The program of the recent visit of the wife of Japanese Prime Minister Akie Abe to Western Australia included an inspection of the legendary pink diamonds Argyle, produced by Rio Tinto. The First Lady of Japan visited the province of Australia at the invitation of the regional government.
A collection of pink Argyll diamonds prepared for the 2014 tender (2014 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender), consisting of almost 50 of the world's rarest and very valuable pink diamonds, was presented by Aki Abe within the exclusive display. These diamonds are made from the finest diamonds mined in the Argyll mine located in the East Kimberley region.
Aki Abe first saw the most valuable diamond in the collection - a fantasy bright pink with a purple shade of a diamond weighing 1.59 carats of emerald cut under the name of Argyle Toki ™. The name of this stone is associated with delicate pink feathers of a rare Japanese bird, symbolizing the importance of Japan as one of the largest export markets for rare pink diamonds.
Rio Tinto Diamonds Managing Director Jean-Marc Lieberherr said: "We are pleased to welcome Mrs. Abe and have shown her with pleasure these beautiful diamonds, highlighting the wealth of Australia and symbolizing long-standing ties with Japan."
The Japanese market for the past 30 years has been a major support for the development of Rio Tinto, dealing with pink diamonds. The phenomenon of addiction to pink diamonds appeared in Japan in the late 1980s, when Japanese jewelry designers began to actively use the pink Argyll diamonds in their products. Currently, Rio Tinto sells about 30% of the pink Argyll diamonds on the Japanese market, noting the high demand for all categories of these stones.
The vast majority of pink diamonds in the world are mined at the Argyle mine. The official presentation of the new collection 2014 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender will take place in August, then the diamonds will go on a world tour until October. About 150 collectors, connoisseurs and manufacturers of luxury jewelry have been invited to participate in the tender. Prices for these amazing diamonds can exceed $ 1 million per carat, so they are rightfully recognized as "the most concentrated form of value on earth."
This year is celebrated the 30th anniversary of the tenders of pink Argyll diamonds.

President of the World Jewelry Confederation (CIBJO) Gaetano Cavalieri addressed the high-level session of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in New York. In his presentation, he stressed the commitment of CIBJO and the international jewelry sector to assist the UN in achieving its development goals.
Cavalieri addressed the participants of the main annual meeting of the UN agency as head of the jewelry industry. The World Jewelry Confederation is the only organization from the jewelry industry with consultative status in ECOSOC, which it has enjoyed since 2006. CIBJO also became one of the few non-governmental organizations in consultative status invited to deliver a speech at the high-level session in 2014.
In his speech, Cavalieri reviewed the measures taken by the confederation to raise awareness among participants in the entire jewelry industry that they should provide opportunities for sustainable social development in countries and regions where the jewelery industry is developing.
"For almost 10 years, CIBJO and its participants around the world have not only integrated the Millennium Development Goals into their activities and put them on the agenda of every annual CIBJO congress, but also launched a practical awareness, education and training program to incorporate these goals into the operational activities of CIBJO members around the world, "- said the head of CIBJO.
Cavalieri stressed that the Confederation had entered into partnership agreements with other major organizations to support the Millennium Development Goals and to ensure compliance with UN human rights, as well as civil, labor and gender rights.
"Our partnership agreements promote the development of ethical awareness and responsibility, as well as mutual support between various organizations of civil society," said Gaetano Cavalieri.

The diamond brand Forevermark belonging to the De Beers Group plans to expand and enter the markets of the United Kingdom and Ireland by the end of the year.
Although Forevermark's global office is based in London, the United Kingdom and Ireland will be the first of the West European markets where Forevermark diamonds will be sold.
The brand already works in the markets of Asia, North America, the Middle East, Australia and Turkey.
Forevermark has appointed Crossworks Manufacturing as a licensed partner in the region, which will work with selected retailers to supply products to this regional market.
"Although the Forevermark brand is only six years old, it has already established itself as one of the leading diamond brands in the world. Forevermark products can be purchased at more than 1,300 elite retail stores in 29 countries, "said Forevermark CEO Stephen Lussier. "We are very pleased that the United Kingdom and Ireland will soon be among our markets."
According to Lussier, Forevermark brand gives retailers the opportunity to differentiate a unique range of solitaire diamonds from cheaper and online products from competitors. In all world markets, the Forevermark brand demonstrated its ability to attract customers, increase profit margins and solve consumer confidence issues related to synthetic diamonds, special diamond processing, responsible supplies and honesty in the evaluation of diamonds and diamonds.

