World's Largest Diamond Exhibition Opens in London

Lucara Reports Big Diamonds

     Lucara Diamond Corp. has recovered 13 diamonds larger than 100 carats, 2 of which exceed 200 carats, since the start of the second quarter. Of the 13 stones recovered, 8 are gem quality diamonds. The 5 largest gem quality stones weigh 259 carats, 239 carats weighing 153 carats each and a 133 carats stone. Since the begining of the second quarter,the Karowe mine has 239 produced 239 diamonds larger than 10.8 carats, including 27 diamonds with weights between 50 and 100 carats.

     Lucara also announced that its second Exceptional stone Tender will take place on July 18. Client viewing will take place on July 18. Client viewings will take place in place in both Antwerp and Gaborone. The compony is in the process of selecting stones for the tender and will post information about it along with a brochure on its website.

     Willam Lamb, President and CEO, commented, “The ongoing recovery of these large and exceptional white diamonds continues to drive increased value for Lucara and its shareholders and has established the Karowe mine as a rare source of diamonds. The ongoing recovery stones is encouraging for a potential third exceptionnal stone tender during the fourth quarter of 2014"

Lucara has two key assets: The Karowe mine in Botswana and the Mothae project in Lesotho. The 100-percent owned Karowe mine is a newly constructed state-of-the-art mine which was fully commissioned in 2012. At the 75-percent owned Mathae project, The compony has completed the trial mining stage and is working towards completing a preiiminory economic assessment.

CIBJO Mulls Synthetic Diamonds

     The topic of synthetic diamonds dominated the CIBJP congress in Moscow. The Three-day congress brough together over 130 delegates from 22 countries to explore numerous commission reports and research along with other issues impacting the industry.

     Most delegates agreed that the role synthetic diamonds play in the market is one of the most important issues across the industry today. The issue of synthetic diamonds cropped up a lot over the last year and we felt the need to explain what it is so that there would be no fear, "said Udi Sheintal, the president of ClBJO's diamond commission. The synthetic diamonds are here and they will have their place on the shelf.

     St. Petersburg-based lnreal explained how chemical vapour deposition (C\/D) and high-pressure high-temperature (HTHP) techniques enable diamonds to grow on multi-seed pIates. Dr . Andrey Kartusha, who implemented the technology for the company, said that the existing demand for diamonds will allow synthetics to fulfill as much as 3 percent of the market's requirements. So far, however, the majority of synthetic diamonds are used for technical applications, yet the company confirmed it polishes and sells a small portion of production to the gems market, at prices around minus 50 Rapaport to test business demand.

     Panelists said that there was no problem selling Synthetic diamonds on the market, the issue is disclosure, since some companies conceal the fact that the gems they sell are synthetic. Detection technology is able to identify synthetic diamonds and these machines were presented by panelists, including those manufactured by De Beers and the Gemological Institute of America (GIA)

     "Between GIA and De Beers we have enough equipment to check the diamonds, the problem is that they are too slow," said Ronnie VanderLinden, the president of the Diamond Manufacturers & importers Association of America (DMIA).

     Susan Flamm, the senior counsel for the Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC),said regulations imply that sellers are responsible for the diamonds they sell, even in the case where the law was unknowingly broken and the diamonds turned out to be synthetic . However, she said that there have been no complaints so far to JVC regarding undisclosed sale of synthetic diamonds.

     Synthetic diamonds represent only one of many issues facing the industry that all need "to keep the house in order" and be tranparent, according to Gaetano Cavallieri, the president of ClBJO.

'The Blue' Breaks Record
A pear-shaped blue 13.22 ct diamond nicknamed 'The Blue" has broken the world record at auction, having been sold to American jeweller Harry Winster for $23.8 million. Thought to have been mined in South Africa, the blue diamond was described by auction house Christie's as "absolutely perfect" ahead of the sale last month. The vivid stone also set a world auction record of $2 million per carat for a blue diamond. In the past decade, only three blue diamonds of 10 carats or more with the same vivid grading have been sold at auction. All weighed less than 12 carats and none were flawless.

Thai manufacturers heading for Ruby rough auction in Singapore

   Thai gem and jewellery industry leaders have been holding a series of talks with major international producers and traders of gemstone rough.The objective is to establish in Thailand a specialized facility for the auctioning of gemstone rough, brought in from around the world.

