February summary The LBMA Gold Price AM in US dollars (USD) fell by 4.7% and the Shanghai Gold Benchmark Price PM (SHAUPM) in renminbi (RMB) dropped 4% in the month1 China’s retail…
IN FOCUS
While 2020 marked the eleventh consecutive year of central bank net purchases, it nonetheless finished on a somewhat uncertain note. A slowdown in the pace of purchasing by several banks in the…
An interesting tuft of light blue needles was recently observed in a polished modified cube of rock crystal quartz (figure 1). The needles nucleated on a nearly invisible quartz crystal with the…
Recently the authors examined a 4.8 cm tall pale blue sapphire crystal (figure 1) that featured numerous purple spinel crystals up to 8 mm in size on the surface (figure 2), a…
Numerous gem materials have been designated “trapiche” in the trade and in various publications. They generally describe a pattern consisting of a fixed non-transparent star in a transparent matrix, with the arms…
Recently examined in the Carlsbad laboratory was a 26.72 ct transparent violet modified cushion mixed-cut stone (figure 1). Standard gemological testing revealed a refractive index of 1.583–1.592 and a specific gravity of…
A white, non-nacreous baroque pearl weighing 15.53 ct and measuring 19.54 × 13.26 × 11.57 mm (figure 1) was recently submitted to GIA’s Carlsbad laboratory for examination. Information from previously observed non-nacreous…
The diamond industry was optimistic in February as the US and China saw solid jewellery sales, the Rapaport group said in a press release. Polished trading was steady during the month, though…
Alrosa reported a 7% drop in revenue for the year 2020, at RUB 221.5 billion ($3 billion), as the Covid pandemic led to drop in demand for diamonds and compelled it to…
Amplified with an assortment of precious gemstones, pearls and polkis, jadau jewellery still retains a hold over today’s brides. Jadau jewellery is a perennial favourite of Indian brides for decades. Handcrafted with…