Organized by UBM Media, the second Singapore Jewelery & Gem Fair will be held from 23 to 26 October 2014 at the Sands Expo and Convention Center, Rapaport reports.
UBM said that in 2013, 283 exhibitors and 8,739 visitors took part in the debut issue of the Singapore Jewelery & Gem Fair, and this year 300 exhibitors are expected to attend.
Singapore was chosen as a venue for this exhibition not by accident - UBM took into account a large number of high-income citizens living there, as well as a developed jewelry market.

Retail sales of jewelry and watches, as well as other luxury goods in Hong Kong in May 2014, fell by 24.6% year-on-year to $ 1.03 billion (7.944 billion Hong Kong dollars), Rapaport reports citing data from the Statistics Department Hong Kong (Census and Statistics Department).
At the same time, sales of jewelry, watches and valuable gifts in department stores jumped 20.5% to $ 37 million (HK $ 288 million). Total sales in this category fell by 22.7%.
In May, the total retail sales in Hong Kong reached $ 5 billion (39 billion Hong Kong dollars), down 4.1% over the same period last year. In addition, sales statistics for April 2014 were revised downward, so that sales showed a decline of 9.9%. Decrease in retail sales from the beginning of the year to May is estimated at 0.2%.
The government notes that the aggregate retail sales in May were negatively affected by weak demand for luxury goods and jewelry, which reflects a decrease in consumer activity of tourists. In the meantime, sales of goods targeting local residents grew, which indicated positive sentiments in the local market amid good employment figures.

The Council for Responsible Jewelery Council (RJC) will participate in the educational program at the Indian International Jewelery Show (India International Jewelery Show, IIJS). Within the framework of the program organized by the Gem and Jewelery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) and sponsored by Gemological Science International (GSI), a series of seminars will be held for four days with the participation of jewelery industry experts under the common name "Review seminar - innovation, providing growth" (Spectrum Seminar - Innovate to Grow).
The RJC session will be devoted to the topic "Gold - Conflict Minerals Legislation and its meaning in India". The seminar will start on Saturday July 19, and it will be led by the director for the development of standards RJC Fiona Solomon (Dr Fiona Solomon).
Solomon will talk about the verification of supply chains for compliance with US and EU legislation, as well as how this affects suppliers of gold jewelry in India.
"The Indian fast-developing jewelry manufacturing sector plays a crucial role in the world jewelry supply chain. I highly recommend visiting this seminar for representatives of Indian companies that export jewelry products to the EU and the US and want to have a clear idea of the current legislation on conflict minerals in these regions. India became the priority market for RJC in 2014. Our goal is to strengthen the support of participants in the local market, and training seminars presented by RJC members, in particular GSI, play an important role, "said Catherine Sproule, interim CEO of the board.
"GSI is a respected member of RJC, and we are very pleased to sponsor this event. As Winston Churchill put it, "responsibility is the price that we pay for power." We belong to a great industry, and perhaps no one can represent our values better than RJC, "said GSI CEO Mark Gershburg.
Currently, RJC has 50 members with headquarters in India, and 31 of them are certified members of the RJC.

Fiera di Vicenza President Matteo Marzotto and Fiora di Vicenza CEO Corrado Facco will be honored guests at the International Diamond Week in Israel scheduled for September 1 to 4, according to a press release received Rough & Polished.
The leaders of Fiera di Vicenza will seek new opportunities to strengthen the ties of the organizer of trade events with the members of the Israeli diamond industry. At the International Diamond Week, they will have a unique opportunity to meet and chat with hundreds of diamond traders who will be in the sales rooms of the Israeli Diamond Exchange (IDE).
Marzotto said that he was looking forward to the trip to the International Diamond Week. "There are long-standing and close ties between the Italian jewelry industry and the Israeli diamond community. I am sure that we will find much in common, and I want to discuss the possibilities of interaction between Fiera and IDE aimed at providing added value to members of the jewelry industry of both countries, "Marzotto said.
Fako noted that Fiera di Vicenza, one of the leading organizers of trade shows, is very interested in strengthening cooperation with the best representatives of the diamond industry, on whose behalf the IDE and the World Federation of Diamond Bourses act.
IDE President Shmuel Schnitzer said that the Italian jewelry industry, as the world leader in jewelry design, plays a leading role in the promotion of diamonds and diamond jewelry, and expressed readiness to discuss joint plans and cooperation. "

