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
Ali Pastorini: Our customers want only natural diamonds
13 april 2020
Ali Pastorini is the co-owner of Del Lima Jewelry and President of Mujeres Brillantes, an association which brings together more than 1,000 women working in the gold and diamond trading sector, mainly from Latin America, as well as from Turkey, Spain, Italy, and Germany. The mission of Mujeres Brillantes is to help women in the jewelry and watchmaking sectors consolidate their business in order to exchange professional skills and experience. In the immediate past, Ali Pastorini was also Senior Vice President of the World Jewelry Hub in Panama. In this interview with Rough & Polished she tells about the situation in the jewelry industry in the context of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
Innovation and automation can conquer any challenges
06 april 2020
Rahul Gaywala, the CEO of STPL has been with the Sahajanand Group since 1993 and in his tenure with STPL, he has proved to be a hard-core innovator and technocrat intent on helping to transform the diamond trade from a labour-intensive industry to an automated industry. Rahul handles the company's worldwide operations including business development, R&D, production, and supply chain. He has a tremendous cross culture and global exposures in diamond technology, industrial laser, medical devices, and life sciences industry. Rahul has 2 national and 4 international patents on his name. For his outstanding contribution in the global diamond industry, Rahul has been conferred with Awards as ‘Man of Excellence award, 2014, by Brand Academy Institute’ as well as ‘The Most Enterprising CEO award, 2013 by Indian Achievers Forum’. Recently, STPL was awarded with Most Innovative Company of for production technology by JNA Awards at Hong Kong. STPL has won many international awards for innovation excellence, including Good design Award- Japan, Vision System Design Innovators Award – USA and many more. STPL has been crowned with India Design Mark Award twice for its rough diamond planning and diamond cutting systems respectively. On a quality level STPL has won Platinum Level Quality Excellence Award by The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry
Memorial Foundation of Carl Fabergé continues to fulfill its tasks
30 march 2020
Valentin Skurlov, Ph. D., who is an Honorary Academician of the Russian Academy of Arts, professor, scientific secretary of the Fabergé Memorial Foundation, consulting researcher studying the Fabergé heritage at the Russian department of the Christie's auction house selling antiques, and the evaluator of the art treasures belonging to the RF Ministry of Culture, answers the questions put by the industry information agency Rough&Polished.
Gaetano Cavalieri: We need to protect the long-term health of our industry
23 march 2020
The World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) represents the entire jewelry industry embracing a whole variety of companies, from those mining precious metals and gems to those, which are manufacturing and selling final products. The confederation members are national jewelry associations from more than 40 countries, including Russia. 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. The President of CIBJO, 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.
Sierra Leone mulls setting up entity to buy diamonds from artisanal miners
16 march 2020
Sierra Leone will revise its Mines and Minerals Act that will, among other issues, pave way for the establishment of a State entity that can buy diamonds from artisanal miners, an official has said. The National Minerals Agency of Sierra Leone director-general, Julius Mattai, told Rough & Poished’s Mathew Nyaungwa in an exclusive interview that the State was only evaluating diamonds at the moment, but change was in the offing. Currently, artisanal miners were selling diamonds to agents, who in turn sell to dealers. The dealers also sell the stones to exporters who finally ship them to either Antwerp or the Middle East. Mattai also hailed De Beers’ GemFair pilot project, which seeks to formalise the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector in Sierra Leone by raising standards and opening up a new source of ethical diamond supply through the group’s industry-leading distribution channel. The project started with 16 participants and there are currently 94 sites participating in GemFair, all of which align with the group’s minimum ethical and operating requirements.
David Block, CEO of Sarine Technologies believes that AI will play a bigger role in the industry in the next few years
10 march 2020
Armed with an MBA degree from the Kellogg-Recanati School of Business, and a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the Tel Aviv-Jaffo Academic College in Israel, David Block is the present CEO of Sarine Technologies, a worldwide leader in the development, manufacture and sale of precision technology products for the global diamond and gem industry. For the last 18 years, David Block has been associated with Sarine Technologies in various senior positions in Israel and India. Until 2009, David Block held the position of CEO of Sarine India, managing over 70% of the Group's revenues. From 2012 until his appointment as CEO in 2017, Block served as Sarine's Deputy CEO and Chief Operating Officer, with responsibility for global operations and sales. Prior to joining Sarine, Block worked at several major Israeli hi-tech companies in the management of large-scale development projects. Here, in an interview with Rough & Polished, David Block speaks about some of the new products launched in the past few years as well as about Sarine’s plans for the future.
Botswana wants to fully participate in research and development led by De Beers
02 march 2020
Although the government of Botswana has refused to review its latest demands from the ongoing negotiations for a new sales and marketing deal with De Beers, it has indicated its desire to fully participate in research and development led by the diamond group. Botswana’s new minister of mineral resources Lefoko Maxwell Moagi cited DebTech as one of the firms owned by De Beers that they had an interest in. DebTech, which is based in Johannesburg, South Africa is a division of De Beers Group and it was established in the 1950’s to acquire, adapt or develop innovative technologies and services that have a significant impact on the efficiency and productivity of De Beers mining operations. Moagi told Rough & Polished’s Mathew Nyaungwa on the sidelines of the Mining Indaba, in Cape Town that Gaborone wants DebTech and related firms owned by De Beers to have a presence in the country for Botswana to get the skills and benefit. Meanwhile, Moagi said Botswana has started diversifying away from its economic dependence on diamonds. He cited copper as having a huge potential to contribute greatly to the country’s export receipts.
High-tech trend is most promising for industries using diamonds
25 february 2020
Synthesis Technology is a leading diamond producer in Russia. The company produces carbon single crystals - lab-grown diamonds and single-crystal wafers. The diamonds completely identical to natural ones are ‘grown’ at the laboratory using advanced HPHT technologies reproducing the natural process of creating natural diamonds. Ekaterina Nagovitsyna, Director General of Synthesis Technology, answered the questions of R&P. Ekaterina Nagovitsyna is a graduate of the St. Petersburg State Institute of Psychology and Social Work. She is a professional psychologist and worked at the Central Research Institute of Materials (the development of special materials and technologies). She has practical leadership experience in various companies and industries, including as a Director General (Rusmodernizatsiya).
Diamex Lab: Our technology allows you to trace the history of the origin of each stone
17 february 2020
Gleb Sverdlov, CEO of Diamex Lab told Rough & Polished in his interview below about the development of IT technologies for the market of rough and polished diamonds and jewelry.
The future of the market goes hand in hand with gemology
10 february 2020
After 2019, a challenging year for the global diamond industry, we asked Yuri Shelementyev, head of the Moscow State University (MSU) Gemmological Center and president of the National Gemological Association (NGA), to share his views on the diamond market and consumer behavior in the market. In the interview, he shares his views about why synthetic diamonds were taken for granted, what is happening to jewelry in the secondary market and how the behavior pattern of the young generation of purchasers has changed.
