Helga Pombal: Angola's Stardiam finds solution to the threat posed by lab-grown diamonds

Stardiam manager of production Helga Pombal told Rough&Polished's Mathew Nyaungwa on the sidelines of the Angola International Diamond Conference that lab-grown diamonds are creating a parallel market for more accessible stones, combined with lower...

11 november 2024

Ellah Muchemwa: ADPA to launch Africa's first diamond mining standard next year

The African Diamond Producers Association (ADPA), which is based in Luanda, Angola, and represents the interests of mainly African diamond producers and those with the potential to produce diamonds, will next year launch the Sustainable Development...

04 november 2024

Dmitry Fedorov: I want our jewelry to be displayed at a museum in the future

Dmitry Fedorov is the founder of the eponymous jewelry house. His main focus is the creation of Orthodox-inspired premium luxury jewelry of high artistic merit. He told Rough&Polished about his journey in the jewelry industry, about choosing the ‘Orthodox...

28 october 2024

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

U.S. SEC after crypto big shot who allegedly defrauded investors, bought a 555-carat black diamond

04 august 2023

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged online entrepreneur Richard Schueler, also known as Richard Heart, with illegally raising more than $1 billion in three unregistered cryptocurrency offerings. He allegedly defrauded investors out of $12.1 million to buy luxuries including Enigma, the world's largest black diamond, Reuters reports.

Heart began promoting his Hex crypto tokens in 2018 as an investment that would make people “rich,” according to a criminal complaint filed by the SEC in the Eastern District of New York. He promoted his tokens, PulseX asset trading platform and PulseChain asset network on YouTube and other websites as pathways to "grandiose wealth."

According to the SEC, Hex's price had by June 30 fallen more than 98% from its peak, while PulseChain and PulseX offerings are now "practically worthless."

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The Enigma. Credit: Sotheby's

The Enigma, which is believed to have come from outer space, is the largest faceted diamond of any kind to appear at auction. Heart purchased it from Sotheby’s in February 2022 for $4.3 million. At the time, Heart tweeted that he had bought the stone and would rename it the Hex.com diamond as a nod to his cryptocurrency platform.

The lawsuit seeks civil fines and the recouping of gains from alleged wrongdoing that began in late 2019.

Theodor Lisovoy, Editor in Chief of the European bureau, Rough&Polished