August 18th, 2008 by Bob
Hi Bob, Just wanted to say thanks for all your help with helping me select and purchase my diamond ring! I really appreciate it! I cannot express enough how satisfied I am and how much I love the diamond, and the ring; they’re absolutely beautiful – and they look even better on her hand!! I proposed this weekend with success! She loves the ring, and can’t stop staring at the diamond. Her aunt who used to work for Tiffany’s couldn’t get over the fact that it was the most beautiful diamond she has EVER seen, and made me tell her all the details about the diamond. Thanks again for your help – I will definitely be recommending Whiteflash to anyone who asks (and probably some who don’t)!
Warmest Regards, Derek
June 30th, 2008 by Bob
Bob and Team, thank you so much for putting together such a beautifully ring, …. so quickly, … and in a way that gave me confidence (and thus eased my nerves a bit). You were all wonderful to work with, and I will certainly post on PriceScope to sing your praises (that I think you are covered on PriceScope in that department) as well as to show the very helpful expertise on the site the end product. Oh, and she said yes. Thanks a million, Jared
June 1st, 2008 by Bob
Bob….You did an unbelievable job on putting this whole thing together. I couldn’t be more happy with the ring and the glare that comes from her finger and hits her in the eye. It was very difficult putting trust in someone whom I’ve never met before to choose whether or not this ring is beautiful. I would do it all over again in a minute. You can expect to hear from me again in the future and I have a lot of good buddies in the same position and I will gladly refer them to you. Thanks for all your hard work. I think our smiles in this pictures speak of how happy we are with the ring.
January 22nd, 2008 by Bob
From ACM - If you have not done so already you may want to start checking your receipts and back statements to see if you purchased a diamond between 1994 and 2006. If you have than you may be able to receive some money from the $295 million dollar lawsuit that De Beers has just settled. It seems that the De Beers company was charged with anticompetitive prices and advertising that was misleading. The bottom line is that consumers paid more than they should have for their diamonds. They have never admitted that they did anything wrong but they did agree to the settlement. If you would like to submit a claim you can do so by visiting https://diamondsclassaction.com. Or you can call 1800-760-5431 for additional information. The history of the De Beers company is a long one. The De Beers company is the largest and most successful diamond company in the world. According to MSNBC.com, they control a large part of the rough diamond market, which is why many felt that they were guilty of price fixing. Of course the De Beers company is not the only company that has been accused of price fixing. According to www.citynews.com, The Hershey Company and several other candy makers are being sued in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania. There have been a total of three lawsuits which have been filed. Yet another case of a company being charged with a price fixing scheme is the oil giant BP. According to an article by the Associated Press, In October, 2007 BP agreed to pay $273 million dollars in fines and restitution. It is pretty obvious based on these other stores that De Beers is not the only company guilty of price fixing.
More information and contact details in this DP article.
January 16th, 2008 by Bob
From The Guardian - Turkey will launch its first diamond market this month, aiming to become a regional trading hub for the precious stone, a senior industry official said. “The ‘diamonds and precious stones market’ will start to operate soon, hopefully in the coming few weeks,” Oguzhan Aloglu, vice president of the Istanbul Gold Exchange Exchange told Reuters this week. Aloglu said the market will operate within the Gold Exchange and it will allow participants to physically trade both rough and polished diamonds. The aim is to fulfill and boost increasing domestic demand from Turkey’s young generation and attract customers from the Middle East, particularly in Dubai and Israel. “In Turkey, the consumption of diamonds has risen around 25 percent annually. The young generation increasingly prefers diamonds to traditional jewellery,” Aloglu said. Gold jewellery is a traditional gift at Turkish weddings but as the record gold price increased the cost of jewellery, customers are seeking added value by including diamonds. Sales of rough diamonds in Turkey stand around $600 million while the consumption of diamond jewellery is around $1.2 billion, according to Aloglu. (more…)
January 11th, 2008 by Bob
January 11th, 2008 by Bob
From Rapaport - Ghana opened its first diamond cutting school in an effort to add value to its diamond exports. According to the Ghana News Agency, the Natural Diamond Training Institute was established in Accra to teach Ghanaians basic skilling including: identification of raw diamonds; cutting; polishing; separation, assortment and grading of diamonds. Raj Maheswaran, director of the institute, told GNA that students were also being taught diamond marketing skills and were being equipped to establish their own companies. The institute runs a two-month intensive course for senior secondary school graduates and is open to students from the West Africa Sub-region. Ghana exports all its diamonds mined cutting and polishing abroad. The country mined 972,647.88 carats of diamonds valued at $30.9 million in 2006, according to the latest Kimberley Process statistics.