   Mr Somchai Phornchaindarak, Preseident of the Gems Jewelry and Precious Metal Confederation of Thailand and the Thai Gem and Jewelry Traders Association, told Bangkok Gems & Jewelry Magazine that the talks are progressing favourably, and that plans for the auction faculty are being drawn up. "Thailand is a world hub for trading and cutting coloured gemstones. It is only logical that Thailand should host a permanent dedicated facility for auctioning rough gems. The buyers are here. Sellers will be getting the best prices here, because the demand is here, "Mr Somchai says.

   As presently envisaged, the auction facility would incorporate high security, the relevant commercial services, and a specialized trading hall with full natural lighting - daylight - which is essential for accurately viewing and evaluating gemstones. While a site for the facility is stil to be decided upon , the Gemopolis Gem and Jewelry Industrial Estate is under consideration as a possible location. Conveniently situated near to Bangkok's Suvarnbhumi International Airport, Gemopolis already has all the infrastructure and services needed for a specialized gemstone rough trading operation.

Meanwhile, some 32 leading Thai Gems traders and lapidaries will be converging on Singapore at the middle of this month (June) for the inaugural ruby rough auction being held by the British gem mining company Gemfields PLC. The ruby rough being auctioned comes from Gemfields' Montepuez mine in Mozambique.

Gemfields is an established large-scale miner of emerald and amethyst in Zambia, and is now bringing into production its ruby mine in Mozambique. Gemfields sells its output of gemstone rough through private auction, with sealed bids. Gemfields has been holding successful gemstone rough auctions in Zambia, Jaipur and Singapore.

A Dedicated gemstone rough auction facility in Thailand would attract producers, traders and buyers from around the world. It would assist in securing supplies of rough, at good prices, for the Thai Gem cutting sector. And under the Thai Government's Zero-VAT initiative, all gemstone rough coming into Thailand is exempted from the standard 7% Value Added Tax-making Thailand an internationally competitive venue for trading of gemstone rough.

The proposed gemstone rough auction facility, when in operation, will enhance Thailand's image and competitiveness as the world's gems and jewellery hub.

Custodians of Colour
By Avi Krawitz

    Gemfields makes no secret of its ambition to be the custodian of the coloured gemstones industry. With its emerald and ruby mining operatlons ot the core of its business, the company has aggressively built a marketing platform to drive demand for colour.

    “What De Beers did for diamonds, we'd like to do for other gemstones, starting with emeralds, rubies, amethysts and, hopefully soon, sapphires," lan Harebottle, CEO of Gemfields said. “De Beers made a mistake in that it focused on one gem,and now we see there's a definite move back to colour."

    Horebottle orgues that before De Beers iconic mdrketing push, with slogans such as ‘A Diamond is Forever,’ otherso-called precious stones— particularly emeralds, rubies and sapphires — were sold on an equal footing to diamonds. By combining its mining programmes with strong marketing, Gemfields hopes to restore some of the balance — particularly given that coloured stones have garnered such strong interest in the past few years.

    In 2013 alone, Harebottle estlmated that the company's emerald prices rose 15 to 18 percent, mirroring the rise in consumer demand. Similarly, coloured diamonds — which Harebottle stresses are also gemstones — continues to enjoyed a boom in demand and prices.

    Gemfields believes it can capitalize on the trend and inspire further growth by following the De Beers model, wiih the benefit of hindsight to avoid De Beers model, with the benefit of hindsight to avoid De Beers mistakes and build on its successes.

De Beers -like strategy
    Harebottle explained the company's strategy is focused on a number of aspects that draw from the De Beers experience: acquiring the right mines, investing in technology to maximize production volume, creating a rough grading system in order to offer the downstream market a consisdent supply of same-quality rough, choosing the right clients who will partner with Gemfields in branding and marketing compaigns and maintaining a strong marketing presence of its own.

    Gemfields owns 75 percent of the Kagem emerald mine in Zambia along with two other emerald mines in Zambia that are currently on care and maintenance. The company also owns 50 percent of the Kariba amethyst mine in Zambia, a 75 percent stake in the Montepuez ruby mine in Mozambique and various exploration licenses in Zambia and Madagascar.

    Harebottle estimates that Gemfields has about 20 percent market share of global emerald supply, and 40 percent for amethyst. The company is preparing its first ruby auction in June and expects to gain approxamately 20 percent of the market within the next two years.

