It came so close to being a world beater. But the largest blue diamond ever to be auctioned yesterday missed its place in the history books . . . by less than $70,000. The De Beers Cullinan Blue was sold after eight minutes of furious bidding at a single-lot auction at Sotheby's Hong Kong... Read More...

There have, traditionally, been two main ways to get diamonds out of the ground - open pit mining and underground mining. Now there's about to be a third. Canada's Ekati diamond mine is planning to flood an existing pit and use an underwater crawler to mine the ore... Read More...

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is changing the diamond industry's governing dynamics. The last time something similar happened was after 9/11, when the American Congress adopted the Patriot Act in October 2001. Global business fundamentals had to change including for the diamond and jewelry industries... Read More...

You may have heard of Meylor Global. They made headlines in January with news that they'd produced the world's biggest lab grown diamond, certified by IGI at 150.42 carats. It broke a record set by the same company in September 2020, with a 115.65-carat stone. What you probably didn't realize ... Read More...

Alrosa proudly announced its membership of the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) in September 2016, having met "the highest ethical, human rights, social and environmental standards". That accolade rings somewhat hollow today, after the Russian government - one-third owner... Read More...

For the first time since the Second World War, the diamond industry must choose sides and act immediately to find a way to save itself during these historical times. Putin has never had such a decisive Western opposition in any of his previous military adventures. Read More...

The US has imposed sanctions on Russian diamonds. If the headlines are to be believed. "Key supply of diamonds caught up in Russia sanctions," said CNN, after President Joe Biden issued his executive order last Friday. "US to ban Russian diamond and vodka imports," Read More...

First it was blood diamonds, now it's blood oil. Blood diamonds fuelled civil wars in Angola, Ivory Coast, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 1990s. Today Russia stands accused of funding its invasion of Ukraine with what critics are calling blood oil. On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden announced an import ban... Read More...

It's the calm before the storm. The US has imposed lukewarm sanctions on Alrosa, directing its citizens not to buy on memo - from a company that says it doesn't sell on memo. And not to engage directly with its CEO - not that most of them are likely to have personal dealings with him. That doesn't sound like a huge imposition, but things could get a lot more serious, and very quickly. Read More...

OPINION by Erez Jacob Rivlin and Hubert de Munck.  Senior veteran diamantaires remember the speculative diamond market of the end of the 70s. Starting in 1976, the better diamond qualities rose sharply, then doubled again and again. The price bubble kept ... Read More...