Jeweller - November 2018

NEWS
Canadian diamonds
up for tender
Rio Tinto unveiled the three diamonds
that would feature in its latest tender,
offering top pieces yielded from Diavik
Diamond Mines in Canada.
The largest diamond in the Diavik Stars of
the Arctic Tender– the ‘Vega of the Arctic’,
a 177.7-carat rough– was available for
viewing around the world before bidding
closed on 25 October.
It is the most valuable gem quality rough
diamond ever produced in Canada,
according to Rio Tinto.
The other rough diamonds– the ‘Altair of
the Arctic’ and ‘Capella of the Arctic’–are
a 59-carat white rough stone and a
28.8-carat yellow diamond respectively.
Diavik Diamond Mines president and CEO
Patrick Boitumelo said: “Diavik diamonds
are more than two billion years old and
it has taken 15 years of production to
unearth these extraordinary diamonds,
underscoring the ongoing importance of
the Diavik ore body in the context of the
global diamond industry.”
The mine, owned by Rio Tinto in
partnership with Dominion Diamond
Mines which has a 40 per cent stake,
began production in 2003, moving
completely into underground operations
in 2012. The site yields gem quality
diamonds and produces on average only
five yellow diamonds like the Capella of
the Arctic every year.
In other auction news, a 5-carat blue
diamond was sold at a Sotheby’s auction
earlier in Octobers for US$13.8 million
(AU$19.4 m).
The step-cut ‘Ai’ diamond – named after
the Chinese word for love – was set in
an 18-carat white gold ring shouldered
by white baguette diamonds and led
the Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels and
Jadeite jewellery sale, which totalled
US$40.2 million (AU$56.5 m).
Another blue diamond was the secondbest
sale of the event, with the 3.37-carat
pear-shaped ring sold for US$3.1 million
(AU$4.3 m).
+ MORE BREAKING NEWS
JEWELLERMAGAZINE.COM
Australian Opal Centre seeks patrons
Moves are afoot to construct a state-of-theart
Australian Opal Centre (AOC) building for
education, training and certification.
A group of supporters called the AOC
Founders has come forward to provide
patronage to help fund the Lightning Ridge
location by leveraging $20 million of NSW
and Federal Government funding.
The proposed site has been designed by
Glenn Murcutt and Wendy Lewin, and is set
to promote Australian opal and opalised fossil
collections once completed.
AOC Founder and GAA federal patron Terry
Coldham said: “The AOC is a bold initiative
and I’m very impressed by its achievements.
PLANS FOR THE AUSTRALIAN OPAL CENTRE
The concept of a national centre dedicated to
opal is exciting - it’s an absolute
game changer. There are very few times in
life when you can affect really big change,
but this is one of them. The opportunity
to join such a fine group of people and do
something magnificent that will be seen by
millions of people for lifetimes to come is
really remarkable.”
Coldham stressed that becoming an AOC
Founder is “a wonderful legacy”. The centre
aims to provide infrastructure, facilities and
programs for students and researchers with
an objective to increase public awareness
of Australian opal and opalised fossils “as
uniquely Australian national treasures
and resources”.
AOC president David Lane said the facility
was expected to generate $49 million
annually to the NSW economy while
benefitting the opal community.
“The new AOC will be a world-class,
distinctively Australian tourism asset that will
create benefits throughout inland Australia
and everywhere our National Gemstone is
produced and sold,” Lane said.
De Beers’ Lightbox available to public
Lightbox Jewelry launched the online sale of
De Beers’ introductory collection of synthetic
diamonds on Thursday 27 September.
Subscribers to its newsletter were alerted to
the launch with a 48-hour countdown early
last week. The collection – which does not
carry the De Beers name – is currently sold
direct to consumers. There is no
wholesale operation.
Lightbox offers diamonds at US$800 per carat,
with half-carat and .25 synthetic diamonds
offered at $400 and $200 respectively in soft
pink, blue and white. The collection comes in
both sterling silver and rose gold plated silver
for an additional US$100 and 10-carat gold
settings at US$200.
After the brand was unveiled just prior to JCK
Las Vegas, industry analysts and synthetic
diamond suppliers were quick to weigh in
on De Beers’ decision to offer a “fun, pretty
product that shouldn’t cost that much.”
Some synthetic diamond manufacturers are
claiming predatory pricing by De Beers.
Chatham Created Gems & Diamonds CEO
Tom Chatham told Bloomberg: “De Beers
aren’t stupid. They know how to grow
diamonds, but this equipment is not cheap.
They are selling below cost.”
According to JCK Online, Chatham sent a
comment on De Beers’ pricing practices to
the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in
early September.
The website is the only platform for
purchasing Lightbox products, and Steve Coe,
general manager Lightbox Jewelry said the
company would conduct a “modest” bricksand-mortar
trial later this year.
12 Jeweller November 2018