Sarine’s David Block: Diamond Industry at Standstill Until Chinese Demand Returns

David Block is CEO of Israel’s Sarine Technologies and has served in the position since 2012. In this exclusive interview for Rough and Polished, Block gives his opinion on the leading issues affecting today’s diamond trade.

11 september 2024

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

Graff to seek HK nod for $1 bln IPO on May 3 - sources

03 may 2012

Graff Diamonds, a high-end jeweller based in London, will seek approval from the Hong Kong stock exchange on Thursday for an initial public offering of as much as $1 billion, two sources with direct knowledge of the plan said, Reuters reported.
The share sale would surpass the $600 million listing by the property fund of Tesco's Thai unit, the biggest IPO in the Asia-Pacific region so far this year, according to Thomson Reuters data.
No timetable had been set for Graff and its advisers to start meeting with potential investors, the sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said on Wednesday.
IPO candidates in Hong Kong have previously started drumming up demand for their deals in the week after getting approval from the exchange.
Graff, founded by Laurence Graff in 1960, has been targeting to list in the second quarter, a source previously told Reuters.
The company, whose giant gems and rare diamonds have been worn by royalty and celebrities such as the sultan of Brunei, Oprah Winfrey and Imelda Marcos, would join Prada SpA and other global brands looking to tap booming demand for luxury goods in China.