    While Harebottle insists it's not about gaining market share, the grownth in volume has anabled Gemfields to offer clients consistent supply by developing a grading system to sort like-for-like-stones. That way, he explains, high-end clients as well as companies that polish more commercial-quality goods can getthe supply they need, rather than everyone getting a mix of categories, which is what he claims generally occurs in the gemstone sector.

    Gemfields has also started to auction goods on behalf of other miners using the same grading method and hopes that the system will eventually gain industry wide acceptance.

Portfilio Potential
    The company has amassed a relatively large inventory of emeralds that has helped to ensure the consistency of supply in the short term. The value of its inventory grew 83 percent to $71.2 million at December 31,2013 from a year earlier, while emerald production at Kagem fell 28 percent year on year to 10.4 million carats in the first fiscal half year that ended December 31.

    Earings for the six month period were mixed as sales more than doubled to $65.7 million, while cost of sales more than tripled. Harebottle argued that costs higher because Gemfields is a bigger business than before. Net profit fell 70 percent to $1.4 million during the six month period due to the higher costs.

    Still, Investors are encouraged by recent developments and Gemfields shares have increased by about 20 percent on London's Alternative investment Market(AIM) since the beginning of the year. Analysis at Finncap in April maintained a 'Buy' recommendation for the share, starting that they expect the company to return to profit after a difficult period where its ability to freely sell its emeralds was questioned.

    That doubt came when the Zambian government requested Gemfields to hold its auctions in Lusaka instead of abroad. Harebottle said the company has a good relationship with the government and will continue to auction its goods in Lusaka-until it might be able to do some there and a portion closer to sonsumer markets, as it did before.

    Finncap noted that the upcoming inaugural ruby auction presented further upside potential for Gemfields, as did the portfolio of exploration projects in Madagascar that are considered to be prospective for emeralds, rubies, sapphires, tourmalines and garnet.

    Harebottle is eyeing other assets to compliment Gemfields' position in the emrald, amethyst and ruby market, in particular, he wants to bring sapphires into the portfolio and reports that the company has been in talks with the Colombian government with the intent of buying an emerald mine there. "These things take time and we're not chasing anything, but if the right asset comes along, we are looking for acquistions, "he said.

Generic Marketing Mix
    However, Gemfields most significant acquisition was arguably made outside the mining sector when it acquired the Faberge brand in January 2013.

   The company explained that it bought Faberge "With a view to create a globally recognized colour gemstone champion." Harebottle added that the iconic jewellery brand was perfect because it focued on the high-end with just a few stores, but had the name recognition that enabled it to influence trends.

    "Faberge's jewellery has an abundance of colour so it was the perfect way that we felt we could associate with a phennomenal brand and champion colour, "he said, Increasingly, Harebottle added, there will be joint marketing campaigns meshiing the Faberge and Gemfields names together.

.   That would bring more of a brand focus to Gemfields' marketing as its branding has intentionally been relatively understated until now. Unlike De Beers, which has shed its role as custodian for the diamond industry by shifting from generic to brand-focused marketing, Gemfields recognizes that it needs a blend of both-given that gemstones have lagged behind diamonds due to De Beers marketing efforts.

   Harebottle asserts that the Faberge acquistion, along with the appointment of A-list actress Mila Kunis as Gemfields brand ambassador, has lifted the company from below the radar of both consumers and investors. He hopes Gemfields is now in a position to drive consumer demand-albeit with a smaller market share through which De Beers influenced diamond demand-by marketing primarily colour and secondaly its stones and jewellery.

   "Our intention is not to own or control the industry. Our priority is to grow awareness and encourage consumers to consider colour," he said "The industry needs leadership so I undoubtedly see Gemfields as a a custodian for the gemstone industry"

.   Whether that will be enough for the gemstones to regain an equal footing with diamonds, remains to be seen. - Courtesy of Gemfields.

The fifth Season
By Roberto Coin

. Robeno Coin never ceases To surprise, this time he did by creating an unedited brand which bears his name but also brings a new message which is as clear as it is poetic.

. With The Fifth Season by Roberto Coin he takes on a new challenge and reaches a public that is young in the soul and of timeless elegance. A public that wants to express itself Through originality, which is avant garde but still determined to maintain an ancient fil rouge in elegance.

. The brand talks about current and future rhyihms, with the innate class that belongs to great masters, a nonconformist view to the world of fashion, aware of traditions and sensitive to society's contlnuous evolution, an excellent expression of an informal and ethical luxury.

