RAPAPORT. Alrosa’s sales jumped in April as manufacturers continued to restock amid rising demand for diamond jewelry in key markets.
Revenues from rough and polished diamonds climbed to $401 million for the month, compared with $15.6 million a year earlier, reflecting a favorable comparison with the peak of the coronavirus crisis last year. Sales also rose 12% versus March, the Russian miner reported Wednesday.
Alrosa has seen consistently high sales figures since late last year as markets reopened and demand for both rough and polished returned. Appetite for rough has withstood the recent Covid-19 wave in India, with buyers continuing to make purchases in anticipation of shortages.
RAPAPORT. Sotheby’s will open a retail store in its New York flagship gallery featuring over 5,000 luxury items, including fine jewelry, art, watches and handbags.
The Emporium is an extension of the auction house’s Buy Now online marketplace, which enables shoppers to purchase luxury items whenever they want, Sotheby’s said Monday. The site will offer items at different price points, and buyers will be able to purchase in-store or online.
“Over the past year we’ve seen enormous growth and transformation within the luxury landscape, as evidenced by the success of online auctions and the response to our Buy Now e-commerce platform,” said Josh Pullan, head of global luxury for Sotheby’s. “The Emporium presents a rich assortment of luxury lifestyle goods and fine art that clients can enjoy in person every day and buy instantly.”
RAPAPORT. HB Antwerp and Sarine Technologies have agreed to a partnership that will see the pair integrate their respective machinery throughout the diamond-manufacturing process.
Under the deal, Belgian manufacturer HB will use Sarine’s scanning and automated grading systems for the entire supply chain, from rough sourcing to the final polished. HB will pay Sarine based on the value of the polished outcome. The companies have also pledged to explore potential new technologies at HB’s research and development (R&D) center in Antwerp and at Sarine’s in Israel.
HB launched in 2019, promising to reform the market for large diamonds by matching supply more closely to demand. Last year, it committed to buying all of miner Lucara Diamond Corp.’s rough goods above 10.8 carats, and recently extended the arrangement through 2022.
$1,866/carat
Source: US Commerce Department data; Rapaport archives.
About the data: The US, the world’s largest diamond retail market, is a net importer of polished. As such,
net polished imports representing polished imports minus polished exports will usually be a positive number.
Net rough imports calculated as rough imports minus rough exports will also generally be in surplus. The nation has no operational diamond mines but has a manufacturing sector, so it normally ships more rough in than out. The net diamond account is total rough and polished imports minus total exports. It is the US’s diamond trade balance, and shows the added value the nation creates by importing and ultimately consuming diamonds.
RAPAPORT. Prices of fancy-color diamonds increased in the first quarter as the American market showed renewed demand for high-end products, according to the Fancy Color Research Foundation (FCRF).
The group’s Fancy Color Diamond Index gained 0.3% compared with the previous three months, the organization reported Thursday. Prices of blue fancy-color diamonds jumped 0.5%, while pinks increased 0.4%, outweighing a 0.2% decline in the yellow category.
“As the USA rebounds from Covid-19, we are witnessing an uplift in spirits, which in turn affects the demand for luxury goods,” said David Shara, founder and CEO of Optimum Diamonds, one of the companies that supplies pricing data to the FCRF. “We see now, and will see, a continuous rise in prices of fancy-color diamonds.”