RJC announces new board appointments at Moscow meeting

The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) has announced a series of senior appointments to its board of directors at its AGM in Moscow. David Bouffard, vice president of Signet corporate affairs, has been appointed the new RJC chair. Bouffard has been the chair of the RJC communications committee since 2015 and…

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Human error could cost businesses £17.5m as GDPR looms

With the arrival of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) businesses who mishandle personal data will leave themselves open to a fine of up to £17.5m. Research by information management company EDM Group found that 76% of UK businesses say a large amount of mail and communications are incorrectly allocated due…

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Global consumer demand for jewellery hits new record high of $82bn

Global consumer demand for diamond jewellery hit a new all-time high in 2017, climbing to US$82bn (£60.7bn), according to industry insight data published by De Beers Group. The US was the main driver for the overall 2% growth for the fourth consecutive year, where positive macroeconomics and strong consumer confidence…

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Online retail jumps 19% in April

UK online retail sales went from strength to strength in April, up 18.8% year-on-year (YoY) according to the latest figures. The IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index showed it was the highest YoY increase since November 2016, despite the dampening effect of Easter falling in March this year. There was a…

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Gold and platinum hallmarking sees double digit increase

The number of gold and platinum pieces hallmarked in April 2018 increased significantly by 12.1% and 10.9% respectively, according to figures compiled by the Birmingham Assay Office. However, the average volume of silver fell by 13.8% to 335,827 compared with 389,707, while palladium decreased by 21.6% to 5,513 hallmarked items.…

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Alrosa’s first quarter revenue and profits surge

Alrosa, the global leader in rough diamond production, has reported its revenue rose by 58% to £1.1bn driven by an improved product mix and higher average selling prices. The company’s rough diamond sales also grew by 43% to 13.4 million carats amid a production decrease of 26%. The growth was…

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World Gold Council releases 30-year outlook on gold industry

The World Gold Council has launched a one-off essay collection titled ‘Gold 2048’, which analyses how the gold market is set to evolve over the next 30 years. Contributions from authors such as George Magnus, senior economist, Rick Lacaille, global chief investment officer of State Street Global Advisors, and Michelle…

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The Farnese Blue Diamond sold for $6.7m at auction

The Farnese Blue, a 6.16-carat pear-shaped dark grey-blue diamond which has passed through the hands of four European royal families, has been sold at auction for $6.7m (£4.9m) The diamond hit the public market for the first time in over 300 years and was sold after four minutes of bidding…

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Mystery surrounds ownership of 57,227 UK companies

Around 57,227 British companies are still not complying with new measures brought in to counter fraud and money laundering, according to big data and anti-money laundering (AML) firm Fortytwo Data. The businesses are not yet compliant with new regulations which states they must declare those people with significant control (PSCs)…

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Phillips auctions historic white gold Omega wristwatch

Watch auction house Phillips has achieved a new world record for the highest result achieved for an Omega timepiece sold at auction. The auction house sold a white gold Omega watch formerly owned by American singer Elvis Presley, for a final result of $1.8m (£1.3m). The wristwatch had been gifted…

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