. Roberto Coin's experience and instinct dialogue with modernity, giving the concept of elegance surprising nuances and meanings, which are interpreted in the collections through volumes and lines that are as extreme as they are refined.

. Enclosing all the maison's quintessential features of innovation and quality in its jewels. The fifth Season by Roberto Coin adapts them to metropolitan dynamism, orginating an unexpected creativity expressed by the preciousness of silver declined in different colours.

. Each piece is characterized by the high quality and precision of Italian artisanal manufacturing, up to today invested in gold, which guarantee the selection of precious and natural elements as a fundamental part and a perfect synihesis of style’s principles and codes.

. Even in The Fifth Season by Roberto Coin a small ruby is hidden inside each jewel, legend to attribules to this wonderful gem, considered eternal, The power to grant a long and happy life. This is the wish which is secrelly passed on to every person who wears a creation by This brand ... and who chooses to live and narrdle a season which never exisled before.

Labour, Tax Dominate Diamond Debate

. The Diamond Election Debate was held last month in Antwerp’s Beurs voor Diamanthandel, organized by AWDC, in cooperation with UNIZO. Current issues and diamond-related topics such as taxation, competitiveness of the Antwerp diamond sector and the importance of the financing of the diamond trade were discussed.

. More than 250 participants attended this event. It was a vivacious debate with Meyrem Almaci representing Groen, Philippe De Backer representing Open VLD, David Geerts representing Sp.a, Jan J ambon representing N-VA en Steven Vanackere representing CD&V.

. For more than five centuries Antwerp has been the world’s most important diamond trade hub. Now 84% of all rough diamonds and half of all polished diamonds are traded in Antwerp. In 2013, total trade was valued at Euro 40 billion. Due to the uncertain and ambiguous taxation climate, rapidly decreasing margins and ever growing competition from other diamond sectors, Antwerp’s leading position is under serious threat.

. Ari Epstein, AWDC CEO stated, “In order to remain number one, We need support from our politicians. Business-friendly taxation and measures to strengthen entrepreneurship in Flanders and especially to bolster our SME's in an international environment are high on the agenda of entrepreneurs in our country. We are therefore very pleased we organized this debate in cooperation with UNIZO."

.    Almost all parties called for a reduction in labour costs and administrative simplification as a means to boost the competitiveness of our businesses and to create a stable business climate.

.    Of note was the consensus among Open VLD, CD & V, N-VA and surprisingly enough Sp.a, to consider and investigate the introduction of a sales tax for the diamond industry, provided that such a measure does not constitute a reduction in the tax level. N-VA Member of Parliament Jan Jambon and CD&V representative Vanackere called for a calm debate and not to succumb to damaging rhetoric for the sake of political advantage. Groen politician Meyrem Almaci stated she was not in favour of tax measures, but for a reduction in labour costs combined with the development of new initiative that could improve the image of the sector, such as a Fair Trade Diamond label.

.    The Antwerp Diamond Debate was organized by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), representative of over 1650 registered diamond companies and UNIZO, the Union of Independent Entrepreneurs that represents 85.000 entrepreneurs, self-employed persons, SMEs and free professionals in Flanders and in Brussels.

Fancy Diamond Colour Grading
By Judith Rosby

The exhilarating element of colour is Nature’s inherent way of injecting personality and excitement in an otherwise monotonous life routine. The most and appealing materials in life are those that exhibit colour — bright orange and red leaves in Autumn, crystal blue oceans in the Caribbean, vivid and pink sweeping sunsets, and swirling stars on the midnight blue sky, among others. Fancy coloured diamonds are a phenomenon of nature where the diamond exhibits a natural colour as its most prominent feature. While all diamonds elicit a similar sense of heart fluttering magnificence, the emotions that are elicited when you gaze at fancy coloured diamond are unmatched in any other aesthetic experience.

In colourless diamonds, the absence of colour is what makes the diamonds so precious and valuable. However, in fancy coloured diamonds it is the very presence of colour and its intensity that increase their and value.

. While it is indeed naturally possible to find coloured diamonds in a single colour, it is significantly more common to find them with a secondary, and even a third or fourth colour present in the colour of the stone composition of the stone. Many times, these added elements bring about a special and complex impression and result in an added facet of beauty. However, the most valuable stones are those that exhibit only a single colour, as this phenomenon is rarer in the world of fancy coloured diamonds.

