Not a month goes by without diamond industry news that involves the new trend of lab grown diamonds. In this month’s SPECTRUM, read an original take on De Beers’ move to lab grown, in an article featured on Quartzy. We’re also going big on the bling with a tweet from CNN about the world’s most expensive shoes, adorned with diamonds of course. There’s a huge pink diamond up for auction soon at Christie’s, and people are already predicting a huge sale price - which may even make it one of the most expensive gems ever sold. Let’s wait and see. And there’s some interesting commentary about Amazon’s new online jewelry retail initiative and check out the very personal diamond stories at the online Museum of Diamonds. There’s more, so read on and enjoy our dive into the diamond industry news and trends making headlines right now.
This 19-carat Pink Legacy diamond could fetch $50 million
By Robert Frank @CNBC
At November’s Magnificent Jewels Sale, run by Christie’s in Geneva, there’s a big, bold star of the show. It’s the Pink Legacy, a 19-carat fancy vivid pink diamond, which is extremely rare. According to this piece on CNBC, over the past 250 years, only 4 fancy vivid pink diamonds over 10 carat size have ever come up for auction, making this a rare opportunity indeed. And the cherry on top? The diamond’s provenance traces back to the famous Oppenheimer family, the South African diamond dynasty, which just makes the Pink Legacy more desirable and more expensive. To be exact, it is expected to sell for between $30 million to $50 million!
Museum of Diamonds Shares the Stories Behind the Stones
By Kera Morris @Westword
At Sarine, we’ve long been advocates for the diamond story. Every diamond has its own story, from rough to polished. And every diamond owner has a story as to how and why their particular diamond came to be a part of their lives. Launched in 2015 and approved by the World Federation of Diamond Bourses, the Museum of Diamonds is an online registry of the world’s diamonds. However, it seems that the technical business of registering a diamond is much less interesting than the diamond’s human story, so the Museum has begun accepting the personal stories of diamond owners. Check it out!
De Beers Lab-Grown Diamonds Are For Anything But Marriage
By Sangeeta Singh-Kurtz @Quartzy
It seems that for every lab-grown diamond in the world, there are five opinions as to how the diamond industry will be impacted by this new burgeoning trend. This opinion piece on Quartzy takes an interesting perspective, exploring how De Beers, the one-time advocates for mined diamonds, have now begun selling their own line of synthetic growns. How to reconcile these contradictory positions? Well, there’s natural mined diamonds for serious commitments, like marriage, and lab grown for lighter occasions. Makes sense!
Diamond market continues to open up as confidence in the luxury commodity grows
By Barclay Ballard @World Finance
Diamonds for beauty, diamonds for love, diamonds for fun, and what about diamonds for investment? It’s a subject that comes up now and again, and with the diamond market regaining its ground, World Finance discusses the benefits of diamond investing. It’s a hot topic, particularly at a time when new innovations in diamond investment come to the fore, such as the Diamond Bullion, a standardized diamond trading platform developed by the Singapore Diamond Investment Exchange. But the bottom line? Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, and don’t expect any get-rich-quick results. Sound and timeless advice.
A new application suggests Amazon is preparing to double down on selling its own jewelry
By Dennis Green @Business Insider
Business Insider reports that Amazon has filed a trademark for a brand called “For Keeps by Amazon”, for use in “online retail sales of jewelry”. The recent filing, which dates from mid-September, has led to speculation that Amazon is aiming to boost their retail jewelry sales online, although with the company declining to comment for this article, it’s just speculation for the moment. At SPECTRUM, we’ll keep an eye out and let you know as soon as there is a noteworthy development.
And to end off...
Here’s a tweet from CNN, featuring the “Passion Diamond Shoes”, thought to be the most expensive shoes in the world. These stilettos are encrusted with gold and diamonds, and come with a price tag of $17 million. What will they think of next?
Called "The Passion Diamond Shoes", these gold and diamond-encrusted stilettos are believed to be the world's most expensive shoes at $17 million https://t.co/VIJKBPhU2k pic.twitter.com/mmQsaDNqq2
— CNN (@CNN) September 29, 2018