The Gem and Jewelery Export Promotion Council of India (GJEPC) announced plans to hold a 2014 Contest and the 2014 Award for Jewelers and Craftsmen (The Artisan Jewelery Design Awards).
GJEPC invites to participate in the competition of famous and young beginners from all over the country who can take advantage of the unique opportunity and present their creations for show. Applications are accepted until August 15, 2014. The award will be dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Indian cinema, and the ambassador of the brand of the Indian jewelry industry, the famous Sonam Kapoor, will take part in the ceremony.
The design contest will be held in four nominations: "Monochrome Era", "Golden Era", "Color Era" and "Avant-garde Era". Within each category, the designers will be shown 4 videos, on the basis of which they will make sketches of works of jewelry art for the first round of tests. Works will be evaluated by a jury consisting of veterans of the jewelry industry, such as fashion jewelry historian Usha Balakrishnan, editor of VOGUE in India Priya Tanna and Ashiesh Shah.
This award is designed to assess the skill, innovation and individuality of jewelry designers and encourage them to create new world-class jewelry.

Pure Grown Diamonds, one of the leading distributors of jewelery-quality diamonds grown in the lab, announced the production of a round brilliant diamond of K-grade SI1 purity, weighing 3 carats, marking this as its biggest achievement, the Diamond World portal reported.
Earlier, the company set records, creating an artificial emerald cut diamond weighing 1.29 carats in color E purity VVS2, as well as a cut stone "Princess" color G purity SI1, having a weight of 1.78 carats, as announced in November 2013.
"We are again celebrating the triumph of technology and innovation in growing diamonds," said Lisa Bissell, the new president and CEO of the company. "We are very pleased that we managed to beat our own records and release a diamond weighing three carats."
Pure Grown Diamonds was founded in 2013 under the name Gemesis Inc. The company is based in New York and is the main distributor of diamonds of jewelry quality type IIA grown in the laboratory and jewelry with colored and colorless diamonds.

Gemmological Association of Great Britain (Gemmological Association of Great Britain, Gem -A) together with the Swiss Gemmological Institute SSEF and American Gemological Laboratory (AGL) has published a new issue of its scientific publications - "Journal of Gemology» (Journal of Gemmology).
The new issue of the magazine (32nd on the bill and second in 2014), published on August 4, published the latest news and studies in the international gemological industry.
The magazine offers a diverse range of new articles, including those devoted to the following topics: a review of the evolution of diamond cutting in the jewelry industry in Portugal and the sacred objects of the 16th-18th centuries, by R. Galopim de Carvalho; the availability of corundum, obtained by the diffusion of beryllium in the Japanese market, and the estimation of beryllium in sapphire, of natural origin and by diffusion, by K. Emori, H. Kitawaki and M. Okano; the characteristic of collectible gems, including the 100-carat or more Jeremiahs (author CP Smith and taafeite from Myanmar (authors T. Leelawatanasuk, W. Atichat, Tay Thye Sun, B. Sriprasert and J. Jakkawanvibul), natural pearls from the Netherlands (authors D.S.
The magazine published materials relating to industry news, including a wide range of technologies, such as new devices for screening diamonds, Sarine Loupe, the latest news from the World Jewelery Confederation (CIBJO), the Council for Responsible Jewelry Practice and Gemological Laboratories, the 2nd edition of the Gemmology Handbook, help in working with applications to Hallmarks.
In addition, in the new issue of the magazine you can find the reports of the latest gemmological conferences, as well as a detailed list of upcoming meetings, exhibitions and other educational events that are important for the professional growth of readers.
Other sections of the journal of interest to practicing gemologists include " Practical Gemmology ", which tells how a simple polishing technique can lead to incorrect identification of spinel as a more valuable taafeite or sapphire, and " Notes on precious stones, " which describe some of the rare and unusual gems exhibited at the Tucson fairs, including natural diamond, in which the DiamondView device revealed a " synthetic " structure, a large pastel-green sapphire, corundum with colored impregnations and much more.
Reporting on the latest issue of the Journal of Gemmology, its editor-in-chief Brendan Laurs said: "We are pleased to offer the readers of the magazine such a diverse range of articles covering topics of diamonds, collectible stones and processed precious stones, natural pearls. This issue of the journal contains a lot of information and a huge amount of innovative materials that every gemologist can use. "