Although it is not certain just yet, with less than two months to go to the end of 2014, something interesting is happening in the U.S. retail jewelry sector. Jewelry and watch sales in the United States in September increased by around 3 percent on the year to $5.52 billion, after putting in a highly respectable rise of 4 percent in August. Consequently, 2014 could yet be a record-breaking year for jewelry and watch sales. Read More...

Although it is not certain just yet, with less than two months to go to the end of 2014, something interesting is happening in the U.S. retail jewelry sector. Jewelry and watch sales in the United States in September increased by around 3 percent after putting in a highly respectable rise of 4 percent in August. Consequently, 2014 could yet be a record-breaking year for jewelry and watch sales if those trends continue. Read More...

The press release published the day after the conclusion of the World Diamond Council’s 10th Annual Meeting last week should become a case study about the length and width in which supposedly ethically, responsible, transparency, accountable, honest organizations deceive their stakeholders. Read More...

The last thing I want to do is promote synthetic diamond czar Jatin Mehta’s synthetic diamond operations, IIa Technologies in Singapore, or his Pure Grown Diamonds (formerly Gemesis) operations in New York. But when I saw what appear to be his fingerprints on an ambitious, well-financed (of course), graphically well-executed new internet platform called “Better Diamond Initiative” (BDI), I believed, for one fleeting moment, that something good and worthy of reporting may be in the making. Read More...

Walking around Hatton Garden in London last week, the home since medieval times of the British jewelry industry, as well as town and city centers across the country, one receives a clear picture of the state of the retail jewelry in the United Kingdom. The mood is similar to that found across European countries. That mood, unfortunately, is rather morose. Read More...

This is the time of the year for reflection, introspections, setting accounts with oneself and with one’s own conscience. With this in mind, while perusing my computer, I suddenly felt enormous empathy for Robert L., a gemologist from Texas who publishes a newsletter for a small, select readership – not all that dissimilar to Diamond Intelligence Briefs. In his latest issue, this man included a small, harmless write-up about how a grading laboratory discovered that, some seven years ago, it made a mistake and had omitted noting on a report that a certain stone had been HPHT-treated. Read More...

One of the biggest changes in modern-day journalism – as with many other professions – is the way the workload has increased tremendously. That is mainly due, of course, to newsroom operations being scaled back drastically. Add to that another well-known modern phenomenon of various bodies, whether governmental or companies, knowing how to "play" journalists with a supposed scoop. Read More...

Nothing should have surprised the diamond sector about KBC’s announcement that it is closing down the operations of the Antwerp Diamond Bank (ADB). It was not just the many rumors in the Antwerp and global markets in the week before the announcement or the news report about it in a local daily that should have prepared us for the statement. Read More...

The feeling is palpable the moment you walk through the doors. I am referring to the September Hong Kong Gem and Jewellery Fair. It's common knowledge that the Chinese market has become critical to the global diamond industry over the past decade, but it's only when you walk through the doors of the show or walk the streets of Hong Kong that you truly sense the enormity of the market and its ability to effortlessly attract the worldwide trade to its doorstep. Read More...

Let’s start with a riddle. Look carefully at these beautiful diamond bracelets containing 20 to 30 pointers. Each bangle contains a total weight of around 10 to 15 carats. They are beautiful high-collection goods having a wholesale price of some $20,000 per piece. Read More...