Pressing Matters

Why Retail Growth Isn’t Lifting Diamonds

Podcast: Is the Diamond Industry Overregulated?

Small collection of rough diamonds being sorted with tweezers.jpg

What's Dragging Down De Beers?

Botswana's Diamond Glut

News In Brief

Mountain Province Diamonds extended the maturity of its $40 million term loan and $33 million working capital facility to April 30, as it seeks to manage liquidity pressures…

The National Retail Federation projected US retail sales will rise 4.4% to $5.6 trillion in 2026, despite ongoing geopolitical uncertainty…

S&P Global lowered Botswana’s credit rating to BBB-/A-3 with a negative outlook, citing structural weakness in global diamond demand…

Boucheron opened a new flagship store in China, marking a further step in its global expansion, the brand said…

Signet Jewelers reported sales rose 2% to $6.81 billion in the fiscal year ended January 31. The company said it will discontinue the James Allen website, repositioning the brand as a proprietary collection within Blue Nile…

Sotheby’s will offer the Jwaneng 28.88 diamond at its Hong Kong sale on April 28 in partnership with De Beers, the auction house announced...

Gem Diamonds reported revenue fell 36% to $98.4 million in 2025, as carats sold declined 20% and the average price dropped 21%...

Full story here

Spotlight

The Diamond Disconnect

The contrast between the performance of the retail jewelry sector and diamond mining revealed in the recent round of earnings is striking. At retail, Watches of Switzerland said its Roberto Coin business delivered an excellent US holiday season. Swatch Group noted that Harry Winston had a record month in December, while Birks Group reported comparable-store sales grew 2.5% over the November–December period. The momentum carried into January. The Edge Retail Academy estima

Calm After the Tariff Storm

The diamond industry breathed a collective sigh of relief after the US and India reached a trade deal that will eliminate import duties on India-sourced diamonds and gemstones. By way of recap, in September President Trump imposed a 25% reciprocal tariff, followed by an additional 25% penalty on all Indian imports, aimed at pressuring India to halt purchases of Russian oil. The impact was immediate and severe. India’s diamond trade was put at a massive disadvantage, with go

India Must Follow Antwerp’s Diamond Playbook

The recent trade deal between the EU and India laid bare the differing approaches to the diamond trade taken by two of the industry’s largest centers. Once again, Antwerp leveraged its position to secure favorable terms in the negotiations. Under the agreement, India reduced its tariff on imports of natural polished diamonds from the European Union to 2.5%, down from 5.5%. “This tariff reduction is the result of intensive lobbying efforts by the Antwerp World Diamond Cent

10 Predictions for the Diamond Industry in 2026

The diamond market enters 2026 in a state of flux after three punishing years from 2023 to 2025, with sustained pressure across mining, manufacturing, and retail. It does not take a futurist to see that many of the forces behind the downturn remain firmly in place. The question now is how those dynamics evolve as the industry searches for greater stability. To open the year, The Diamond Press sets out 10 developments and themes that are set to define the diamond trade in

Tough Love for Botswana

At last, someone has advised the Botswana government not to raise its stake in De Beers. As Anglo American prepares to divest from its 85% share in the diamond company, Botswana has signaled its interest in buying some or all of that stake, adding to the 15% it already owns. Until now, it seems that most of those with the president’s ear have entertained the notion that increasing the government’s stake in De Beers is a good idea. Yet Botswana is heading for its third str

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Pressing Matters

A Diamond Market Divided, Not Down

There has been a trickle of positive news from the diamond market, suggesting stabilization, or even a recovery, may be taking hold. Alrosa made that case in its latest press release , arguing that a tightening in supply is reversing the downward trend in rough and polished prices seen over the past few years. That’s a bold claim, and even by Alrosa’s own admission it applies mainly to the higher-priced segment, particularly goods in the 2-carat to 10-carat range. That se

The Diamond Differentiation Challenge

This blog first appeared in the March 16 Pressing Matters Executive Memo. Read the full memo here, Pressing Matters . Another week, another report highlighting the disruption lab-grown is having on natural diamonds. This time the data comes from jewelry insurance provider BriteCo, whose findings echo trends we’ve seen in reports from Tenoris, The Edge Retail Academy, The Knot and others, even if each arrives at different market share estimates and average price points. Brit

War with Iran, Oil at $100 and What It Means for the Diamond Market

This blog first appeared in the March 9 Pressing Matters Executive Memo. Read the full memo here, Pressing Matters . It’s been quite a week in the world. The situation in the Middle East raises the question of how the war with Iran might affect the diamond market, beyond the disruption to trading in Dubai and Ramat Gan, the two centers directly impacted by Iran’s attacks. Those interruptions are unlikely to upset the immediate diamond supply-demand dynamic. Rather, the broa

Diamond Overregulation and the Rough Market Divide

This blog first appeared in the March 2 Pressing Matters Executive Memo. Read the full memo here, Pressing Matters . Last week's Diamond Debate examined the question if the diamond industry overregulated. My opponent, Feriel Zerouki, president of the World Diamond Council, kicked off the conversation by listing a series of disclosure requirements involved in diamond trading. It’s worth considering these details as you reflect on the topic. For a small parcel of natural diam

What's Dragging Down De Beers?

This blog first appeared in the February 23 Pressing Matters Executive Memo. Read the full memo here, Pressing Matters . Where else can we start but with De Beers’ earnings, published on Friday. The headline you’ve likely seen by now is that Anglo American wrote down the value of its diamond unit by $2.3 billion, bringing it to $2.3 billion. In the context of its ongoing effort to sell its 85% stake, that’s a damning assessment of De Beers, of Anglo’s stewardship, and of the

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