This week: Major defaults in Dubai and Israel. Hatton Garden safe company couldn’t be saved. Paris Hilton’s lost diamond ring returned. All below.
Alex and Ani going to Jared.
– Signet earnings call transcript.
– Charm brand deals with lawsuits.
Fine jewelry at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards.
How De Beers plans to “Seize the Day” with new diamond campaign.
– What Apple can teach our industry.
– Centurion: jewelry and the millennials.
– My thoughts: generic marketing (with an asterisk).
Bloomberg: Prices lowered 9 percent at De Beers sight.
– Diamonds.net: more like 10 percent.
– Edahn Golan: little relief for sightholders.
– Martin Rapaport: Prices must drop further.
– Anglo American has lost 80 percent of its stock value in five years.
– Quartz: How Botswana is hurt by diamond price drops.
Alrosa may lower diamond prices again.
– Edited earnings call transcript.
Avi Krawitz: There’s actually a diamond surplus.
Fletcher’s Jewelers parent files for Chapter 11.
– Three Romano’s Jewelers stores closing.
Two Israeli diamond companies collapse.
UAE jewelry chain defaults on $136 million.
– Seeks more time.
– Owner arrested.
– Now selling assets to repay massive debt.
The diamond industry’s summer of discontent and dishonesty.
– GIA to mass-screen melee, grow synthetics.
– Indian dealers urged to ditch credit, go with cash.
Belgium dealer allegedly defrauded Antwerp Diamond Bank.
Dealer being extradited over blood diamonds.
– Indian underworld boss dabbles in conflict diamonds.
– Danielle Max: Industry’s issues never end.
– Edahn Golan: Has De Beers uncovered Kimberley Process mistake?
U.S. imposes new Central African Republic sanctions.
Millions in diamonds vanish from “Russia’s Fort Knox.”
Four men plead guilty to Hatton Garden theft.
– Safe company hit by theft goes bankrupt.
Start-up targets diamond theft.
Another start-up offers new way to buy diamonds online.
Amazon infiltrating the luxury market.
Gilt opens brick-and-mortar store.
Net-a-Porter founder resigns.
– Why her departure matters.
– Did mag article seal her fate?
– WWD: Industry mulls future without her (subscription required).
Samsung’s smartwatch may beat Apple’s.
– Apple has sold more than one million watches in China, report says.
– Reporter ditches Apple Watch but misses some things.
Swatch’s reasoning for its Apple-sounding trademarks is patently absurd.
– Swatch CEO calls Apple Watch a “toy.”
Tiffany & Co. challenges Lazare Kaplan inscription patent.
Tiffany still paying for ebola crisis.
– Stock falls 14 percent in August.
– Last week’s earnings call transcript.
Can the Kimberley Process reform itself?
Billions lost in Uganda gold trade.
Zimbabwe urged to “beneficiate.”
– The tragic history of Marange.
KGK opens diamond factory in Botswana.
Gary Barnett still buying buildings on 47th Street.
Gert Hellmuth dies.
Marcel Pruwer no longer president of Antwerp bourse.
Erez Ackerman steps down as Panama Exchange president.
Former Apple exec joins LVMH.
Christopher J. Baldwin named president, COO of BJ’s Wholesale Club.
Deborah Finleon named NAJA associate director.
Asos CEO steps down.
Store Openings:
De Beers Diamond Jewelers in Paris
David Yurman settles suit against Sam’s Club.
Colin Powell to keynote AGS Conclave.
Hope Spinel being auctioned for first time in 98 years.
Rhode Island attorney general wants to resolve “breast milk jeweler” complaints.
Did Lenny Dykstra steal jewelry from Charlie Sheen’s ex–porn star fiancée?
Julianne Hough shows off engagement ring.
Paris Hilton lost diamond ring in Poland, but fireman returned it.
Jay-Z bought Beyoncé diamond-heeled shoes.
Media Watch:
– Time on the persistence of blood diamonds, how they enter the supply chain, and how to avoid buying them.
– CNN: With China crash, it’s time to buy diamonds.
– Same-sex marriage could make engagement ring market explode, says HuffPo.
From the Blog:
De Beers Invests in Generic Advertising (With an Asterisk)
The Diamond Industry’s Summer of Discontent and Dishonesty
Swatch’s Reasoning for Its Apple-Sounding Trademarks Is Patently Absurd
Have a great Labor Day weekend!
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