Summer holidays are a great time to catch up on one’s reading. Picking only materials by perennial optimistic and good humored authors, I selected some of the recent reviews by my colleague Ken Gassman. Earlier this month he reported good news for jewelers who target the bridal market. “Gold wedding band sales have been stable since 1993, when... Read More...

Within two years there will be some 15 diamond factories in Botswana, employing some 3,000-5,000 workers – if not more. The government’s policy of “beneficiation of the diamond resource” aims at going downstream: processing as much as possible of the raw materials domestically, moving from sorting to manufacturing and jewelry production. De Beers and the government have identified... Read More...

In the first half of 2006, the DTC sold some $3.252 billion worth of rough diamonds, which is barely one percent more than its sales in the first half of 2005; this is in spite of a 3.3 percent higher average level of prices over the comparable period last year. Diamdel failed to sell all the goods it “bought” from the DTC and is facing a build-up in stock (which is believed to equal some... Read More...

“A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining, but wants it back the minute it begins to rain.” This was the historical wisdom of Mark Twain. Twain has been dead for almost a century, but many – or at least some of us – are still convinced that Twain succinctly, accurately, and almost like a visionary, pictured the essence of a “banker” in one simple sentence. Read More...

The Botswana government is repeatedly asked whether it will sell its 15 percent shareholding stake in De Beers. Anyone closely following the governmental strategies towards diamond mining and diversification will come to the inevitable conclusion that Botswana will sell – and... Read More...

In this column, we have lamented more than once that the anti-money laundering rules applicable to the diamond and jewelry industries are not harmonized. Every government interprets the basic 40 and 9... Read More...

It is quite unusual to write about a “money-laundering through diamonds” transaction that is still in progress, but the following article summarizes events related to a lawyer who is now very well known to residents of Singapore, the police, and participants in the diamond market there. Read More...

At the World Diamond Congress, a suggestion was made to the major producers in attendance to reduce rough prices. Thank goodness the producers made it clear that they are not about to make such a move. Even a public “hint” that producers might lower prices would result in an instantaneous loss of billions... Read More...

In our industry, there are some “defining moments” – occasions one will come to refer to as the time “before” or “after.” A few seemingly off-the-cuff, but nevertheless clear and pointed, remarks made... Read More...

Freakonomics is the title of a best seller by “rogue economist” Steven D. Levitt who explores the hidden side of everything. Looking beyond conventional wisdom, he searches for linkages behind... Read More...