By Thomas Biesheuvel
Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) — Petra Diamonds Ltd., a miner of the stones in Africa, said it unearthed a gem the size of a chicken egg at the Cullinan mine that may be among the 20 largest “high quality” rough diamonds discovered.
“Initial indications are that it is of exceptional color and clarity, which suggest extraordinary potential for its polished yield,” Chief Executive Officer Johan Dippenaar said in a statement today.
The 507.6-carat stone, weighing more than 100 grams (3.53 ounces), may sell for more than $20 million, Brock Salier, an analyst at Ambrian Partners Ltd. in London, wrote in a note. “That would probably be a guide,” Dippenaar said, when asked about the estimate on a conference call. “We certainly hope it’s not that little.”
The world’s biggest certified diamond is the 3,106-carat Cullinan, found at the mine near Pretoria, South Africa in 1905. It was cut to form the Great Star of Africa and the Lesser Star of Africa, set in the Crown Jewels of Britain. Petra sold a 7.03-carat blue diamond, cut from a 26.58-carat rough stone found at the mine, for $9.48 million in May.
Petra rose 5 pence, or 7.9 percent, to 68 pence in London after it unveiled the latest find, which spokeswoman Cathy Roberts said was the size of a medium chicken egg. The stock has more than doubled in the past six months.
St. Helier, Jersey-based Petra also found three other “special” white stones weighing 168 carats, 58.50 carats and 53.30 carats, it said. A carat equals 0.2 gram. The three stones may fetch more than $10 million, according to Salier.
Reports Loss
Rough diamond prices are rebounding after falling as much as 65 percent from September last year to March, according to Ambrian, as the global economic slump slashed demand for luxury goods. Petra today reported its full-year loss widened to $90.9 million after the price slump and as it wrote down the value of some mines and exited exploration projects in the first half.
The figure compares with a $7.2 million loss a year earlier. Sales slipped 10 percent to $69.3 million.
“We remain cautiously optimistic that we have seen a bottom of the market,” Petra said in a statement. Diamonds are still selling at prices 30 percent to 35 percent lower than averages achieved for the year though June 2008, it added.
De Beers, the world’s largest supplier, has restarted operations in Botswana and Namibia after cutting first-half output by 73 percent. ZAO Alrosa, the Russian state-run diamond monopoly, resumed sales in May as demand improved.
Archive for September, 2009
Petra Unearths Diamond the Size of a Chicken Egg
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009The Day My World Changed (September 6th, 2005)
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009The Day Before
My father and I were going to New York to have ametting with the manager of DCI New York to see why clients were experiencing unusual delays on the processing of their orders. The meeting should have lasted only thirty minutes…it lasted nine hours.
September 6, 2005
The meeting was at our offices at 579 Fifth Avenue scheduled for 9:00am. We had the whole day for the meeting and whatever (shopping and eating) becuase we weren’t flying back until Wednesday, September 7. I had no idea when I walked into the office my life was going to forever change!
The Meeting
We exchange pleasantries for a while and then I got to the
point of the meeting.
Me: ‘Neil, as you know DCI New York is falling a little behind
in filling all the orders, and we just want to see what’s up?’
(I wanted to say ‘What’s up like the Budweiser commercials but
realized it was a little lame to use a 7 year old bit regardless
of how much I personally loved to say Wazzzzzup?!’).
Long Dramatic Pause’¦’¦.
Neil: ‘Fred, do you know how for 20 years you’ve been telling
people to buy shy?’
Me: ‘Ah huh.’
Neil: ‘Well, they did. And now they’re all gone —
the good quality ones.’
Me: ‘What do you mean they’re all gone?!’
Neil: ‘They are all gone! All the shy stones (.45 ‘” .49 ct,
.65 – .69 ct, 1.45 ‘” 1.49 ct, 1.85 ‘” 1.95 ct, 2.85 ct ‘” 2.95 ct)
are gone, and it’s not only those. All the full sizes over 3
carats are gone. The rough to cut 1.25 ct and 1.75 ct box
radiants are gone. The rough to cut 65/65 princesses in any
size are gone. The 65/65 Asschers are gone! Fred, they’re all gone!’
