The National Advertising Division (NAD) of BBB National Programs recommended that the Natural Diamond Council discontinue certain advertising claims comparing mined diamonds with man-made diamonds, including the carbon emissions associated with diamond mining compared with diamond manufacturing, the scarcity of mined diamonds, the resale value of mined diamonds versus man-made diamonds, as well as claims…
Tag: diamond production
[Int’l] The world’s biggest diamond mine is closing, which means gem prices are likely heading higher
Argyle is best known as the source of about 90 per cent of the world’s prized pink diamonds The world’s biggest diamond mine — famed more for the fistful of coveted pink and red gems it yields each year than being a major producer of lower-quality stones — is being shuttered by Rio Tinto Group…
【LGD Market】Lightbox Adds More 1 Carat Solitaires—But With Drill HolesG
De Beers’ Lightbox brand is adding more $800 lab-grown 1 ct. solitaires to its site—but in a twist, they are being sold with piercings. This week, the created-diamond brand debuted three new products—a 0.5 ct. pierced solitaire pendant, a 1 ct. pierced solitaire pendant, and a pair of 1 ct. t.w. pierced solitaire earrings. The three items have been “laser drilled so they can…
【LGD Market】On The Environmental & Social Impact of Mined vs. Synthetic Diamonds
The marketing battle between the natural diamond industry and laboratory-grown diamond producers and their advocates is intensifying. Not a week goes by without the latest effusive article – sponsored or otherwise – appearing about the inevitable rise of synthetics. While the traditional issue of the undisclosed mixing of synthetics with natural is still very topical,…
【int’l】An Alternative View: Paul Zimnisky on Diamond Recycling
Indpendent diamond industry analyst Paul Zimnisky takes an alternative, well-considered approach to recycled diamonds: they could be the shot in the arm the natural diamond industry needs. Eliminating the concerns about environmental and social issues important to today’s consumers, he argues that from a value standpoint, “a more readily available, competitive and active diamond resale…
它是珠寶界的黑馬 一舉成為珠寶設計師最愛材質
在珠寶圈黃金,白銀,鉑金可謂是三大巨頭,在這激烈的競爭中新材質如何站穩腳跟如今,就有一種新型金屬材質 – 鈦金屬來勢洶洶,雖初出茅廬但潛力無限,實力詮釋“黑馬”的誕生歷程。 鈦的是一種灰黑色的金屬材質,常被用於製作航天,軍工等行業的精密部件,因此也被稱之為“太空金屬”。鈦金屬嚴格來說並不屬於貴金屬,本身可以說是“其貌不揚”,但它擁有著十分優越的性質:堅韌,熔點高,耐腐蝕,銀亮而不會變黑,這決定了它非常適合用於珠寶製作,可工藝問題遲遲得不到解決,限制了它的應用。 隨著加工技術的提高,鈦金屬珠寶在國際上開始嶄露頭角,最初能將鈦金屬運用的如魚得水的一定少不了華人珠寶設計師趙心綺(Cindy Chao)了。自2010年起,就開始著手研究這種有著堅硬,高度抗磨損又輕盈的材質,直至2012年完成了她的首件鈦金屬作品,而這件作品讓她在日內瓦佳士得拍賣會上一舉成名,成為此次拍賣的一匹黑馬此後。國際上鈦金屬珠寶作品才漸漸開始流行起來。 鈦金屬本身作為非貴金屬,價格並不算貴,但如今頻頻獲得知名設計師和大牌青睞。且他也有許多讓設計師愛不釋手的特點 特性一:輕盈卻又堅韌 同等體積,純鈦的重量僅為銀的40%,金的25%左右,但其硬度卻很高,與高強鋼接近。兩種看似矛盾的優點同時存在於一種材質上,讓設計師們如獲至寶。