The award for the most ironic piece of news of the slow summer months should perhaps go to that in which online diamond and jewelry retailer Blue Nile said it was creating a physical presence in order to enable potential clients to get a see and a feel for its goods. After taking the online charge forward for the past 15 years, the leading diamond and jewelry e-tailer has an agreement with leading U.S. department store chain Nordstrom to give potential buyers the opportunity to look at goods before placing an order online. Read More...

This column often discusses issues that are very “upstream.” Upstream is the term describing the initial part of the jewelry pipeline – mining, manufacturing and their related issues. Some feel that upstream topics are not relevant to the downstream, meaning retailers. That because they are facing very different issues, upstream subjects are not important to them and they can’t relate. Read More...

On July 30, 1914, 100 years ago, in smoked-filled boardrooms and government offices, two entirely different sets of negotiations were taking place: one was to prevent the eruption of World War I, and the other was to prevent the threatening collapse of the diamond world. The first one is well-documented; the latter is more complicated, and I have often wondered whether the governments of the diamond producers at that time ever realized the enormity of the impact of their actions from these discussions.   Read More...

Is the Indian economy about to take a great leap forward under the leadership of the newly elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi? His overwhelming victory as head of the Bharatiya Janata Party in May's general election was widely hailed by the business sector, including many of the country's diamantaires, as he is recognized as having a business-friendly approach. Read More...

De Beers is dropping a bomb. For many, it is good news, for others, namely its clients, it is possibly bad news. After a century of selling primarily to a shortlist of contracted buyers that receive a regular supply of rough diamonds, the leading diamond company is planning to add a new kind of regular customer – Accredited Buyers. Read More...

The greatest menace in the diamond industry – today and tomorrow – comes from the nasty breed of people defined as Type II Criminals, who abuse gem-quality synthetic or natural diamonds to defraud. In earlier issues, we mentioned “the hidden stockpile” of Type IIa brown diamonds above 1.8 carats that De Beers has removed from its mining production and simply does not sell. Read More...

Maybe it’s the start of the heavy summer heat that is causing a degree of delirium, and the thought process into a slower mode, sending thoughts into a historical perspective, a somewhat romantic one for sure. “A diamond is forever” the slogan goes, but when did ‘Forever’ start? From a technical standpoint, not a marketing one, diamonds have been around since first found in India. Read More...

It is with some trepidation that I admit that I did it for the first time last week. Technically, there was no problem carrying it out, and I even had fun. I am referring, of course, to attending the 36th World Diamond Congress (WDC), the biennial meetings of the World Federation of Diamond Bourse (WFDB) and the International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA) held in Antwerp. Read More...

Conventional wisdom holds that prices of polished diamonds are bound to go up because demand is rising and supply is shrinking. The idea of declining supply has several premises: 1. Diamonds are a finite resource. 2. The major mines are past their prime and slowly depleting, and 3. No new major resources have been found in the recent past. Read More...

This year was widely touted, just a few months ago, as a breakout year for the global economy in general, and the U.S. economy in particular. However, frustratingly turgid growth in the United States continues, with GDP growing at an annualized rate of only 0.1 percent in the first quarter and the country’s housing rebound has apparently stalled. Read More...