The conversation proceeded from there. For 9 hours, we tackled many questions. What rough was still available to fill current and future orders? What type of rationing was needed to stretch the current supply of ‘fulls’? A full is a hard weight diamond .50 ct, .75 ct, 1.0 ct, 1.50 ct, 2.0 ct, and rough to cut full sizes was still available. Important note: When I tell you, the reader, that the world is running out of diamonds, again, I am only referring to the good diamonds, not the commercial grade stuff
that consolidators like Costco, Sam’s, Blue Nile, Zales, Bailey Banks & Biddle, Mondera, or Dirt Cheap Diamonds sell. There is no shortage, nor will there ever be a shortage of commercial grade diamonds.
Everyone defines a ‘good’ diamond as a diamond that holds or appreciates in value over time when you try to sell it. Commercial grade diamonds, on the secondary market, sell for only a small fraction of what you paid. That is also the case now for the fancy shapes (pear, marquise, emerald cut, asscher, oval, heart, trilliant, baguette), and melee. They have little or no secondary market value. The three shapes that will hold their value and/or appreciate over time are round, box radiant, and standard radiant. The top price you’ll see for any commercial grade, fancy shaped, or melee diamonds will rarely be a penny more than 19.7% of the original dollar spent. While a good diamond (white, eye clean, Class 1 or 2, non-fluorescent, natural, fully bonded) will always bring you even money (100% of what you paid) as long as the vendor you bought it from stays in business. Even if they don’t, you’ll at least get 40-45% of what you paid as dump value (the average is 60%) or 80-85% on the secondary market to an end consumer who is not looking to flip the rock. There is no question, if you are going buy a diamond, it makes no sense purchasing a crummy one with bogus ‘certificates’ that don’t guarantee you anything. It leaves you holding a piece gravel if you ever want to part with your rock.
Anyway, this is what the market (world) is dealing with. Good diamonds in entire categories are extinct except the onesies and twosies, and what is left could be gone as early as 2010.
Related Article: Bonded Jewelers
Smithsonian Offers Public Rare View of the Hope Diamond
Friday, September 25th, 2009By Jacqueline Trescott
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 23, 2009; 3:17 PM
The famous blue stone now stands alone.
This morning, for the first time in its 50-year residence at the Smithsonian Institution, the Hope Diamond was taken out of its setting, giving the public a rare look at its bare beauty.
The famous blue gem now rests on a discreet bracket in a custom-made display case and vault. The public got its first look at the naked stone at 10 a.m. in the Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals at the National Museum of Natural History.
At a morning press conference, with the doors locked and security personnel glaring, a jeweler wheeled a trolley out from a workroom. Atop it was the Hope Diamond covered with a white cloth; the cloth was taken off with a flourish by museum director Cristián Samper. “This is a new chapter in the history of the Hope Diamond,” said Samper, facing a lineup of camera crews. “We wanted to celebrate this legacy by giving people a look at the Hope Diamond in a new way.”
The 45.52-carat gem, which was donated to the Smithsonian on Nov. 10, 1958, by the firm of Harry Winston Inc., has been one of the most visited objects at the Smithsonian. More than 5 million people a year peer into its enclosure. “This is the world’s most famous gemstone,” said Jeffrey Post, the curator of the gem and mineral collection.
To observe its 50th year at the museum, the Smithsonian Channel is producing a documentary called “Mystery of the Hope Diamond.” In addition, the show’s producers sponsored an online contest to select a new temporary setting for the gem from among three patterns proposed by the Winston firm.
The winner of this unique publicity gimmick — as if the diamond needed more notoriety — was also announced this morning. Members of the public — or at least 45,000 of the 100,000 who cast votes — chose a setting called “Embracing Hope.” It is a necklace of a ribbon of diamonds with the Hope sitting in a cluster of diamonds in a teardrop shape. The Hope will be displayed briefly in its temporary setting next spring, the museum said. The diamond will be returned to its original setting, a pendant circled by diamonds, on a diamond necklace.
Participating in the documentary and seeing the gem out of its setting is giving the Smithsonian’s staff new opportunities to study the stone. “Because blue diamonds are so rare, you don’t get a chance to examine them,” said Post. “This is a unique product of the Earth and by studying it we can learn more about all diamonds.”
The diamond has had an unusual history. Mined in India, it was sold to King Louis XIV of France in 1668. After several owners, it was purchased in 1911 by Evalyn Walsh McLean, who was a prominent hostess in Washington. She owned it until her death in 1947 the Winston firm bought her entire jewelry collection in 1949.
Throughout its history, the diamond has also been associated with a so-called curse. “It has brought us good luck in the last 50 years,” joked Samper.
After the unveiling of the bare stone, the diamond was taken back to a secure room until the display area was cleared of cameras, press and staff.