December 24th, 2007 by Bob
This kind of crime has lessened significantly in the United States over as more stores and malls have video surveillance. As a result, these cases are frequently solved. This just happened in Canada.
From WinnipegSun - Thieves pretending to be legitimately checking out diamond rings at a Polo Park jewellery store yesterday made off with a big one. About 1:30 p.m. yesterday, two men went into the People’s Jewellers store in the Winnipeg mall and asked the clerk to see a few rings. One of them was a 1.63-karat diamond ring worth $13,000. “They just basically turned around and ran out of the store and out of the mall,” said Sgt. Kelly Dennison, a Winnipeg police spokesman. The men got into a brown or green Chrysler LeBaron convertible and drove off, said Dennison. They are both described as Asian males in their 20s. One was about 5-foot-3 with short spiked brown hair and an earring in one ear, said Dennison.
December 12th, 2007 by Bob
From AFP - A 6.5-carat blue diamond went for 2.43 million euros (3.56 million dollars), more than three times its estimated value at auction in France on Saturday, the auction house said in a statement. An international company specialised in buying precious stones placed the winning bid by telephone, according to the Guizzetti-Collet auction house. The precious stone had been appraised at between 500,000 and 700,000 euros. The “blue intense homogenous”-coloured diamond, with “extraordinary” coloration, came from a ring “bought in 1962 by the owners of a champagne house, on the occasion of promoting a special vintage,” the auction house said in a statement. Other than the company that bought the diamond, whose name was not released, 15 bidders in Hong Kong, Italy, Switzerland and the United States vied for the precious stone via telephone and in the auction house.
November 23rd, 2007 by Bob
From AFP - The world’s biggest diamond company De Beers said Thursday it was selling its historic Cullinan Diamond Mine in South Africa, where the largest ever diamond was found. It said it was selling the mine for one billion rand (147 million US dollars, 99 million euros). The sale of the mine, based 40 kilometres (24 miles) east of the capital Pretoria, to the Petra Diamonds Cullinan Consortium — which has a strong black empowerment element — completes De Beer’s review of its mining portfolio in the country. “This will enable De Beers to best use our capital to invest in exciting growth opportunities and to sustain a strong diamond mining business in South Africa for the future,” said Gareth Penny, Managing Director of the De Beers Group. “In this way De Beers is strengthening its commercial future in South Africa whilst helping to meet the government’s aspirations for a diversified, transformed South African diamond industry.” The pan-African diamond mining group, Petra Diamonds is the second largest producer of diamonds in South Africa after De Beers and is partnered in the country by Thembinkosi Mining Investments (Pty) Ltd which “brings together a significant pool of empowerment players. This transaction is a transformational deal for Petra and reflects the opportunities DBCM is creating for new players in the diamond industry,” said David Noko, managing director of De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM) The Cullinan Diamond Mine, established in 1902, is famous for the world’s largest ever rough diamond, The Cullinan Diamond, which was discovered in 1905 and weighed over 3000 carats uncut. (more…)
November 20th, 2007 by Bob
From JCK - Worldwide gold demand for jewelry increased 6 percent in tonnage terms and 16 percent in dollars in the third quarter, according to the World Gold Council. The rise in gold jewelry demand in Asia, the Middle East, and Russia offset declines in the United States and parts of Europe. U.S. gold jewelry demand fell by 13 percent in the third quarter from year-earlier levels due to the impact of the high gold price and a slowing economy, WGC said in its “Gold Demand Trends,” released Thursday. However, high- and mid-market demand for gold jewelry remained brisk. The report says that a change in demand patterns became evident during the third quarter as investors rather than jewelry buyers became the dominant force. At 138 tons, investment in Exchange Traded Funds and similar products were at a quarterly record. Total gold demand for the quarter reached a record 20.7 billion, up 30 percent year-over-year. “It is clear that gold’s safe haven and hedging characteristics have been a major attraction to investors during this period of instability, greater inflationary fears and a falling dollar,” said James Burton, WGC chief executive officer. “Looking forward, we believe that investor interest will remain very strong in the near future and that, as the price stabilizes, major gold jewelry buying nations, such as India, China and the Middle East, will quickly adapt to a higher floor in the price.” (full story)
November 12th, 2007 by Bob
