wetherall told Rough&Polished’s Mathew Nyaungwa on the side-lines of the Angola International Diamond Conference held in Saurimo last November that the biggest change was the additional sales channels miners can now use within the new Angolan regulations. He also said that they are now getting the right price for their product due to the producer preferred buyer channel, tender or auction channel as well as the influx of more international buyers. Under the previous regime, miners were not able to propose their buyers rather they were allocated an Angolan approved buyer. Wetherall also, among other things, spoke about Lucapa's kimberlite exploration project in Angola.
LGDs will continue to be an option for consumers, from the high-quality bridal market to the fashion market
10 january 2022
Richard Garard is a founding member of the International Grown Diamond Association, which was established in 2016. He serves on the Executive Committee of IGDA as President and Secretary General. IGDA was created to represent, promote and educate the market on the benefits and features of lab grown diamonds. Mr. Garard has been involved in research and technology for growing diamond material in the lab for over 30 years. Richard is currently CEO of Microwave Enterprises, a company supplying capital equipment and development of CVD technologies for diamond deposition. In his role for IGDA, Richard provides administration, a point of contact and communication for the organization. The non-profit organization recently launched IGDA 2.0 to respond to the rapidly growing market and expanding consumer interest in lab grown diamonds. Here, in an Exclusive Interview, Richard Garard spells out the plans chalked out for IGDA 2.0 to expand and support the LGD sector.
Everything is design and design is everything
03 january 2022
Born in the Basra pearls family, the first private jewelers to royal families, Ashraf Motiwala is the fourth generation to carry forward the legacy of A S Motiwala. Spearheading the prestigious family legacy, Ashraf Motiwala felt the need to breathe new life into the business. As demand for fine jewellery escalated both in India and abroad, the changing scenario required him to re-invent A S Motiwala, while keeping the reputation intact. In 2002, Ashraf Motiwala acquired the nuance of the trade from the GIA (Gemological Institute of America) right from mining, cutting, polishing to assorting (grading) diamonds and precious stones, and worked towards translating the heritage value to high finished bespoke pieces. In 2018, Faith received the prestigious Diamond of Asia International Award for Quality Excellence from the Economic Growth Society of India. In 2020, Ashraf Motiwala was presented with the Inspirational Leader award for his impressive achievements in the realm of the jewellery business. Under Ashraf Motiwala’s direction, the brand A S Motiwala received a fresh perspective on the shifting consumer behaviour by launching Faith, which embodies A S Motiwala's trustworthiness, values, and craftsmanship. In 2021, Ashraf Motiwala, as Founder & Creative Director at ‘Faith By ASM’, has taken their newest brand extension online to reach a global audience. Here, in an exclusive Interview with Rough&Polished, Ashraf Motiwala speaks about the company and its mission…
