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According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), consumer spending in the U.S. may reach as high as $25.9 billion this year on Valentine’s Day gifts ranging from gold jewellery to clothes to fine chocolates.
Of the nearly $26 billion, roughly 21% is forecast to be spent on jewellery, representing $5.5 billion. Clothing could fetch 19%, or around $5 billion.

Overall, luxury goods retailers could be headed for a strong Valentine’s sales season if estimates prove accurate.
That would make 2023 the second-best year for sales since the NRF began tracking this data.

Ruba Abu-Nimah, Tiffany & Co.’s executive creative director for marketing and communications has left the brand. Abu-Nimah joined the American jeweller in March 2021, reporting to Alexandre Arnault, executive vice president of product and communications, following LVMH’s takeover that January.

Her departure was first reported by Women’s Wear Daily.

De Beers have announced the provisional value of their first sales cycle of 2023 for rough diamond sales at $450 million. The company also confirmed actual sales for between the 5 December and the 20 December at $417 million.

The $450 million compares unfavourably to $660 million in sales revenue for the same period last year.

Rough diamond sales by Debswana Diamond Company reached record levels in 2022 jumping up by 22% from the previous year. The jump in sales has resulted from the West’s shunning of Russian stones whereby Botswana profited from steady global demand for diamond jewellery.

Mountain Province Diamonds has announced production and sales results for Q4 and 2022 from the Gahcho Kué Diamond Mine.

According to Rough & Polished, during Q4, 1,621,800 carats were recovered. For the full year 2022, 5.52 million carats were recovered (less than the guidance of 5.60 – 5.80 million carats). In 2022, approximately 2.7 million carats were sold at an average value of $112 per carat for total proceeds of $297.3 million. This compared to 3.2 million carats sold at an average value of US $75 per carat for total proceeds of US$236.9 million in FY 2021.

Rio Tinto, which owns 100% of the Diavik Diamond Mine in the Northwest Territories in Canada, has lowered Diavik’s 2023 production forecast – from 4.5 to 5 million carats to 3 to 3.8 million carats.
According to IDEX Online, Rio Tinto “gave no explanation for the lower forecast in its fourth quarter production results.” In 2022, actual production was on target – 4.7 million carats.
The Diavik diamond mine opened in 2003 and is scheduled to close in 2025.

Source: IDEX | Israeli Diamond
Photo Credit: Rio Tinto

After a 3-year pause due to Covid-19, Israel International Diamond Week is finally back, launching its next edition from March 27 – 30, 2023. The event will feature a much-anticipated tender of polished goods held at the Israel Diamond Exchange’s International Tender Center. The tender will be conducted by Diagurus from March 26 – 30, 2023.

Belgium based company Signum who was known for pioneering on the NFT side of the diamond trade developing a blockchain style ledger to prove diamond authenticity, now intends on incorporating the sale of rough stones directly to the public along with its digital companion into their business model.

“We are aiming to create a new product and a new market,” Rafael Papismedov, co-founder and managing partner of Signum.

Amid the threat of a looming financial recession for the diamond sector in Surat, the GJEPC now seeks a new series of policies they believe will add to manufacturing revenues. This has been another of a late series of attempts by the GJEPC to counter-act the pressures facing India’s diamond sector since the decline of Russian imports and the closure of the Chinese marketplace. 

Sarine Technologies has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Delgatto Diamond Finance Fund (DDFF) that will enable DDFF to “significantly” increase the amount of capital it provides to the rough sector, as well as expand the types of structures it offers enable more efficient rough diamond financing, starting from January 15th.

The Chinese conglomerate Fosun, best known as being the largest shareholder of insurer Ageas, is considering selling its majority stake in International Gemological Institute (IGI). The deal could value the Antwerp-based diamond evaluator at around 200 million euros, the Bloomberg news agency learned from sources close to the file.
In October, Fosun announced that it plans to sell up to $11 billion in assets to improve its liquidity position. In addition, Fosun would now, together with Deutsche Bank, evaluate the possibility of selling its 80 percent stake in IGI.

India’s gem and jewellery exports have seen an increase of 8.26 percent in the current financial year, thanks in part to the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). The Indian government has taken several steps to support the gem and jewellery industry, including the implementation of a simplified regulatory framework for exports through e-commerce, reduced duties for the import of diamonds and a new gold monetization policy.

The IIJS Signature expo returns to Mumbai this year after starting today January 5th going through the 9th. The expo organized by the GJEPC is taking every effort to make the show bigger, better and greener, expecting over 30,000 visitors to this year’s event. The expo plans to be carbon-neutral by 2025-26 and this expo is the first effort in that direction.

Botswana Diamonds (BOD), the UK-based explorer, says it is seeking joint venture opportunities to seek out new assets in Zimbabwe and South Africa in the new year.
Speaking of Zimbabwe, John Teeling, chairman of BOD, said in a trading update: “There are significant geological opportunities in the country. The objective is to find a formula, which suits all parties.”

Deloitte, in a recent survey study indicates that there will be a significant increase in watch sales this coming year, with growth in online purchases along with shoppers looking for pre-owned watches in efforts at finding more sustainable consumer solutions.

Anglo American PLC said Wednesday that rough-diamond sales by its majority-owned De Beers Group fell in 2022's 10th sales cycle compared with the previous cycle.
The FTSE 100 mining company said De Beers sold $410 million worth of diamonds in the 10th sales cycle of the year compared with $454 million in the ninth cycle. In the 10th cycle of 2021, it sold $336 million worth of diamonds.

India’s Ministry of Finance has amended the ‘Exports by Post’ Regulations 2018 respectively for allowing postal authorities to set up, operate and maintain the PBE (Postal Bill of Export) Automated System for filing of electronic declaration for export of goods through Post.

The Hearne kimberlite is one of four kimberlites being mined at Gahcho Kué Mine, which is presently ranked as 4th in the world by annual diamond production. Mountain Province is a 49% shareholder at Gahcho Kué with joint venture partner De Beers Canada as operators.

Petra announces the results of Tender 3 of FY 2023, at which 305,366 carats were sold for a total of US$42.3 million across Petra’s mining operations.
“Petra’s third tender for FY 2023 saw a 2.2% increase in like-for-like prices on Tender 2 FY 2023, reversing the downward trend observed in the previous two tenders. Although it is still too early to speculate on whether rough diamond prices have bottomed out, we are very satisfied with the overall result, “said Richard Duffy, CEO of Petra.