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Just as I was crossing the t's and dotting the i's on this week’s newsletter, a press release landed in my inbox announcing that De Beers is pausing operations at the Venetia mine in South Africa for two years. That changed the lead story because this is a significant development, even if it isn't entirely surprising. In fact, I argued this was a likely outcome in the Diamond Executive Report, The Value of De Beers, published in May, where I wrote: “De Beers might conside

By far the most consequential story over the past week went a little under the radar. De Beers signaled it would reduce prices at the sight that began today, as reported by Rapaport’s Joshua Freedman. The move, corroborated by my own sources, is a sign that De Beers believes the market is improving. That may sound counterintuitive given the price cuts, but De Beers typically adjusts prices to stimulate buying when it sees polished inventories have declined and demand beginn

This week I turn my attention to technology and what I believe may be the real opportunity for lab-grown diamonds. Over the weekend, I was alerted to a video by Chloe Abram. If you're not familiar with her, as I wasn't, she describes herself as a video journalist who makes optimistic explainers about technology. Her latest video, The $1 Trillion Problem Diamonds Can Solve, attracted more than a million views in its first day. In it, she gives an easy-to-follow explanation

Marquise-shape diamond ring offered for sale at Sotheby's New York in June 2026. (Sotheby's) It seemed like a quiet week, but there were some consequential developments in the diamond and jewelry world. Perhaps the key word to sum it all up is transparency. The biggest development in that regard was the GIA's announcement that it plans to: a) add comments to certain diamond grading reports noting that fluorescence may enhance a diamond's appearance in UV-rich environments

For many of us in the diamond and jewelry industry, LinkedIn is our playground. It’s the platform on which we engage most with our peers, share ideas, expand our networks, and build our personal and company brands. For years, the platform gave us a false sense of success, as the algorithm seemed to encourage engagement regardless of content quality. Frankly, it was quite simple to rack up thousands of impressions and hundreds of likes on almost any post. If you haven't no