The European Commission’s approval of the joint request by Alrosa and De Beers for a gradual phasing out of their trading relationship was expected. The only clause not approved was the initial request for the continuation of some form of... Read More...

When De Beers announced that, as part of a settlement agreement in four specific consumer class actions for illegal overpricing of diamonds, it was putting $250 million in an escrow fund in the United States, we remarked that the company had become an “American Santa Claus”. This ... Read More...

In the aftermath of the “Certifigate” certification scandal, in which bribes secured “upgraded” grading reports, diamond merchants specializing in larger goods have gradually become aware of the continued presence of quite a number of mostly, or almost exclusively, large... Read More...

Occasionally, a relatively minor news development inspires considerable food for thought. BHP Billiton has been appointed the exclusive marketer of the Satellite Pipe Mine in the Kingdom of Lesotho. In terms of volume, the annual production of ... Read More...

The producers of the popular U.S. television drama “The West Wing”, which provides a glimpse into American presidential politics in that nation's capital as it tells the stories of the members of a fictional presidential administration, ought to ... Read More...

A coin has two sides that never meet but are connected by a rim. Since the coin won’t allow just one of its sides to move, the fate of both sides is permanently linked.  This axiomatic analogy can be applied to the Belgian Diamond High Council (HRD), which seems to defy any laws of logic and – we hope only temporarily – seems to be rolling in the direction of self-destruction. Read More...

The United States has now followed Europe, especially Belgium, in implementing diamond and jewelry industry specific Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance programs.  The Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC) has prepared a comprehensive, user-friendly, and in-depth AML Program Compliance Kit, which has one enormous advantage - its... Read More...

A few weeks ago, we expressed our genuine relief about the GIA court case settlement in New York. Our words turned out to have been slightly premature, since we wrote them well before becoming privy to the settlement details. It didn’t take much for our “relief” to turn into “disbelief” and, eventually, into plain “anger” - especially after being reliably informed that the GIA had... Read More...

When De Beers agreed to pay some $250 million in damages to settle four rather frivolous class action cases in the United States, without, of course, admitting to any wrongdoing, they probably didn’t expect that this could become a powerful precedent for similar actions in Europe. Read More...

A respectable party close to the GIA, with his own agenda, called virtually all the major New York newspapers with a “scoop,” leaking a selective version of the GIA corruption scandal. The results ranged from front-page stories for two consecutive days in The Wall Street Journal, to a smaller item in The New York Times and gossip... Read More...