RAPAPORT. Pandora has launched its first lab-grown jewelry line and pledged to cease using mined diamonds in any of the company’s pieces.
The Danish jeweler will introduce the collection, Pandora Brilliance, in the UK on May 6, before debuting it globally in 2022, it said Tuesday. Pandora believes offering synthetics will make its products more accessible to a wider audience looking for more affordable and sustainable diamond jewelry, it explained.
“Pandora continues its quest to make incredible jewelry available for more people,” said Pandora CEO Alexander Lacik. “[Pandora Brilliance] is a new collection of beautifully designed jewelry featuring lab-created diamonds. They are as much a symbol of innovation and progress as they are of enduring beauty and stand as a testament to our ongoing and ambitious sustainability agenda. Diamonds are not only forever, but for everyone.”
RAPAPORT. Hong Kong-based retail sales of jewelry and other hard-luxury items surged in March as Covid-19 restrictions eased and consumer sentiment improved.
Revenue from jewelry, watches, clocks and other valuable gifts rose 81% year on year to HKD 2.98 billion ($384 million) during the month, the municipality’s Census and Statistics Department reported Tuesday. Sales across all retail categories grew 20% to HKD 27.6 billion ($3.55 billion).
A favorable comparison with the same period in 2020, when businesses closed and tourism stopped, also contributed to the sharp jump in sales, a government spokesperson said.
However, while demand is improving, it is still well below the same period two years ago. Sales of jewelry and other luxury items slid 55% compared with March 2019.
RAPAPORT. Bonhams will offer a Kashmir sapphire and diamond ring at its New York sale this month, expecting it to fetch up to $480,000.
The ring, from the late 19th century, contains a cushion-shaped, 5.22-carat unheated sapphire set within a diamond frame. The piece will lead the May 19 auction, Bonhams said last week.
“Kashmir sapphires are among the most highly prized gems in the world due to their rarity, scarcity and beauty,” said Caroline Morrissey, head of jewels at Bonhams New York. “The blue tint of this.sapphire is piercingly bright, and beautifully set within a charming old European-cut frame of 10 exquisite diamonds.”
RAPAPORT. Pandora has increased its forecast for the full year amid strong US and online demand at the start of 2021.
The Danish jeweler now expects revenue for the year to increase more than 12% compared to 2020, adjusted from its initial prediction of more than 8%, it said Tuesday.
The upgrade is “driven by the US stimulus packages, as well as stronger underlying performance,” the company noted.
Revenue rose 8% year on year to DKK 4.5 billion ($725.7 million) in the first quarter, as sales in the US jumped 64% in local currency terms to DKK 1.39 billion ($224.3 million). Profit came to DKK 628 million ($101.3 million), compared to a loss of DKK 24 million ($3.9 million) the previous year. Online sales increased 136% compared with the same period of 2020 and more than 200% versus 2019.
RAPAPORT. A marquise-cut diamond from the family of the original “Gibson Girl” will go under the hammer at Skinner Auctioneers later this month.
The unmounted, 12.20-carat, G-color, SI1-clarity diamond came from the descendants of Irene Langhorne Gibson, who is thought to have modeled for husband and illustrator Charles Dana Gibson. The famed American artist created the Gibson Girl image, a personification of the feminine ideal that became popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Irene Gibson Emery, the daughter of Irene and Charles, received the stone from John Josiah Emery on their engagement in 1926, Skinner said Wednesday. The US auction house expects to sell it for $100,000 to $150,000 at its Important Jewelry sale on May 18 in Boston, Massachusetts.