Jewellery Focus February 2018 | Page 18

MONTH IN REVIEW www.jewelleryfocus.co.uk DIAMONDS Gem Diamonds recovers ‘exceptional quality’ diamond The gem is colourless and categorised as type IIa. Gem Diamonds has recovered an 910-carat diamond from its Letšeng mine in Lesotho, South Africa. It is the largest diamond ever recovered from the mine and the fifth largest gem-quality diamond ever recovered by the company. Clifford Elphick, Gem Diamonds CEO, said: “Since Gem Diamonds acquired Letšeng in 2006, the mine has produced some of the world’s most remarkable diamonds, including the 603 carat Lesotho Promise, however, this exceptional top quality diamond is the largest to be mined to date and highlights the unsurpassed quality of the Letšeng mine. “This is a landmark recovery for all of Gem Diamonds’ stakeholders, including our employees, shareholders and the government of Lesotho, our partner in the Letšeng mine.” TOP 3 FROM THE WEBSITE 1. WB The Creative Jewellery Group sold to Heimerle + Meule 2. Cadfolio launches unique shaped wedding ring service 3. Luxury jewellery sales will be driven by “influence through emotion” in 2018 18 JEWELLERY FOCUS 1 2 ETHICS Weston Beamor reaffirms ‘Ethical Jewellery business of the Year’ title Each member of its team has completed a Fairtrade Gold Sales Ambassador Certificate of Accreditation. The ‘Ethical Jewellery Business of the Year’ award winner, Weston Beamor, has continued its good work with every member of its customer team becoming a Fairtrade Gold Sales Ambassador. Each member of the 12-strong customer facing team at Weston Beamor has successfully completed the Fairtrade Foundation’s online ‘Fairtrade Gold Sales Ambassador Certificate of Accreditation’. Completing this online sales training for jewellery professionals working with Fairtrade gold has ensured that Weston Beamor’s team understands fully the rules relating to Fairtrade gold and its provenance. Weston Beamor was one of the first UK manufacturing companies to be granted permission from the Fairtrade Foundation to manufacture in Fairtrade gold. Ed Hole, head of bespoke CAD and 3D Printing said making sure that the whole team gained this accreditation was important: “Manufacturing in Fairtrade gold is a consistent growth area for Weston Beamor. Our customers are seeing real interest amongst their ‘millennial’ consumers in the story behind their jewellery, material origins and ethics. “Having the whole team trained as ambassadors really helps our 3 4 5 6 7 8 understanding of Fairtrade gold and the difference it makes to the miners, their families and their communities, and will in turn benefit our customer service. Everyone has really enjoyed gaining their certification and we are all looking forward to passing on our knowledge to our clients.” This is a landmark recovery for all of Gem Diamonds’ stakeholders , including our employees, shareholders and the government of Lesotho, our partner in the Letšeng mine. Clifford Elphick, CEO, Gem Diamonds HALLMARKING Hallmarking figures drop by 7.4% for December Hallmarking fell by an average of 7.4% in December 2017 compared to the same period in the previous year, according to figures compiled by the Birmingham Assay Office. The average volume of gold hallmarked in December fell by 6.9% to 322,033 compared with 346,082 the previous year. Silver fell by the same percentage, while the volume of platinum also decreased by 7.2%. Palladium fell by 58% which took the articles from 7,187 to 3,015. Overall the volume fell from 781, 273 in December 2016 to 723,371 in December this year. February 2018 | jewelleryfocus.co.uk