在2016年的巴黎古董雙年展上,Cindy Chao同名珠寶品牌CINDY CHAO The Art Jewel的冬葉套鍊一亮相便備受矚目。冬葉套鍊以重量僅有K金四分之一的鈦金屬 打造,共鑲有近6,000顆花式切割鑽石,而如此復雜的設計正是因為選擇使用鈦金屬進行製作,才使得整件作品在極具份量感的同時卻又格外輕盈,裝飾性和適戴性達到完美交匯。 Cindy Chao此後設計並製作出一系列使用鈦金屬製作的高級珠寶,鈦金屬與先進工藝相結合塑造出柔美而又極俱生命力的線條。而鈦金屬的另一特性 – 高強度又確保了這些柔美的線條和誇張的造型不會輕易變形,讓高級珠寶不僅成為藝術品也更適於佩戴和保存。 特性二:極好的上色技能 相信大部分人印象裡的金屬材質都是顏色單一的形象,近幾年流行的色彩較豐富的ķ金首飾也是混合了其他金屬元素後才呈現出顏色各異的外觀。而鈦金屬卻有著獨特的“著色”技能,即無需外加任何元素,通過電解工藝便可改變顏色,常見的有金,黑,褐,藍,紫等各種顏色。 其“著色”原理是:將鈦置於電解液中通上一定量電流,其表面便會電解產生一層氧化膜,而通過控制氧化膜的厚度便可改變顏色,因此無需額外添加元素這一獨特的性質使得鈦金屬珠寶有了極大的色彩變化空間,可突破傳統觀念上的金屬形象,創造出多彩,另類的設計作品。 Chopard蕭邦2017年的高級珠寶Silk Road系列也是首次使用鈦金屬,並利用其可呈現豐富顏色這一特性,將顏色各異的鈦金屬與彩色寶石相結合,突破傳統金屬材質的禁錮,製作出色彩極富戲劇張力的高級珠寶作品。 特性三:耐腐蝕不變色且抗過敏 鈦金屬外觀銀亮卻不會像傳統白銀一樣易變黑,在酸蝕性極強的王水中也不會被腐蝕,這種高度的耐腐蝕性使得其在佩戴時能終身保持本身的色調和良好的光澤。 鈦金屬具有很好的“親膚性”,不會與人體產生過敏反應,甚至被應用於醫學領域。對於皮膚過敏的人們來說,可以說是珠寶首飾的首選材質之一。 早在18世紀末鈦金屬就被發現了,但應用於珠寶製作中也是近幾年的事情。這主要是因為鈦金的加工技術要求很高,強度高而延展性差,熔點也高,因此用常規設備很難澆鑄成形,用普通工具又很難將它焊接起來,所以在珠寶製作中要求技藝太高,而形成生產規模更有相當大的難度。 隨著科技的不斷進步,像蕭邦,香奈兒等大家熟知的珠寶品牌以及一些出色的珠寶設計師品牌都開始逐漸掌握鈦金屬的複雜加工工藝。一定會在珠寶界有更廣闊的發展空間。 (2018年10月26日,資料來源:世界高級品)
【int’l】Tiffany To Disclose Origin of Diamonds, Increase Transparency
Tiffany & Co. has announced that, effective immediately, it will begin sharing with consumers the provenance (country of origin) of its diamonds weighing 0.18 cts. and up. This “Diamond Source Initiative”, which Tiffany’s calls “a significant step for diamond transparency,” will go further than current industry standards, and responds to increasing consumer demand to know…
想要買裸鑽嗎 先來看看他值不值錢
裸鑽,一種只聞其名但卻有很多人不知道是為何物的東西!裸鑽跟一般的鑽石到底差在哪裡?什麼樣的鑽石才是裸鑽呢? 首先,我們先了解裸鑽的定義。其實裸鑽就是指在原石的基礎上經過切割加工與打磨的鑽石,而這一類的鑽石還尚未鑲嵌。一顆裸鑽的品質如何就要從它的切工下手,沒錯!裸鑽最重要的就是切工,它能直接影響裸鑽的光芒,唯有精湛的切工才能將裸鑽的火彩襯托出來。簡言之,裸鑽就是一顆鑽石,這顆鑽石還沒有被放到戒托上。目前裸鑽的價格已經十分透明化,而裸鑽的價格也是以鑽石4C的標準來制定。 裸鑽保值嗎 在「物以稀為貴』的投資鐵律下, 「鑽石」作為全球公認的四大寶石之一,一直都是和黃金一樣作為一種「硬通貨」的存在。裸鑽每年的投資回報率一般與你所選擇的級別和克拉數有關,通常情況下在高回報率的區域年投資回報率最高可達15%;就算最低時,你也能收到1克拉級別一般的裸鑽為你帶來的1%的收益。而作為一種稀有的寶石,鑽石的儲藏量是有限的,隨着開採年限的增加,鑽石的儲量會越來越小,價格自然會穩步增長。除非發現了巨大的寶石級鑽石礦,影響了鑽石的供需,才會導致鑽石價格大幅變化。 鑽石適合長線投資,一般情況下持有5年之上變現更合適。因為鑽石的市場穩定性較好,不會急漲急跌,價格變化都是緩緩的。如果是第一次投資鑽石,那麼從1克拉開始入手是最好的選擇,不僅可以進行投資初體驗,還非常適合日常佩戴。 那種裸鑽比較有價值 隨著時間的增加,裸鑽的價格增長率也就越高,所以收藏價值也是非常好的。那麼我們該怎樣評價裸鑽的收藏價值?裸鑽價值由其自身的4C標準衡量。 1.質量 這是4C中唯一普通人也能輕鬆分辨的指標,鑽石的重量存在階梯效應,也就是說同品相的鑽石,1卡的比99分的貴的多。所以40-50分,80-100分這些重量都是較少有人買的。通常鑽石質量低於30分以下是沒有價值的,鑽石質量越重,裸鑽收藏價值也就越高。 2.顏色。 通常彩鑽比白鑽的價值高,就觀賞價值來說,彩鑽更加漂亮。而且彩鑽相對於白鑽的來說開採率低,市面上的來源較少,所以彩鑽比白鑽更具有收藏價值。 3.淨度 裸鑽的精度要達到VS以上才有收藏的價值,淨度越好,裸鑽的收藏價值也就越高。VS,SI都是不錯的選擇,性價比較高。不要光看GIA的圖,凈度是GIA評級時給出的主觀指標,假如一個VS1的鑽,圖上點比通常多,那麼一般是因為每個點都非常微弱幾乎不可見。 4.切工 具有收藏價值的裸鑽切工要達到特別好的級別。除了以上的四個因素,無熒光對裸鑽收藏價值也有較大的影響。熒光影響著裸鑽的火彩,它會使鑽石的品質降低失去了收藏的價值。 4C標準分別達到10克拉以上、VS級以上、E級以上、3EX的裸鑽很具有收藏價值。 (2018年10月3日,資料來源:世界高級品)
5 Essential Laboratory-Grown Diamond Truths
