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...

Every business and every industry always aims at growth. At its simplest, growth is a rise in profit. However, that goal requires growth in other areas. For example, a growth in sales, either in the number of units sold or prices per unit. Ideally, a growth in both. This is Econ 101, the introductory material of economics. Read More...

The efforts to reach out and get African producers involved in the Precious Stones Multi-Stakeholder Working Group (PS-MSWG) at last proved successful: representatives from a handful of African nations traveled to Paris. They were joined by some 50 private companies, NGOs and government members of the Multi Stakeholders Working Group. Read More...

The diamond industry is so competitive, that everyone is clamoring for an advantage, no matter how big or small. This race to improve has some fantastic aspects to it, such as a large investment of research & development in technology and even price analysis. One diamond manufacturer, when asked what is keeping him awake at night once told me, “How to improve yield by 3 percent on my 2-3 round goods.” A small technological improvement means an edge from more cost-efficient production. Read More...

On the face of it, Panama certainly seems like a logical place for a new diamond exchange. From the southern tip of Argentina, relatively close to the South Pole, all the way to Mexico and including the Caribbean, there is not a single diamond bourse. According to estimates, this is a market with diamond jewelry sales valued at around $8 billion, so it is certainly a huge region where diamond firms and jewelers can make money. Read More...

Outwardly, the annual 2013 diamond pipeline looks similar to that for 2012: the rough supplies into the value chain totaled $15.56 billion (2012: $15.5 billion), which, after cutting and polishing, yielded $21.6 billion worth of polished (2012: $20.7 billion) at polished wholesale prices (PWP). Global diamond jewelry retail sales grew by 3-4 percent from $72.1 billion to $74.48 billion, just skirting the $75 billion level. The pipeline's real story, however, plays itself out internally within the value chain: the industry's performance in 2013 significantly improved over 2012. Read More...

Columnists sometimes do the strangest things, like writing a column about something they know very little, and sometimes nothing, about, tossing some figures to give credence to their writings, and in the process causing damage. Read More...

In a Memo two weeks ago, we published a letter by South African Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu addressed to the Secretary General of the OECD in which she made it clear that her government “cannot accept unilateral initiatives and policies supported by the OECD which bypass sovereign governments, discredit international agreements like the Kimberley Process and last but not least impact on minerals from Africa without proper representation from Africa.” Read More...