The latest still confidential and not yet published draft of the European Commission’s regulations for rough diamond imports and exports are definitely more “industry-friendly” and certainly more workable than the initial draft published in August. Read More...

De Beers managing director Gary Ralfe introduced this week an all-overriding concept: "Ethical Responsibility." He was even willing to apply the concept to practical situations. Read More...

Next week's DTC sight will be in the $350-$400 million range, probably closer to the higher figure. There seems to be some pressure by Anglo American on De Beers in respect to the sights. Read More...

A small and hardly noticed event in Russia reaffirms the unequivocal direction towards westernization of the diamond mining sector: the governmental policy makers of yesterday have now become lobbyists for change, trying to influence their own very successors and make them undo some of the rules and regulations they themselves had promulgated in the past. Read More...

Within the next two weeks the European Commission will publish new European rough diamond import/export regulations in the Official Gazette, making it the law of the land. While we are writing these lines, the governments of the United Kingdom and Belgium are still arguing over Article 12, which defines the status of all diamond inventories of the Kimberley certification schemes implementations next year. Read More...

Forget about what is going in Iraq. Forget about Wall Street. According to Kenneth Gassman, the head of the U.S.-based Jewelry Industry Research Institute (JIRI), the jewelry industry is a safe bet for investment for the future. Read More...

This Tuesday afternoon I strolled into the Zales jewelry store at one of the more expensive brand-name fashion malls in Las Vegas, Nevada. I looked at a 3-stone Zale's diamond ring, which boasts the company's house brand's customary 82 facets. Read More...

The DTC finds itself in an interesting situation in respect to its ITO (Intention to offer), which is the half yearly pro forma presented to customers detailing how much they can expect in the total of the following five Sights. Read More...

The September 11, 2001, horrors represent a defining moment in history - a day after which life will never be the same. One year later, times are still turbulent and uncertain, but, by and large, in the diamond business we can count our blessings. Read More...

The proposed European Community regulations on rough diamond imports and exports contain provisions the industry can never accept. Under the new rules old inventories may become "conflict inventories" by default. Read More...