John Jeffay

1 week ago | idexonline.com | John Jeffay

(IDEX Online) - Seven men have been indicted over what prosecutors say is "the largest jewelry heist in US history" - the theft in July 2022 of goods worth $100m from a Brink's security van. One guard had reportedly gone for food and the other was asleep in the front of the truck at the time. They'd pulled into at a rest stop  at Lebec, 75 miles north of downtown Los Angeles, at 2am.

1 week ago | idexonline.com | John Jeffay

(IDEX Online)  - Belgium's HRD lab says it will no longer grade lab grown diamonds. It wants to create what it calls a "clear distinction between natural and synthetic diamonds". HRD, a subsidiary of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), says it is the first lab to stop lab grown certification, although it will still issue certificates for jewelry containing lab growns.

1 week ago | idexonline.com | John Jeffay

(IDEX Online) - The historic 10.38-carat Marie-Therese pink diamond smashed its pre-sale estimate and sold for a record $14m at Christie's New York yesterday (17 June). The kite-shaped fancy purple-pink diamond was expected to fetch $3m to $5m. It may have belonged to Marie Antoinette, the last queen of France, and to have been entrusted to her faithful coiffeur on the eve of her failed escape from Paris in 1791.

1 week ago | idexonline.com | John Jeffay

(IDEX Online) - The Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) is operating in "emergency mode" and will do so until further notice as a result of ongoing security concerns. Ballistic missiles from Iran have struck Ramat Gan (where IDE is located), nearby Tel Aviv and many other targets since Israel launched a pre-emptive attack on the Iran's nuclear facilities. The trading floor is closed and only "essential" services in the bourse's four interlinked towers are open.

1 week ago | idexonline.com | John Jeffay

(IDEX Online) - Belgian tech company iTraceiT is developing a user-friendly traceability app for artisanal diamond miners. It says small-scale producers, often overlooked by other traceability solutions, will be able to add their stones to the blockchain to document their provenance. "Our mission at iTraceiT has always been to make traceability accessible to every link in the chain—from multinationals to micro-producers," said Frederik Degryse (pictured), the company's CEO.