Hopefully the problems we had with posting comments are fixed …(UPDATE: It looks like we are having them again; please stand by …) If you
are having problems, or want to contact me for anything else, my email is
rbates – at – jckonline.com. Wishing all my US readers a great Labor Day.

 

Here now the news …

 

 

Consumer confidence climbs
in August.

 

West Coast Jewelry Show cancelled.

 

LKI again files
an incomplete financial report.

What it’s like to receive
an IRS Patriot Act examination. Jewelers and manufacturers who aren’t up to
speed on this should definitely read.

 

De Beers class action: The
latest twist.

– DMIA submitted
amicus brief.

 

Gitanjali may acquire
Italian jewelry house.

 

Pandora IPO gets
closer.

– Company appoints
new board members.

 

Increasing rough prices “cause
for concern.”

 

August DTC sight estimated at
$450 million.

 

Harry Winston sales
up 62%.

– Shares surge.

– Earnings
call.

– Company examines cheaper
mining methods.

 

Russia may sell over $1 billion.

– … But not
yet.

 

Namdeb doubles first
half diamond production.

 

Zimbabwe: World’s most
important diamond producer?

– Who bought at recent
auction.

– Mining minister sued over sales.

– NGOs to
name new point person.

– KP mission divided over
press release.

– Zim ruling party now venturing
into cutting?

 

Argyle mine reaches
environmental milestone.

 

Rapaport lays out
“human rights standard.” 
(Also: See clarification
on last week’s post.)

 

Lest we forget:
Arms trafficker Victor Bout “sometimes took
payment in diamonds, bringing his own gemologist to assess the stones.”

 

Jewelers Closing:

McNarys
Jewelry in Washington, Penn.

 

New laws target
cadmium in jewelry.

 

Yitzhak Forem dies.
Very sad to hear.

 

Jeweler Howard Iseman dies at
93.

 

Jacky Roth appointed
to WDC board.

 

Jewelry
from “Glee.”

 

Media Watch:

– Fast Company
blogger likes Blue Nile. (Part
two.)

– Seattle
columnist doesn’t like the Bristol Bay mine.

– A (partial) defense of diamond buying psychology on Andrew
Sullivan’s blog. The debate continues here
and here
and here.
And includes a
nice plug. Have to admit I’ve never heard of “The Clarity Project” or the lab
it uses before, and I keep close tabs on this stuff. Sounds good though.

– Worthwhile post on the Kimberley Process in Global
Policy Journal.

– Forbes
profiles Ben Yep.

 

From JCK:
My article on
the “post cartel decade.”

 

From the Blog:

What
It’s Like to Receive an IRS Patriot Act Examination.

The
Latest Twist in the De Beers Class Action Saga.

West
Coast Jewelry Show Cancelled.

 

Have a great weekend ..

 

 

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