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Responsible business practices ‘no longer optional’, says WDC President Feriel Zerouki
The president of the World Diamond Council takes time out of her busy schedule to tell Rough&Polished readers about the critical work of the WDC. Zerouki, the first female present of the body, which includes all the important industry organizations among...
14 october 2024
James Campbell: Botswana Diamonds optimistic as it enters uncharted territory of using AI for mineral exploration
London-listed Botswana Diamonds has expressed optimism about the company’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) to scan the exploration database in Botswana to look for new mineralised deposits. Company managing director James Campbell told Rough...
07 october 2024
Artur Salyakayev: For me, happiness is freedom to make my ideas happen and create valuable products
Artur Salyakayev is an art entrepreneur, founder of the International Jewelry Academy (IJA) and the INCRUA jewelry company. He has initiated and developed successful projects in jewelry industry and services sector. He is also a leading expert...
30 september 2024
Paul Zimnisky: China key for sustained recovery in demand for natural diamonds, prices
The curtailing of upstream and midstream natural diamond production in the past months is starting to have an effect on prices, according to the New-York-based independent diamond and jewellery analyst and consultant, Paul Zimnisky. He told Rough & Polished’s...
23 september 2024
Vladimir Pilyushin: The jewelry market is not stand-alone and moves by the same laws as other markets
Vladimir Pilyushin is editor-in-chief of Russian Jeweler, a leading magazine about the jewelry industry in Russia. He told Rough&Polished about his view on the evolution of the jewelry industry in Russia and touched upon some of its problems.
16 september 2024
Sotheby’s launches NFT Marketplace with direct transactions & artist royalties
Sotheby’s Metaverse, its Web3 arm, now offers direct transactions between collectors on its platform. Transactions are conducted fully on-chain via the Ethereum and Polygon networks, and buyers can pay in either native token ETH or MATIC.
Sotheby’s Metaverse also plans to introduce a digital art gallery through the Oncyber metaverse platform in June, featuring different rooms curated by various artists and collectors, including the pseudonymous Cozomo De’ Medici.
The platform will continue to honor artist royalties through smart contracts on its resale platform that automatically pays artists according to their selected on-chain royalty rate.
The secondary marketplace will launch with works from 13 leading digital artists, including Tyler Hobbs, Claire Silver, XCOPY, Diana Sinclair, and Pindar van Arman, among others.
Since Sotheby’s first foray into NFTs in April 2021, the auction house has raked in more than $120 million in total NFT sales. The platform has facilitated record-breaking NFT sales, including a “Covid Alien” CryptoPunk that sold for $11.7 million, the World Wide Web source code that sold for $5.4 million, and a rare Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT that sold for $3.4 million.
Alex Shishlo for Rough&Polished