Kristall's Tender Nets $2M

Kristall Production Corporation's fourth tender of polished diamonds fetched $1.9 million and was 64 percent sold by lot, the company reported.

The company noted that the tender was held in Hong Kong and New York in order to achieve the widest coverage of its target audience as well as for the convenience of participants. Seventeen of the 26 companies who participated won lots.

Kristall, ALROSA Sign New Two-Year Supply Contract

Kristall Production Corporation and ALROSA signed a two-year agreement for rough diamond supplies on March 18 in Moscow that maintained the existing volume of monthly purchases. Kristall has been cooperating with ALROSA on its rough supplies since 1992.

''ALROSA has taken into account our requests in regard of providing the rough diamond assortment that corresponds to our market niche and is most efficient for manufacturing,'' said Maxim Shkadov, the general director of Kristall. ''The negotiation process has turned to be quite productive,and its results were satisfying for both the parties.''

Russia: Online-retail – Revolution Is Coming

During the past few years the Russian Internet-retail grew steadily by 30 – 40% every year. The last year was not an exception: the online trading volumes amounted to about 12 billion dollars. However, these indicators still do not exceed 2% of the total retail trade turnover in the country. Such level of penetration of electronic commerce in other civilized countries was 8 – 10 years ago, and in the countries with developing economies (Brazil, China) this indicator is now not less than 5%.

The main tasks of diamond industry according to Yakut diamond counsel

Nurgun Timofeev is one of the diamond production and sales organizers on the Yakut territory. Now he is occupied with the further development of this industry as the chairman of the Yakut Diamond Counsel of the Yakut President Administration. He gave the interview to the local mass media.

In 2012 the manufacture of jewelry with diamonds in the RF moved up 13.7%

As RosStat reports, in 2012 Russia increased the manufacture of jewelry with diamonds by13.7% compared with 2011 and produced 1.7 million pieces.

In December 2012 the manufacture of such items increased by 14.5% in comparison with December 2011 and decreased by 3.6% compared with November 2012.

The manufacture of wedding rings in January – December 2012 increased by 1.0% and is 741 thousand pieces.

Yakutian diamonds fest

Top diamond firms from Russian Siberian region Sakha-Yakutia such as ‘Yakutian Diamond Co., EPL Diamonds, Nyurba processing factory, ‘Brilliant`s Yakutia’ participated joint diamond jewelry presentation in Moscow on Nov. 24. It was a part of special event at 380 yeas of free joining of Sakha-Yakutia and Russian Federation. There were top officials of the region, for example president of Sakha-Yakutia Mr. Egor Borisov.

Alrosa Does Not Expect Growth in Sales or Production this year or Next

Alrosa does not expect an increase in revenues from diamonds in 2013, forecasting sales of $4.5 billion worth of diamonds, similar to its guidance for 2012.

The Russian diamond monopoly said it expects stable demand and supply in the first quarter of 2013, with a moderate growth.

According to a company statement from this morning (Monday), Alrosa plans to produce 34.5 million carats in 2013, in line with expected production this year.

Alrosa: We Have 631 Million Carat Diamond Reserves

Russian diamond miner Alrosa reports it has diamond reserves of 630.6 million carats. The figure includes both proven and probable reserves in Russia.

Alrosa, the world's largest diamond producer by volume, published on Wednesday the results of an audit of its mineral reserves and resources. Alrosa said its JORC-compliant reserves have an average grade of 1.31 carats per ton.

Gemfields Values Faberge Buyout at $142M

Gemfields plc moved to acquire Fabergé Limited in an all share deal and as part of a larger plan of increasing its colored stone market share. If Fabergé investors approve of the acquisition, the deal would provide Gemfields with direct control over a high-end luxury goods platform coupled with brand heritage.

Gemfields proposed issuing 214 million new ordinary shares for the company, representing approximately 39.6 percent of the enlarged issued share capital, which values Fabergé at approximately $142 million (GBP 89 million), on the basis of a 30-day volume weighted share price and $133 million on the basis of the price of ordinary shares at market close on November 20. Assuming the merger completes in early 2013, Fabergé is expected to have at least $10 million in cash and no debt, Gemfields stated.

The Great Imperial Crown – the masterpiece of the russian jewellery art presented in Moscow

The guests of the presentation gathered in one of Moscow’s restaurants have become witnesses of a literally historical event: for the first time in its 250-years history, the new Great Imperial Crown was created and presented to the public. The original was created for the coronation of Ekaterina II the Great, and the new jewellery marvel in many respects exceeds it by the characteristics: contemporary technologies made it possible to create a real masterpiece of the art of jewellery.

Chow Tai Fook and Alrosa Sign Long-Term Rough Supply Agreement

Russian diamond miner Alrosa has signed a two-year agreement to supply rough diamonds to Chinese jewelry manufacturer Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group.

At the official signing in Moscow on November 13, Chow Tai Fook executive director Conroy Cheng said, “The greatest challenge for all diamond industry players is the scarcity of authentic natural diamonds. The agreement with Alrosa enables us to secure more reliable supplies of rough diamonds, particularly those specifications that are in greatest demand from our customers.”

Russian Retailers Seek Indian Imports Despite High Tariff Barriers

Russian jewelry retailers are keen to import Indian-made product despite the high 42 percent import tariff barrier. The price points that Indian-manufactured jewelry is being offered at are “very acceptable” to the Russian retail fraternity.

This was stated by Indian and Russian participants in the second Indo-Russian Jewellery Summit, a one-on-one buyer-seller networking event organized by the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC). The four-day event featured two days of meetings and two days of factory visits which offered Russian participants the opportunity to assess the manufacturing capabilities of potential suppliers.

Kristall Announces Third Polished Tender

Russia’s state-owned Kristall Production Corporation has announced that it will hold its third polished diamond tender in Moscow November 12-23.

Prospective participants are required to register with the tender coordinator before November 9.

The company said that the continuance of tenders was part of “efforts to provide a wider range of services to clients”. The tender will offer

Russia Import Barriers May Linger: Moscow Bourse President

Russia’s entry into the World Trade Organization at the beginning of this year did not automatically mean that the country’s high tariff barriers to gems and jewelry imports would go down anytime soon.

Alex Popov, President of the Moscow Diamond Bourse, said that while the bourse had been strongly lobbying the government for either abolition or at least a reduction in customs duty, “the actual reduction could even take many years.”

Event Offers Russian Retailers Production Outsourcing Options in India

The second Indo-Russian jewelry ‘summit’ kicked off in Mumbai on Monday. A buyer-seller networking platform, the event features one-to-one interactions between 12 Russian distributors and retailers with access to 5,000 retail outlets in Russia and former Soviet-bloc countries, and 15 Indian jewelry manufacturers.