MGJC on May18 at Montenegro

Mediterranean Gemmological and Jewellery Conference (MGJC)

founder Branko Deljanin said synthetic diamonds would be the one of the topics of MGJC 2018 in Budva. Montenegro will greet MGJC delegates on May 18. All preparations are coming together, we have participants from record breaking 24 countries!

Branko Deljanin said, In the last few years, more and more parcels of natural near-colourless diamonds are salted with synthetic diamonds and have put the industry on high alert. Major threat coming from smaller and melee diamonds that are not sent to labs for proper testing and grading, where they could be identified with combination of standard and advanced instruments.

It’s even bigger problem when they are mounted in jewellery so some fast “melee screening:” instruments cannot be used. Though amount of lab-grown diamonds is only few percent of natural diamond market every year production is doubling.

DGFT has to Evolve from a Regulator to Facilitator

A two-day meeting of port officers organized by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), of the Department of Commerce, ended today in New Delhi.  The Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Shri Suresh Prabhu, addressed the regional officers from different parts of the country and urged them to reorient their thinking to be a facilitator and not a regulator.

The Minister added that the regional officers have to take their job as a challenge and an opportunity as foreign trade is now a strategic issue for India as it not only benefits the domestic economy but also links the country with global trade. The Minister asked for greater engagement of regional officers with the state governments in order to boost exports. He urged DGFT to set up a committee headed by the chief secretary of states on all export promotion issues including logistics.

Alrosa Vladivostok sales worth of US$10.8mn

Alrosa recently has summed up the results of the international auction for the sale of special size large diamonds, weighing over 10.8 carats, held in Vladivostok.  The United Selling Organization (USO) of Alrosa sold 101 special size rough diamonds with the total weight of 1751.1 carats. Total sales revenue amounted to USD 14.8 million.

“We invited to our Vladivostok auction 86 companies from the main world’s diamond trading hubs, including Hong Kong, Belgium, Israel, India. 33 companies were recognized as winners in different auction positions. The auction has completed with a very good results, confirming high demand for this category of rough diamonds”, told Evgeny Agureev, the Member of the Executive committee, Director of the USO Alrosa.

Guangzhou Debuts Mine Diamond Tender

Recently Guangzhou Diamond Exchange held a Rough Diamond Tender in Panyu, Guangzhou, using international adopted trading mode as of Dubai and Antwerp. More than 230K cts, about 46 kg of rough diamond mined from Africa has been on tender, attracting around 200 industry experts from nearly 50 companies. It turns out that all parcels have been successfully transacted, reaching a close rate of 100%, a transaction amount of near 6 million USD and import & export value of around 11 million USD.

GIA’s first London jewellery career fair

Professionals shared industry insights and career advice

GIA’s inaugural London Jewellery Career Fair brought together more than 200 gem and jewellery lovers on April 23 at the Goldsmiths’ Centre. The event opened with an insightful panel discussion, followed by one-on-one career coaching with industry experts and networking with recruiters looking to fill more than 50 positions with motivated, educated professionals.

Mehdi Saadian, director of GIA’s London school, moderated the panel discussion “Job Success in Today’s Market,” which featured comprehensive advice from Mike Asscher, vice president of renowned diamond house Royal Asscher; Rita Almeida, VP of Swarovski Strategy and Business Development; and Michael Wainwright, managing director of the family-owned luxury jeweller and jewellery designer group Boodles.

Brie Larson Wears Platinum Jewelry

Spotted at the Premiere of, Avengers: Infinity War

Brie Larson selected Platinum jewelry from Tiffany & Co for the premiere of “Avengers: Infinity War” in Los Angeles. Spotted  worn, 1: Tiffany Jazz four-square drop earrings with white diamonds, set in platinum, priced at $22,000, 2: Tiffany Cobblestone band ring with diamonds, set in platinum, priced at $13,000, 3: Tiffany Jazz three-row diamond ring with diamonds, set in platinum, priced at $9,900 & 4: Tiffany Aria ring of diamonds, set in platinum, priced at $14,000.

CARAT+ to run through May 6-8, 2018

CARAT+, The World’s Premier Diamond Event, has seen a 50% increase in the number of diamond professionals registering for its second edition throughout April, compared to the same month in 2017. The promising data also reveal that individuals from more than 51 countries have registered to attend, including leading figures from prominent diamond centres across the globe.

CARAT+ Event Director, Filip Van Laere, comments: “We are thrilled to see such a large increase in the number of diamond sector professionals registering to join us in Antwerp from May 6-8, 2018. We know that the diamond industry wants a targeted, professional and carefully curated trade event that speaks to its specific business requirements, and we believe CARAT+ offers this and more. April was a fantastic month for registrations, and I encourage those who haven’t done so to register now to attend CARAT+.”

Session with the banking industry

GJEPC dialogue with aims to mitigate concerns, re-gain

Trust for the sector in a Banking Summit on May 11 in Mumbai.

Update 2: The Gems & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), an organisation set up by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry will collaborate with leading banks and release a white paper in a Banking Summit on May 11 in Mumbai.

The paper will aim to address critical banking issues like Assessment of credit limit, collateral security, related party transactions, inventory Valuation , subsidiary financing guidelines, and is aimed at mitigating the concerns of the key stakeholders of the industry that has been hit by the recent fraud.

Botswana Diamonds to unearth Zim diamonds!

Botswana Diamonds announces that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Vast Resources under which the two companies have agreed: 1: To exchange information derived from past exploration on areas prospective for diamonds in Zimbabwe; and 2: To form a special purpose vehicle, to be jointly owned by each company, for the purpose of developing and exploiting diamond resources in Zimbabwe.

Any diamond exploration programmes in Zimbabwe will be carried out in accordance with Zimbabwe’s joint ownership laws in relation to diamonds.

Mountain Province reaps a solid outcome

Mountain Province Diamonds Inc announces the results of its recently completed third diamond sale of 2018.

Market conditions leading up to this third sale were consistent with those experienced during the first two sales of the year. Prices in the larger, better quality goods were stable to firmer, while those for smaller lower-quality goods softened slightly consistent with seasonal expectations.

In general, conditions were firmer through the first quarter of 2018 than those experienced in the opening quarters of recent years. Customer participation continued to be robust, with 171 companies attending the tender and an average of 12.9 bids received per lot.