Dr M'zée Fula Ngenge: Demand for considerable-sized diamonds stronger than ever

The African Diamond Council (ADC) chairperson Dr M'zée Fula Ngenge told Rough & Polished’s Mathew Nyaungwa in an exclusive interview that although overall global diamond prices have been somewhat soft, the demand for considerable-sized diamonds...

02 september 2024

Amplats sees prospects as a standalone company

Anglo has revealed its plans to demerge Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), which has operations in South Africa and Zimbabwe, to optimise shareholder value. Rough&Polished contacted Amplats to comment on this and other issues but was referred...

19 august 2024

WFDB President Yoram Dvash Remains Confident Despite Global Diamond Challenges

Yoram Dvash is President of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) having been elected in 2020. He found time in his busy schedule to speak to Rough&Polished about the state of the diamond industry around the world and some of the major...

12 august 2024

Lyudmila Vysotskaya: Amber is a mystical stone, a living substance

Lyudmila Vysotskaya is a Kaliningrad-based amber artist and designer, expert, chairwoman of the Amber Academy and member of the Creative Union of Artists in Decorative and Applied Arts. This summer, visitors could admire the art works by Lyudmila Vysotskaya...

30 july 2024

De Beers shines light on budding jewellery designers

Diamond giant De Beers will this year conduct its bi-annual Shining Light Awards jewellery design competition. De Beers beneficiation manager Kagiso Fredericks told Rough & Polished's Mathew Nyaungwa in an exclusive interview they set aside 4.5 carats...

22 july 2024

Signet Jewelers reports 1Q fiscal 2024 results

13 june 2023
Signet Jewelers Limited, the world's largest retailer of diamond jewelry, announced its results for the 13 weeks ended April 29, 2023.
Total sales of $1.7 billion, down $170.3 million or 9.3% to Q1 of FY23. Same store sales down 13.9% to Q1 of FY23.
On the international level total sales were $93.0 million, down 15.5% to Q1 of FY23. SSS declined 8.5% versus Q1 of FY23.
"Our Signet team delivered our revenue and bottom-line commitments in Q1 despite macroeconomic headwinds that worsened late in the quarter.  In line with our predictions, there were fewer engagements in the quarter resulting from COVID's disruption of dating three years ago," said Signet Chief Executive Officer Virginia C. Drosos. "As we look to the balance of the year, we're leaning in to leverage our differentiated capabilities, widen our competitive advantages, and drive market share gains. We are proactively addressing the dynamic retail climate, leveraging our team's agility and flexible operating model to raise our cost savings target by up to $150 million while maintaining strategic investments."

Alex Shishlo for Rough&Polished