It was inevitable – and the writing had been on the wall for some time. De Beers will be restructuring almost all of its Diamdel offices: Israel, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. Though market rumor talks about “closing Diamdel”, this is definitely not the case. Read More...

While most diamond merchants are wondering why we don’t see the long-awaited avalanche of Apollo synthetic (cultured) gem quality rough or polished on the market, the scientists and the marketing people at the company’s Boston-area headquarters couldn’t be more elated about their progress. They are... Read More...

Waiting for my train to Tel Aviv – and the train was late – I started to philosophize about timetables. The most confusing timetable at the moment is not the one for my train, but rather the one involving... Read More...

This week, I overheard a heated discussion amongst a few Antwerp diamantaires about the revaluation of inventories that took place in December last year. The question that was raised was, “Did we make a monumental blunder, or not?” By itself, that is a very intriguing question. There were various reactions: “If I am not going to stay in Antwerp and instead move in... Read More...

The Botswana government has skillfully negotiated a “new order” in the diamond industry. It hopes to secure benefits from its newly defined role – but, and this has never been stressed publicly, it has also assumed distinct obligations. The first commitment, of course, is to itself and the people of Botswana. Read More...

With all due respect to my friends at ABN AMRO in Antwerp, I couldn’t give a hoot about $28 million worth of stolen rough, cut, and polished diamonds. What really is infuriating is that a steady client, one who frequented the bank during the last year almost on a daily basis (and often twice a day), was able to get away with using a false identity – he was simply an imposter. That is something that should worry each and every one of us... Read More...

Purchase a small producing diamond mine for $130 million in Lesotho, buy a few more non-producing concessions in the Democratic Republic of Congo, raise $200 million privately on the London market, and then, if your name happens to be Clifford Elphick, you go and list on the London Stock Exchange at a corporate value of well over $1.09 billion. All of this happened within the span of roughly half a year. Read More...

The Court has spoken. The Honorable Mr. Justice Henderson in the London High Court has dismissed all allegations made by Jayam N.V. against the DTC. The claimant charged that the DTC’s allocation system and, in particular, its use of a "capping mechanism," which is based on historical... Read More...

Driving in Botswana’s murderous summer heat from the Sir Seretze Khama airport near Gaborone to the city, one immediately passes an enormous construction project – the new DTC Botswana building. And next to this, DTC-to-be is the new Debswana building in the making. The surrounding construction is reminiscent of the building craze in places like Dubai. Actually, when driving... Read More...

When visiting South Africa, it is always fascinating to see how De Beers, its chairman Nicky Oppenheimer, and its managing director Gareth Penny are portrayed by the local establishment press. In that regard, this week was definitely one of the better ones for De Beers. In a cover story, the highly respected Financial Mail hails Penny’s ascendancy “from villain... Read More...