DIAMOND GEMS WEEKLY

Holiday Sales ​ US jewelry sales rose 1.6% over the holiday season from November 1 to December 21,  according to   Mastercard . Overall retail sales increased 3.9% during the period, driven by what the company described as savvy shoppers seeking value. E-commerce jumped 7.4% while in-store sales grew 2.9%, with apparel the strongest-performing category.   Online spending during Cyber Week – the 5-day period from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday – rose 7.7% year on year to $44.2 b

Holiday Start   The Government of Botswana  and De Beers  teamed up with Saks Fifth Avenue  for the retailer’s New York holiday light show. Saks unveiled its Fifth Avenue window display as natural diamonds lit up the façade, highlighting the partnership during the flagship’s seasonal launch.   The National Retail Federation  expects US holiday-season retail sales to surpass $1 trillion for the first time,  projecting growth  of 3.7% to 4.2% from last year’s $976.1 billion. Th

The Louvre's Galerie d’Apollon. (Credit: Louvre) Thieves broke into the  Louvre  early Sunday, October 19, stealing several royal jewels from the museum’s famed Galerie d’Apollon (pictured, right), which houses France’s Crown Jewels. The stolen pieces include gems once belonging to Queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense and Empresses Marie-Louise and Eugénie. Police have recovered part of the loot and launched an investigation after the burglars fled, abandoning a burned-out getawa

Sale of De Beers Botswana President Duma Boko. (Youtube.com/@AntwerpWorldDiamondCentre ) The Government of Botswana intends to secure a...

Tariff Tracker ​ Jewelers of America (JA) met with  senior Trump administration officials on August 19, urging that diamonds be...

Tariff Talk   The US will impose a 25%  tariff on imports from India  starting August 1, President Trump  announced  on Truth Social. The...

Marketing Moves Signatories to the Luanda Accord (Credit: AWDC) ​ ​​​​​Ministers from five diamond-producing countries  signed the Luanda...

Tariff Volatility ​​ A federal appeals court has temporarily paused a lower court ruling that blocked President Trump’s sweeping tariffs...

​Taxing Imports   President Donald Trump on April 2  announced  a 10% tariff on most imports into the United States, with several...

Exceptional Stones   The Mediterranean Blue (Sotheby's) Sotheby’s unveiled The Mediterranean Blue; a cushion-cut, modified brilliant,...

Trading Affairs ​ The Government of Botswana  and  De Beers   signed the agreements  outlining their partnership. The 25-mining agreement...

Mining Matters ​ Petra Diamonds  agreed to sell its 75% stake in Williamson Diamonds Ltd., owner of the Williamson mine in Tanzania, for...

Retail Reality   Jewelry ranked among the top performers during the holiday season, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse. Sales rose 4%...