Desert diamonds bridal campaign solitaire ring.jpg

Pressing Matters

The Diamond Dudes Podcast Launches

Podcast: Desert Diamonds, World Diamond Day and the Sale of De Beers

Rough Times for Diamond Miners

Small collection of rough diamonds being sorted with tweezers.jpg

What's Dragging Down De Beers?

News In Brief

Kering’s jewelry sales grew 14% year on year to EUR 269 million in the first quarter, reaching a record level…

Angola’s rough diamond production grew 8% to 15.19 million carats in 2025, the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Petroleum and Gas reported…

US retail sales rose 7% year on year in March, marking a sixth consecutive month of growth, according to the National Retail Federation’s CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor…

The number of jewelers operating in the US fell 2.4% year on year to 21,949 in the first quarter, according to the Jewelers Board of Trade...

Anglo American’s sale of De Beers has entered its next phase, with three groups submitting revised bids ahead of the April 16 deadline...

LVMH reported watches and jewelry sales fell 2% year on year to EUR 2.44 billion ($2.88 billion) in the first quarter…

The Natural Diamond Council said the inaugural World Diamond Day on April 8 mobilized participants across more than 50 countries, generating a surge in global searches and social engagement around natural diamonds...

De Beers Group is expanding its Desert Diamonds campaign into the bridal category…

Full story here

Spotlight

The Diamond Dudes Podcast Launches

A New Podcast Bringing Expert Insight to the Global Diamond Industry Three veteran analysts unite to deliver sharp, monthly commentary on the issues shaping the diamond business April 16, 2026 — The Diamond Dudes , a monthly podcast featuring three of the sector’s most respected analysts, will release its first episode on Thursday, April 16, offering listeners timely insights, candid discussion, and expert perspective on the industry’s most pressing topics. The podcast

Rough Times for Diamond Miners

The diamond mining sector has come under pressure, not only as market conditions have weakened but as investors have grown more cautious about its prospects. It has become increasingly difficult for diamond mining companies to secure financing, with implications for the entire pipeline, as one member of The Diamond Press community wrote in an email. It’s an issue that has been building for some time and was arguably one of the more underreported stories of 2025. The mining

What’s Driving Signet Jewelers

Signet Jeweler’s latest results point to a business in transition rather than one simply returning to growth. Group revenue rose 2% to $6.81 billion and net profit increased five-fold to $294.4 million in the fiscal year ending January 31, but the improvement in earnings says as much about cost discipline and prior impairments as it does about underlying demand. The more meaningful story lies in the strategy initiated by CEO J.K. Symancyk, focused on sharpening brand position

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

Read all

Pressing Matters

Why Desert Diamonds Leans Into Bridal

The most significant development this past week is De Beers expanding its Desert Diamonds campaign into the bridal category. It’s a considered move as the company looks to stimulate demand across a broader range of goods. For some context, De Beers introduced Desert Diamonds last year, describing it as its first beacon concept in over a decade. A beacon is designed to spark industry-wide interest and consumer demand around a specific product category or idea, much like the

World Diamond Day: Reclaiming the Narrative

We all have a starting point in this industry. Mine goes back to age 11, on a school trip to Kimberley, where I was first introduced to the world of natural diamonds. In many ways, that excursion was a coming-of-age experience for me, one I’ve probably stretched into a better story over time, with a bit of embellishment thrown in. There were a few memorable moments. At one point I was left behind at a Boer War memorial, convinced I’d been abandoned and destined to become pa

Diavik Closure Signals End of an Era

In some sense, it was a historic week for the diamond industry, as Rio Tinto announced the closure of the Diavik mine in Canada. The significance of the announcement is threefold. First, it marks the end of a consistent source of supply. The mine was launched in 2003 and yielded around 153.8 million carats over its life, an average of about 6.8 million carats a year, though that settled closer to 4 million in recent years (see graph below). Second, it effectively comple

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

Read all

Videos

Desert Diamonds, World Diamond Day and the Sale of De Beers