From Reuters - Congo Republic was readmitted to an international mechanism regulating the diamonds trade on Thursday after convincing experts it had tightened controls on so-called “blood diamonds”. The central African country was expelled from the Kimberley Process (KP) in 2004 because it could not account for most of its exports, which were some 100 times more than its estimated output. Industry officials believe the Congo Republic had been used as a conduit for diamonds mined in the larger Democratic Republic of Congo, scene of a war in 1998-2003 that was funded in part by illicit gems. A statement issued by the 48-nation Kimberley Process after a four-day meeting in Brussels said Congo Republic had been readmitted. The move could prompt the U.N. Security Council to end a trading embargo against the Congo Republic. KP chairman Karel Kovanda said Ivory Coast, which would then be the last remaining country subject to such an embargo, could be readmitted too after this year’s ceasefire in its civil war. “We have been reviewing what steps are needed so that, in the fullness of time, Ivory Coast can rejoin the Kimberley Process as well,” Kovanda, deputy director-general of external relations at the European Commission, told a news conference. (more…)
November 5th, 2007 by Playground Admin
From IDEX - Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels auction, to take place on November 14 in Geneva, will offer a brilliant-cut diamond, weighing 84.37 carats, which estimators have valued at 15-20 million CHF ($13-$17.33 million). The accompanying GIA report lists the stone as being D/ flawless, with excellent cut, polish and symmetry. Also being offered is a ring mounted with a rare fancy, vivid blue pear-shaped VS1 diamond weighing 4.16 carats. The gem is framed by brilliant-cut pink-tinted diamonds and a hoop pave-set with similar brilliant-cut stones, mounted in platinum and yellow gold. The ring has an estimate of 3.85-5.0 million CHF ($3.34-$4.33 million). In related news, Sotheby’s recently announced the sale of a private collection of jewelry, proceeds of which will benefit the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The anonymous collector, whose pieces will be auctioned on December 4 in Amsterdam, has set up a special fund that will focus on the protection and preservation of the Asian elephant and the giant panda. The lots include a number of signed pieces from houses such as Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier, Buccellati and Grima, with an obvious theme of animal movement and design inspiration. Sotheby’s Amsterdam and the WWF previously collaborated on an auction in October 2005, when the elephant collection of the late Prince Bernard of the Netherlands raised €300,000 ($435,600) for the WWF.
November 2nd, 2007 by Bob
From Mining Weekly - The gap between the demand for, and the supply of, diamonds is set to widen from 2008, thanks mainly to a surging demand in India and China, Tawana Resources MD Wolf Marx said last week. He added that the size of the diamond-consuming market in the two Asian countries is expected to grow from 33-million con- sumers to 65-million consumers by 2015. In another development, he said the worldwide budget for diamond exploration had risen from $250-mil- lion in 2002 to $850-million in 2006, adding that many of the current diamond mines were beyond their production peaks, and exploration and acquisition focus was shifting back to Africa, where there was a new diamond rush. The company recently announced that larger-than-expected diamonds had been recovered during the first week of the processing of the initial bulk sample collected at its Riverton kimberlite project, in South Africa. Marx said that the company had processed about 1500 t. (more…)
October 30th, 2007 by Bob
From Chinaview - Belgian judicial authorities have confiscated 14 million euros (20 million U.S. dollars) worth of illegal diamonds from Cote d’Ivoire and a diamond trader suspected of smuggling the diamonds has been arrested, Belgian broadcaster VRT reported Saturday. The diamonds from the African country are so-called “blood diamonds” - money earned from which is used to finance criminal organizations and armed conflicts, the report said. The Belgian public prosecutor confirmed on Friday that the main suspect is one of the business managers of Peri Diamond company. Investigations into the case started last year. If Peri Diamond is found guilty of the allegations, it will lose its permits in Belgium and on the stock exchanges, said Filip Claes of the Antwerp World Diamond Center, which officially represents the Belgian diamond sector. (more…)
October 26th, 2007 by Bob
From RFID - Every body craves for diamonds especially women who cannot stop smiling when they get a diamond but do you know that diamond merchants dealing in diamonds have a tough time tackling their inventory of loose diamonds where the figures could run into millions of dollars. In case the merchant loses even one of his precious diamonds from the lot he would probably die of heart attack and tallying every single piece can be a pretty arduous task which would certainly make the agent old well before his age but now RFID will take care of all the worries of the diamond merchants.
