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
Dr. Michael S. Krzemnicki: Our dedication to scientific research is an important foundation to our expertise
01 july 2019
Dr. Michael S. Krzemnicki, PhD, Director of the Swiss Gemmological Institute SSEF, in an interview with R&P told about the activities and plans of one of the world's leading Gemological laboratories specializing in scientific research of diamonds, precious stones and pearls.
“Lab-Grown Diamonds is probably the biggest scam this industry has ever seen,”: Leibish Polnauer, Founder-President, Leibish & Co.
24 june 2019
An interesting story from the Leibish & Co takes you way back to the year 1979 when young Leibish Polnauer, then a diamond polisher, was travelling to London, having just found out that the factory at which he worked had been shut down. He found an advertisement from the royal crown jeweler Garrard‘s seeking a 6-carat pear-shaped diamond. Next, Leibish made the phone call that would change his life forever. Garrard’s needed 80 pear-shaped diamonds in two weeks, and Leibish said that he would provide them though he did not have any stock of his own. Leibish Polnauer kept his promise to Garrad’s … so much for Leibish Polnauer’s entrepreneurship! And the rest, as they say, is history. Now, about four decades later, Leibish Polnauer- Founder- President still steers Leibish & Co, which strives to be a premier supplier of natural Fancy Color diamonds in all colors, sizes, and price ranges. Here, in an interview with Rough & Polished, Leibish Polnauer tells us his story, but also puts forth his views candidly about the industry… especially on lab-grown diamonds.
Botswana mining industry players speak on speculative exploration licences
17 june 2019
Speculative mineral exploration licences was a recurring theme from presentations made by three players in Botswana mining industry at a conference convened in Gaborone. The country has issued thousands of exploration licences, across the mining industry, but the majority of them are said to be gathering dust. Botswana is the second largest diamond producer in the world after Russia. Rough & Polished’s Mathew Nyaungwa, who attended the conference, has put together the comments made by Pangolin Diamonds chief executive Leon Daniels, Botswana Chamber of Mines chief executive Charles Siwawa and Botswana Minister of mineral resources, Green technology and energy security Eric Molale.
Design is the key to all markets
10 june 2019
Besides being an astute businessman, Mumbai-born Laksh Pahuja is a designer par excellence known globally for his awe-inspiring unusual jewellery pieces. Trained at the Gemological Institute of India and Harrow College of Art England, Laksh combines his qualification, formal training with his inherent talent to create extraordinary jewellery pieces. Well versed with international trends, he blends them with his own style and gives each masterpiece its distinct uniqueness. Drawing inspiration from nature, Laksh’s Signature Creations have never been seen, heard, or conceived before anywhere in the world.
Mutual mass destruction will not serve anybody’s purposes
03 june 2019
The recent moves by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), including its letters urging some companies to abide to the revised edition of FTC Jewelry Guides and the explanations from FTC attorney Robert Frisby posted on the FTC website were widely perceived as a game changer in promoting lab-grown and natural diamond goods in the market. Ronnie VanderLinden, President of the International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA), gave his take on the situation in advertising in an interview with Rough & Polished.
Pavel Sokolov: Every stone has its beauty
27 may 2019
THE ‘GEMSTONES BY SOKOLOV’ brand has been popular for over 25 years. The aim of this company is to supply any kind of gem studs to the Russian market including the unique ones except diamonds of any cut. The product range by the SOKOLOV Company is very wide and the company a leader in the Russian jewelry market. The SOKOLOV Company made its difficult way searching for an optimal business model. They encountered many challenges on this way: they set up their own cutting and polishing operation, started their advertising unit and creative a photo and design studio. Earlier, much attention was paid to the company’s website (www.gemstone.ru), but at present, they focus mainly at the work in the interactive social media. The headquarters of the company is in St. Petersburg, their office and showroom have been operating in Moscow since 2005, and their office and a store were opened in Kostroma in 2008. Pavel Sokolov, the CEO and founder of the company, tells the R&P about how challenging it is to be an entrepreneur in the jewelry business.
“We are building a new state-of-the-art tender facility,” says Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman, DMCC
20 may 2019
Ahmed Bin Sulayem certainly needs no introduction being widely popular globally as one of the leaders of modern Dubai. As the Executive Chairman of DMCC, Ahmed Bin Sulayem has played and continues to play a key role in establishing and positioning DMCC as a major international commodities hub for trade. Here, in an Interview with Rough&Polished, Ahmed Bin Sulayem elucidates on DMCC, DDE, DPE and more… to present Dubai, the fastest growing diamond hub in the world.
De Beers scaling up Tracr ahead of formal launch
13 may 2019
De Beers tracked 100 high-value diamonds along the value chain during the pilot of Tracr™, its industry blockchain platform, for the first time in May last year. A De Beers spokesperson Bianca Ruakere told Rough & Polished in an exclusive interview that they are pleased with the progress and success of the pilot programme. She said the platform, which provides consumers with confidence that registered diamonds are natural and conflict-free, will be scaled up ahead of formal launch “in due course”.
The perfect couple - platinum and diamonds
06 may 2019
The Jewelry House of Leon Megé located in New York has long been firmly established in the jewelry market as a source of magnificent jewelry, in which platinum and diamonds often sparkle being married together and attracting everyone’s eyes, but are only available to some, as the company operates in the segment of high-end goods. The owner of this company is jeweler Leon Megé born in St. Petersburg, who together with his employees, made it a rule to create each product only manually and in one copy, such as, for example, the Brooklyn Twins diamonds, which he mentions in this interview telling about his business and team - goal-oriented and enthusiastic professionals who are keen to turn every piece of jewelry into a work of art.
The technology of growing single-crystal diamonds has now become industrial in nature
29 april 2019
It is believed that the reserves of natural diamonds will be exhausted by the middle of the century, and therefore production of synthetic diamonds is rapidly gaining relevance. According to Business Insider India’s estimates, the global synthetic diamond market will be worth $ 28.26 billion in 2024 as a result of growing demand for cutting, polishing and drilling operations. As it was reported by Rough&Polished, New Diamond Technology, LLC based in St. Petersburg “made a breakthrough in the world history of diamond growing having produced a single-crystal diamond type Ib weighing 103.50 carats" in December 2018. The company achieved this result using the method of high pressure and high temperature (HPHT) and caused another sensation by manufacturing a polished diamond weighing 20.9 carats from a single-crystal rough diamond weighing 55.94 carats grown in November 2018. Aleksandr Koliadin, Dr. Sci. (Eng.) and CEO of New Diamond Technology, sat with Rough&Polished to talk about the activities and future plans of his company.
