Independent Swiss manufacturer of luxury watches Raymond Weil is a brand worldwide known for its exclusive gold watches decorated with diamonds. The combination of traditional design with aesthetic elegance, the use of elaborate techniques and various materials, plus the high quality of goods made this watch brand very popular accross the markets of Europe, North and South America, Asia and Oceania. Alexander Laimer, Raymond Weil’s Country Manager for Europe, told us about the latest fashion trends in the watch industry.
TSX-listed Diamcor Mining, which recently completed expansion upgrades at its Krone-Endora project in South Africa as part of final preparations to commence 24/7 operations, is certain that the future is bright. Company president and chief executive Dean Taylor told Rough & Polished’s African Bureau Editor In Chief, Mathew Nyaungwa that the project was “very unique” due to the nature of the deposit and the low capital expenditure to production. He said Diamcor was currently targeting to reach an output of about 10,000 carats per month within 12 months. Output, Taylor said, was also expected to reach 250,000 carats per annum within a period of three years.
IDEX Online is a pioneer trading platform designed to change the way diamond transactions are made putting them on a technologically new footing. Besides, it features a namesake online news agency, IDEX Online, one of the most prominent sources of news and comments on events in the diamond industry. Its long time Editor in Chief Edahn Golan recently launched a new diamond research venture after serving in this quality for 12 years. In his interview with Rough&Polished, he shared his views on some of the problems in the diamond market, including round-tripping in India, rough and polished pricing, Kimberley Process and others.Lesotho is set to introduce a new law that will limit foreign mining firms’ ownership in local mines to 49 percent, while the remaining 51 percent will be reserved for natives (government included).
Diamond companies to be affected by this proposed law included Gem Diamonds, which owns 70 percent of the Letseng mine, and Namakwa Diamonds, which owns the majority of the Kao mine.
Gem’s flagship Letseng diamond mine had produced 57,116 carats during the first six months of the year ended June 2012.
It said the mine also achieved an average value of $2‚133 per carat during the first half of the year compared with $3‚052 realised a year earlier.
Namakwa on the other hand realised revenues of about $4.2 million from its third sale of Kao rough diamonds in Antwerp, with achieved prices 3.4 percent higher than initial management estimates.
However, with all the positive news coming from the diamond miners in Lesotho, the country’s new Prime Minister Tom Thabane said the gems were not being mined successfully in a manner that benefits the country, hence the move to review the ownership structure.
"We also have lots of diamonds, but are not doing so well," he said.
Thabane said that the proposed law would not affect the non-mining sector as was the case in Zimbabwe under its controversial indigenisation law.
“The localisation issues mentioned are in the mining sector — other sectors are not affected,” he was quoted by Businessday as saying.
"But it is still a debate. At the moment we do not think we will follow the status quo.”
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
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