Now merchants can place these very precious stones in an envelope, stack them in a box attach RFID tags to the envelope and when the box is moved through the scanner information on the tag is read and displayed on the screen. With possibility of tracking a hundred tags in roughly one or maximum two seconds this would certainly make life for these diamonds merchants pretty easy and probably save them from getting grey hairs quite early in their lives.
October 23rd, 2007 by Bob
Not surprising when you consider so many are calling to ban Venezuela from the KPCS, more crackdowns are happening in Africa and everyone is talking about the Burmese ruby situation. This is a good move.
From Rapaport - Effective immediately, all importers of rough diamonds must fax a copy of the Kimberley Process Certification (KPC) arriving with the imported diamonds to the United States Census Bureau upon making any entry with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The Census Bureau is responsible for collecting, compiling and publishing import and export statistics for the U.S. Copies of the foreign KPC must be faxed to 1-800-457-7328. Questions regarding the KPCS may be directed to Ms. Adria Gibson, 202-863-6057. The information was provided by the Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC.) The Clean Diamond Trade Act that was signed into law in 2003 and prohibits the “importation into, or exportation from, the United States on or after July 30, 2003 of any rough diamond, from whatever source, unless the rough diamond has been controlled through the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS).” The Act requires the Census Bureau to maintain statistics on imports and exports of rough diamonds.
October 16th, 2007 by Bob
From The Age - Unusually cut, uncut and fancy-coloured diamonds are becoming increasingly popular - and have proved a shot in the arm for the small but increasingly marketing-savvy diamond industry. Diamond giant De Beers started offering rough diamonds two years ago as part of its Talisman Collection. The collection also includes brown diamonds. One in five pieces sold featured rough diamonds, said David Fardon, chief executive of Perth-based jewellery retailer Linneys. Speaking at the World Diamond Conference in Perth, Mr Fardon said unusual diamonds were now the most sought after. “Luxury customers are interested in the point of difference: they (rare and different diamonds) are perceived as being exclusive and subtle, and higher prices can be justified by the uniqueness of the stones,” Mr Fardon said. “Pink diamonds had particularly risen in price and will continue to do so,” he said. “They are, relative to white diamonds, some 20 to 25 per cent times the price of an equivalent sized white diamond.” (more…)
October 11th, 2007 by Bob
From Diamond World - In the backdrop of the current unrest in Burma over violation of human rights, The Jewelers of America (JA) has sent its requests to the U.S. Congress to amend the Burmese Freedom & Democracy Act of 2003, which bans the importation of products from Burma, in order to receive gemstones mined in Burma. It has asked the amendment to be effective up to a time when Burma agrees to the democratic reforms stated in the proposed January 2007 resolution placed before the United Nations Security Council. According to JA president and CEO Matthew A. Runci, “Jewelers of America has also taken immediate steps to inform its members about the situation in Burma and to advise them to source their gemstones in a manner that respects human rights”. It has issued an advisory to its members, on the issues, which adhere to the principles of U.N. Global Compact, which JA has agreed to support. JA has requested its members that all should confirm from their suppliers, whether the gemstones are mines in Burma, and should take a written commitment from their suppliers, for all future orders that, they will not consciously supply gems mined in Burma until democratic reformation takes place in the country.
More information at Dreams of Africa: Myanmar’s Rubies.
October 8th, 2007 by Bob
From JCK Online - The last of the 3,200 workers who were trapped more than a mile underground in a South African gold mine were rescued Thursday, according to media reports. They were trapped at about 6 a.m. Wednesday in the Elandsrand Mine gold mine in Carletonville gold mine near Johannesburg when the power source was knocked out, disabling the elevators leading to the surface, South Africa’s ambassador to the United States, Welile Nhlapo told CNN. The mine is owned and operated by Harmony Gold Mining Ltd., the world’s fifth biggest gold producer. The cage carrying the final 45 miners reached the surface before 10 p.m. local time, Harmony spokeswoman Amelia Soares told Bloomberg News. The workers were transported through a shaft normally used for waste after the main shaft was damaged by a falling pipe. The mine, about 50 miles southwest of Johannesburg, will stay shut for three to six weeks while both the company and the South Africa Department of Minerals and Energy investigate the accident, Bloomberg News reports. Harmony Gold Mining Company president Graham Briggs said a large compressed air pipe fell down a shaft, knocking out power. “This was a situation where the people were not really in danger, they were underground,” Briggs told CNN on Thursday. “It’s not really an accident in the sense of an underground accident–in the sense of a falling rock.” Mine officials said no workers were killed or injured during the ordeal, CNN reports.