1. Laboratory-grown diamonds have essentially the same physical and chemical characteristics as natural diamonds, but they are not identical, and they are easily detected. Laboratory-grown diamonds are produced in two to three weeks using two different methods: high pressure high temperature (HPHT) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Each method leaves growth marks and telltale signs that…
【Int’l】Paul Zimnisky: 3 Themes That Will Likely Shape the Diamond Industry in 2019
Looking towards 2019, independent diamond industry analyst and consultant Paul Zimnisky, who covers the natural and the lab-created diamond industry, has identified three themes that will likely shape the diamond industry, exclusively for The Diamond Loupe. View the pdf verison here. The pricing power of lab-created diamond producers Even before De Beers announced that they would be…
【LGD Market】Lab-Grown Diamond Production Rises, but Prices Fall
Production of lab-grown diamonds has risen dramatically and will continue to do so, though their prices will likely continue to fall, said a new report from Bain & Co. The report, produced for the Antwerp World Diamond Centre, estimates current lab-grown gem production at 2 million cts. a year, with the majority of that under 0.18…
【Int’l】ALROSA’s Rough Diamond Sales Plunge in October
Russian diamond mining giant ALROSA reported a steep decline in rough diamond sales during the month of October, falling 28% year-over-year and 29% from September, but has still recorded 6% growth during the first ten months of the year. In October, ALROSA Group sold $243 million worth of rough diamonds compared with $326 million in October…
【Int’l】De Beers’ Diamond Production and Sales Take Step Back in Q3
De Beers’ rough diamond production declined by 5% to 8.7 million carats in the third quarter due to planned reductions in mining volumes in Botswana and South Africa, the miner announced today. In Botswana, production at the Jwaneng mine declined by 6% to 5.7 million carats due to the planned processing of lower grade material. Production…
【Int’l】World Diamond Industry in 2017
Record diamond output In July this year, the Kimberley Process once again published statistics on diamond mining and trade by the countries of the world in 2017. Last year, the same 23 countries were engaged in industrial diamond mining as in 2016 (Table 1). The table is based on the data of the Annual Global…
【Int’l】ALROSA’s Profit Rises 19% in H1 as Rough Prices Climb
Russian diamond mining giant ALROSA said its first half net profit rose by 19 percent year on year to $865 million (RUB 58.3 billion) as higher average prices for gem-quality stones helped offset a drop in the volume of sales. Revenue increased by 8% to $2.5 billion (RUB 168 bn) on the back of higher average…