Diamond Grading
    The colourless diamond grading scale measures the absence of colour that is present in the stone, on a scale of D—Z, and is divided into six categories. With the presence of colour comes the appearance of yellow or brown in the stone. Actually, the end of the colourless diamond scale is where the colour scale for coloured diamonds begins! The final two categories in the scale are referred to as Cape Diamonds, which are also known as Faint Yellow or light yellow or Faint Champagne diamonds.

     Although The categories seem to overlap, in actuality coloured diamonds are graded on an entirely different scale. Not only are they indicated by the actual colours that are present in the stone, They are also assessed by the vibrancy of their colour.

Diamond Colours
     There are twelve different colours in which fancy coloured diamonds appear. They will either display purely one colour, or will be combined with overtones of one, two or even three additional colours. The secondary tones occur logically based on the colour wheel of nature, meaning that a red diamond can have overtones of purple or brown, but will not exhibit any green, for example.

     Diamond professionals use systematic methods to identify the exact colours that are present in the stones. The three attributes that are used when assessing a diamond's colour are the hue, the tone, and the saturation. Together, these characteristics are all measured and quontified in order to identify the stones as a specific grade on the colour scale.

   The hue is the tint of colour that is present in the stone.

   The Tone is the lightness or darkness of the colour.

   The saturation is the strength or purity of the colours.

Diamond intensity
   The intensity of the colour is the strength of the colour that is shown in the diamond. The intensity level can be anywhere from a very soft presence to a very strong presence, and the stronger the shade, The higher the value of the diamond. The GIA developed on intensity scale to uniformly define The intensity level of the diamond.

   The nine grades in the scale are: Faint, Very Light, Light, Fancy Light, Fancy, Fancy lntense and Fancy Vivid/ Fancy Deep/ or Fancy Dark.

   For example, the following depiction represents the full scale of colour intensity in Pink, Blue, and Green colour Diamonds. The intensity scale clearly begins with very soft colours and progressively demonstrates a richer colour stone. However, iT is imporTdnT To undersTdnd Thoir

However, it is important to understand that not every diamond colour appears in all of the above intensity levels. For example, Orange diamonds cannot be found in Faint, Very Light, or Light intensities. Only Fancy Light, Fancy, Fancy lntense, Fancy Vivid, and Fancy Deep Orange colours can be found. Black diamonds and white diamonds appear in only one colour intensity — Fancy Black and Fancy White.

Diamond Cut
The exact colour intensity of a diamond cannot be determined from the rough stone. However,as it would intuitively be understood , The greater The colour intensity of the rough, the greter the colour intensity of the rough, the greater the intensity of the polished diamond will be. However, the intensity of the colour is also significantly affected by the cut and shape of the diamond. Also, The cut of fancy coloured (Modified cut) differs from that of colourless (brillianf cut).

The origin of the diamond also affects the colour intensity. Different diamond mines produce different shades or tones, oherwise known as ‘material' of due to the presence of the colour-causing where the diamond was materialized. For The majority of the time a Pink diamond in India or South Africa does not compare to a diamond found from the Argyle diamond mine in Obviously, There are always diamonds in the rough.

     History of Colour Grading
    The Fancy coloured diamond grading scale was developed by the GIA in the mid—1970s. With the grownth in populariiy of fancy colours. The |ndustry grownth in popularity of fancy colours. the industry required some sort of a standardization in order to better define the stones and universalize the fancy coloured diamond trade. Unlike The colourless diamond scale, the decision was made to grade natural fancy diamonds with a description as opposed to a letter because of the multitude colour combinations available.

    Colourless diamonds remain graded on an alphabetic scale. Many years ago, people used various grading systems including Roman and Western numeric to grade their diamonds. OThers used an ‘A, B, and C’ scale where ‘AA’ and ‘AAA’ would have been given to higher grade stones, similar to other precious assets like bonds. ln 1953, a man from the Gemological lnstitute of America named Richard T Liddicoat developed a standardized grading scale that measured colourless stones from ‘D-Z.’ The letter ‘D’ was chosen as an appropriate start for the scale not To confuse it was with the first letter in the word ‘diamond' it seemed to first letter in the word 'diamond'. It seemed to fit its position.

The greatest thing about natural diamond colour is that it never fades or dissipates. A diamond can be stored or displayed for years, and other than simply wiping the diamond clean it will sparkle as much as did the day it was first polished. Thus, coloured diamonds Truly are a gift? forever. — Courtesy of Leibish & Co, www.fancydiamonds.net