October 2nd, 2007 by Bob
From about 400BC until 1700AD India was the world’s source of diamonds. As India declined other major sources were discovered. India is now a huge cutting/polishing center for diamonds from Australia and other parts of the world. This “revival” news story is interesting because although there are nearly 7000 kimberlite all over the world only 100 of them are known to bear diamonds.
From DIB Online - Five out of the 15 kimberlite pipes in India’s Panna and Chhatarpur districts in Madhya Pradesh contain a presence of diamonds, according to a recent exploration survey. The Economic Times of India has reported that in response to the encouraging discovery, India’s mining department has issued a reconnaissance permit to Rio Tinto Exploration Ltd. to conduct further surveys for indicator minerals in the districts. Sources say that small lease holders have also been extracting precious stones from the shallow mines in Madhya Pradesh’s Panna and Satna districts, which reportedly contain the country’s entire diamond reserves. According to the Economic Times of India, diamond mining has been carried out in the Majhgavnva mines of the Panna district since 1958. In its efforts to increase mining activity and decrease its reliance on gold and diamond imports, the Indian government has issued more than 30 reconnaissance permits to national and international companies for exploration in diamonds, gold, silver, nickel, platinum, zinc and other precious metals.
September 25th, 2007 by Bob
From Rapaport (Jeff Miller) - The Tanzanite Foundation and the International Gemological Institute (IGI) Hong Kong launched a tanzanite grading services venue during the Hong Kong jewelry show. IGI Hong Kong is now the third IGI location to offer tanzanite grading in accordance with the Tanzanite Quality Scale. On September 27, 2007 the Tanzanite Foundation and IGI will host a presentation and cocktail event at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, Level 4, Room 402-3 at 4:00 p.m. Gabriella Endlin, technical director of the Tanzanite Foundation said, “A key consideration for the Tanzanite Foundation in working with IGI to launch the tanzanite grading initiative was IGI’s global reach and reputation. IGI not only shares our vision for a universal, consistent tanzanite grading system, but has the international presence, expertise and market positioning to play a key role in achieving this goal.” Marc Brauner, CEO of IGI Hong Kong said, “We at IGI are very pleased to have been appointed by the Tanzanite Foundation as the official gemological institute for testing and grading tanzanite. (more…)
September 14th, 2007 by Bob
Glad they stopped this! Unfortunately it isn’t much different than what goes on in stores stateside who use so-called IGI “appraisals” to sell IGI-graded diamonds.
From the New Zealand Herald
A jewellery company was fined $50,000 for misleading customers over the value of diamond-studded items sold. Carrerabenz Diamond Industries pleaded guilty in Auckland District Court on Tuesday to breaching the Fair Trading Act. The Auckland-based company had used Australian insurance valuations, converted to a New Zealand figure and adjusted for GST and taxes, to give its jewellery a price value. The value was then discounted, and the pieces sold in sales held in Auckland and Wellington hotels in 2003. The company advertised on radio and television, saying its goods were 80 per cent cheaper than those of major retailers and independent valuers.
September 12th, 2007 by Bob
I would just like to say thanks to all of you at Whiteflash, especially Bob. I was really leary on whether or not to make such a huge purchase online and he took all of my fears away. Just in the way he presented himself over the phone and emails made me feel like I was in a store with him…So, thanks Bob! Sara and I will be looking forward to working with Whiteflash in the future. - Doug & Sara, IN
August 30th, 2007 by Bob
From MiningMx by Brendan Ryan
THE reason there are so many junior mining and exploration companies looking for diamonds is because of the “incredible returns” when an economic kimberlite pipe is found. Those returns are good enough to keep attracting juniors to the business despite the fact that less than one per cent of the kimberlite pipes ever found have been economic to mine. That’s according to Des Kilalea, London-based analyst for RBC Capital Markets, who was addressing last week’s ‘Diamonds in Kimberley’ symposium organised by the Geological Society of SA.
“The world’s most profitable major mines are in the diamond space,” he told delegates pointing out that at the top of the heap are De Beers’ Jwaneng and Venetia mines in Botswana with profit margins (profit to revenue) estimated at 88% and 82% respectively. “I have been told by someone in the diamond business that my figures on Jwaneng are totally wrong and the correct (profit to revenue) margin is actually 92%,” he quipped. (more…)
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