Tycoon names blue diamond “Star of Josephine”
GENEVA (Reuters) – A Hong Kong property tycoon and collector who bought a flawless blue diamond for a record $9.5 million, has named it the “Star of Josephine,” auction house Sotheby’s said Wednesday.
Joseph Lau Luen-Hung made the winning bid last week by telephone for the diamond, which fetched the highest price per carat for any [...]
HK tycoon names blue diamond “Star of Josephine”
GENEVA (Reuters) – A Hong Kong property tycoon and collector who bought a flawless blue diamond for a record $9.5 million, has named it the “Star of Josephine,” auction house Sotheby’s said on Wednesday.
Joseph Lau Luen-Hung made the winning bid last week by telephone for the diamond, which fetched the highest price per carat for [...]
Rare blue diamond sells for record $9.5 million
By Stephanie Nebehay
GENEVA (Reuters) – A flawless vivid blue diamond weighing 7.03 carats sold Tuesday for a record 10.5 million Swiss francs ($9.49 million), the highest price paid per carat for any gemstone at auction, Sotheby’s said.
The rectangular-shaped blue stone, the rarest to enter the international market this year, went to an anonymous buyer bidding [...]
Rare blue diamond sells for record $9.5 million in Geneva
GENEVA (Reuters) – An internally flawless vivid blue diamond weighing 7.03 carats sold for a record 10.5 million Swiss francs ($9.49 million) including buyer’s commission at auction on Tuesday, Sotheby’s said.
The perfect stone, the rarest to enter the international market this year, was the centerpiece of its semi-annual sale in Geneva, conducted by David Bennett, [...]
UPDATE 2-Blue Nile beats, helped by lower diamond prices
* Q1 EPS 13 cents vs Street’s 10 cents
* Q1 sales down 11 pct
* Anticipates “further improvement” in sales in 2009
* Shares up 3 percent in light trade (Adds estimates, update shares)
SAN FRANCISCO, May 7 (Reuters) – Online jewelry retailer Blue Nile Inc’s (NILE.O) posted better-than-expected quarterly net profit [...]
UPDATE 2-Blue Nile beats, helped by lower diamond prices
* Q1 EPS 13 cents vs Street’s 10 cents
* Q1 sales down 11 pct
* Anticipates “further improvement” in sales in 2009
* Shares up 3 percent in light trade (Adds estimates, update shares)
SAN FRANCISCO, May 7 (Reuters) – Online jewelry retailer Blue Nile Inc’s (NILE.O) posted better-than-expected quarterly net profit [...]
Sierra Leone diamond miners go for gold
By Alexander Woollcombe
FREETOWN (Reuters) – Diamond mining in Sierra Leone, for years a symbol of the worst form of exploitation of Africa’s natural resources, is following a global economic trend with miners turning to gold.
Gold prices have risen as investors look to shelter from crashing financial markets in its safe glow, while cash-strapped consumers are [...]
Paramount sets “Diamond” with J.J. Abrams
By Jay A. Fernandez and Borys Kit
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – “The Untold Story of the World’s Biggest Diamond Heist,” a Wired magazine article by Joshua Davis, is on its way to the big screen.
Paramount Pictures has purchased film rights to the article, and J.J. Abrams (”Alias,” “Lost,” “Fringe”) will take on the project through [...]
Diamond industry likely to get smaller
By Philip Blenkinsop
ANTWERP, Belgium (Reuters) – It wouldn’t be fitting to mount a barrage of “sale” and “special offer” signs in the windows of jewelers crowded into Antwerp’s diamond square mile. But traders, cutters and retailers say business is terrible.
Just a handful of diamonds can be worth a fortune, so the diamond industry — centered [...]
Downturn, debt dull diamond sector sparkle
By Philip Blenkinsop
ANTWERP, Belgium (Reuters) – It wouldn’t be fitting to mount a barrage of “sale” and “special offer” signs in the windows of jewelers crowded into Antwerp’s diamond square mile. But traders, cutters and retailers say business is terrible.
Just a handful of diamonds can be worth a fortune, so the diamond industry — centered [...]