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
Diamond industry in healthier position going into 2020
03 february 2020
The diamond industry is in a healthier position going into 2020 due to actions taken last year, according to De Beers. Group spokesperson David Johnson told Rough & Polished’s Mathew Nyaungwa that the actions taken included reducing rough diamond production in response to the lower demand, adjusting rough diamond prices, offering their customers increased flexibility to defer their rough diamond purchases and selling smaller Sights. He said poor sales in the final two weeks leading up to Christmas in 2018 (due largely to US stock market volatility and US-China trade tensions) meant retailers had lower appetite to restock at the start of 2019. This, said Johnson, led to the midstream being oversupplied with inventory and rough diamond demand subsequently reduced significantly.
Ethical sourcing and Diamonds Standards Organization
27 january 2020
The diamond sector is ready to embrace a new decade and overcome some of its historical challenges. Ethical sourcing has proven to be undoubtedly one of the main aspects that industry professionals need to address. Antonio Cecere, President of Geneva Diamond Exchange and Founder of Monaco Diamond Exchange, is one of the foremost contributors to the efforts made in the past decade to a conflict-free diamond trade. Here, Rough&Polished spoke to Antonio Cecere to understand more about the signs of progress made; his vision for the future and the importance of the incorporation of Diamonds Standard Organization (DSO).
Ali Pastorini: Challenges make us think out of the box and be closer to customers
20 january 2020
Ali Pastorini is the co-owner of DEL LIMA JEWERLY 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 major trends and problems in the jewelry business.
Today’s customer needs an offer of something unique that others do not have
09 january 2020
Oksana Senatorova is the publisher of the Jewelry Trade Navigator magazine and the founder of the Jewellery Business Academy.
She graduated from I. M. Sechenov Medical Academy and the Faculty of Psychology of Lomonosov Moscow State University. In 2001, she started the Jewelry Trade Navigator magazine, the leading Russian professional publication on technologies and culture of jewellery sales. She heads the industry projects: the ‘Diamond Street’ almanac - about jewelers who are the future of the Russian jewellery art, and the ‘Top 100. The Best Jewellery Stores’. She also does a popular jewellery guide series for the trade and a wide range of readers. She is an organizer and host of the prestigious international contest the ‘Best Jewellery Store of the Year’, an organizer and curator of the Russian jewellery industry seminars on sales and professional jewellery trade events. She is awarded the Faberge Memorial Fund Award: the Small Decoration of the Order of Perkhin (2010). In an exclusive interview with Rough&Polished, she shares her thoughts on trade shows, diamond trading and consumer trends.
Inventories accumulated by De Beers, ALROSA to put ceiling on prices near-term even if demand substantially picks up – Zimnisky
30 december 2019
As we are in the last month of 2019, it is prudent to examine what the diamond industry went through and the possible trajectory in the upcoming year. Industry expert, Paul Zimnisky spoke with Rough & Polished’s Mathew Nyaungwa to discuss this and other issues relating to the industry. He said an oversupplied market has been the diamond industry’s biggest challenge in the recent past, but sees near-term demand as the biggest risk, particularly out of the Greater China market, as uncertainties around the U.S./China trade negotiations and to a lesser extent the situation in Hong Kong, remain unresolved. Zimnisky, however, said inventories accumulated by major producers in 2019, primarily De Beers and ALROSA, will put a ceiling on prices near-term even if we see demand substantially pick up.
Empowering customers and engaging more with our stakeholders is the new Mission
23 december 2019
The unassuming Govindbhai Laljibhai Dholakia, Chairman, Shree Ramkrishna Exports Pvt Ltd (SRK) is not just an ace businessman but a noted philanthropist. He has contributed immensely to social welfare with special focus on education … a noteworthy step especially when he is a school dropout. A legend in his own right, Govindbhai Dholakia is a self-made man. He has built the company SRK from scratch to one of the current leading players in the Indian diamond industry. Here, in an interview with Rough&Polished, Govindbhai Dholakia comes across as an astute businessman, airing his views on all things business, but with an adequate dose of philosophy.
‘Dubai has proven to be a great port for diamond tenders’
16 december 2019
Stargems, which was established by Shailesh Javeri in 1981, has been involved in the trading of rough diamonds and is now also into manufacturing, wholesaling, retailing, tendering of diamonds and diamond jewellery. Although, the company has operations in Antwerp and Hong Kong, among other global centres, it is convinced that Dubai is a “great port for diamond tenders”, according to company managing director Bhavesh Javeri in an exclusive interview with Rough & Polished’s Mathew Nyaungwa. He said Dubai’s diamond trade had been growing by leaps and bounds over the years and is committed to setting the standard for secure diamond trading in line with the highest quality standards. Javeri also said that Stargems ethically sources stones for tenders from several sources, although prominent sources were Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa.
Our main role is to inspire consumers to consider diamonds - Jean-Marc Lieberherr
09 december 2019
With over 25 years of experience in a variety of leadership positions across many geographies, functions and businesses, Jean-Marc Lieberherr has more than 10 years’ experience as a diamond industry leader, which includes as a Board member of the World Diamond Council. As a co-founder of the Diamond Producers Association (DPA), its first chairman, and then its first Chief Executive, Jean-Marc dedicated himself to promoting diamonds as a unique miracle of nature and symbol of love, as well as to supporting the diamond industry on its path towards ever greater levels of responsibility and transparency. As CEO, Jean-Marc oversees all aspects of the DPA's operations, reporting to its Board of Directors. Here, in an exclusive interview with Rough & Polished, Jean-Marc Lieberherr takes us down the road of DPA’s journey since it was founded to promote diamonds globally.
Training in diamond valuation is key for artisanal miners
02 december 2019
Ian Rowe, the Executive Director of the Diamond Development Initiative (DDI) was appointed in September 2019, having joined DDI as Deputy Executive Director a year earlier. Ian managed field operations in Sierra Leone within this role and led an extensive strategic planning process to position DDI for a future in which artisanal mining is expected to become a much more prominent development challenge. As a result, DDI is now poised to consolidate many of the important lessons it has learned, into larger cross-cutting programs with positive outcomes for the artisanal mining sector. Here, in an exclusive interview with Rough&Polished, Ian Rowe shares his insights on artisanal mining and also specifies the impact of DDI’s initiatives on the artisanal sector.
Kangalassi 2.0: Raising the living standards, creating new jobs
25 november 2019
At the V Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) held in early September in Vladivostok, the Yakut company SAYBM signed a tripartite agreement with two agencies - the Far Eastern agency and the regional one - for attracting investments and providing export support. The document was signed to attract investments within the framework of the project "Jewelry and cutting cluster in the territory of the advanced socio-economic development – the Kangalassi Industrial Park”. Anna Ivanova, Director General of SAYBM, told the Rough&Polished information agency about the prospects that open up for the young, but already established company.
