Surprise?

(polishedprices.com) - The unsurprising news being shouted from the rooftops is that De Beers has signed a 10 year marketing agreement with the Government of Namibia. Of much greater interest to me was the price that the 815 carat stone from Lucara fetched, namely some $77,000 per carat or total price of $63 million. This I did find surprising, surprisingly good. I have only seen photos of the stone and spoken to one or two who have seen the stone and getting such a high dollar per carat per se is not that out of place, but when put together with the extreme size of the stone, the total price paid was extraordinary. The general rule in diamonds is that the price increases exponentially as the size increases, but things do tend to plateau, as the size gets exceptional; the total sum of cash involved becomes a factor in the price. In a market, which De Beers has described as being in a fragile recovery, no one can claim is the strongest it has ever been, an indication of which is the lack of liquidity and generally fairly weak prices overall, to achieve such a high price, I believe tells us, or me at least, just how remarkable our product can be.