News: Mumbai IIJS show draws large crowds of local buyers. Asian buyers seeking rounds, 0.30-2.00 ct., G-I, VVS-VS at show. Continued weak U.S. market pushes Finlay into Chpt. 11 with debts above $500 mil. Signet 2Q sales -7.5% to $711 mil. Blue Nile 2Q sales -5% to $70M, profits -11% to $2.8M. Bulgari 1H sales -22% to $559 mil., net loss of $57 mil. vs. profit of $76 mil. Su-Raj 1Q sales +20% to $144 mil., net profits +20% to $139 mil. Sotheby’s 2Q revenues -48% to $167 mil., profits -87% to $12 mil. Japan June polished diamond imports -26% to $51 mil. ALROSA sells $150 mil. of rough in July.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

RAPAPORT INTERNATIONAL DIAMOND CONFERENCE - 2009
Sept. 10, New York Times Center – 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Conference Topic — "New Realities"

The New Economy and the Jewelry Industry
From Rough to Retail
   Des Kilalea, Royal Bank of Canada
   Christopher Ellis, Consensus Advisors

New Consumer Markets: The India Story
   C.K. Venkataraman, COO Tanishq - Titan Industries
   Mehul Choksi, Chairman Gitanjali Group

Riding the Wave of Change
   Martin Rapaport, Chairman Rapaport Group

The Big Stone Market: The 47th Street Perspective
   Ronald Friedman, Pres. DMIA
   Moshe Mosbacher, Pres. NY DDC
   And other leading NY diamantaires

Human Rights and the Diamond Industry: Panel Discussion
What can and should we do?

   Ian Smillie, DDI
   Eli Izhakoff, WDC 
   Cecilia Gardner, JVC
   Brad Brooks Rubin, U.S. State Dept.  
   Human Rights Watch

The conference will be held at the new
New York Times Center, 242 West 41 St.

Register now!
or call +1-702-893-9400, or email idc@diamonds.net.
Registration is $249
A VIP luncheon is available for an extra charge
Special hotel reservations available from the Hilton Times Square

--------------------------------------------------


RAPAPORT NY - POLISHED DIAMOND TENDER
August 17-20, 2009
By Appointment Only

Large selection of melee, rounds and fancies, -6.5 to 1ct+,
from promotional to very fine qualities. Excellent opportunity
for diamond and jewelry manufacturers specializing in
inexpensive diamonds.

Contact Myles Schakler at NYTender@diamonds.net
or +1-212-354-9800


-------------------------------------------------


Retail Quote:

"We did have sort of very strong May, June. July was sort of stable. And August it's already a very strong — seems to be a very strong month. There'll always going to be a birthday, there's always going to be an anniversary, and people always going to buy jewelry. I think, [the lending rate for gold and diamond trading,] even if it moves higher, I don't think we're going to have any problems. We can handle it."

Nic Cerrone
Owner of Cerrone Jewellers
Leichhardt, Australia



World News:

U.S. consumers again held their wallets tight in July. Overall, sales at chain stores fell 5 percent, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. Most of the big retailers that sell jewelry reported much weaker results in July. Dillards' same-store sales decreased 12 percent, and total sales were down 10 percent. JCPenney reported a 12.3 percent decline in same-store sales, and monthly sales dropped 11.4 percent. Macy's reported a fall in same-store sales of 10.7 percent, and total sales decreased 9.1 percent. Nordstrom's sales were down 11.1 percent, and same-store sales declined 6.6 percent. Saks registered a 16.3 percent drop in same-store sales and a 16.6 percent fall in total sales. Kohl's reported a very slight sales increase, up 0.4 percent, but same-store sales decreased 3.2 percent. Finlay, with listed debt between $500 million and $1 billion, filed chapter 11 protection, citing the prolonged slump in consumer spending as a major factor. Finlay plans to sell its assets at auction. Zale, which reports quarterly results later, warned shareholders it would take a $50 million charge for the quarter related to store closures and renegotiated leases at most of Finlay's Bailey Banks & Biddle properties.

Rapaport Weekly Broadcast

The retail slump continues in the U.S. as sales dropped again during their most recent reporting cycles. Many of the publicly traded diamond companies in India have also reported sales declines, but not all the news from there was negative — three Indian firms reported increases in their first-quarter revenue.

http://www.diamonds.net/News/NewsItem.aspx?ArticleID=27487


RETAIL & WHOLESALE:

Signet's second-quarter same-store sales dropped 5.3 percent, and total sales fell 7.5 percent to $711 million. Blue Nile's second-quarter sales fell 5.2 percent to $69.9 million, of which U.S. sales made up $62.8 million, down 4.3 percent. Profits fell 11 percent to $2.8 million. FUQI's second-quarter sales rose 51 percent to $100.8 million, driven by a 40 percent jump in wholesale revenue and a tenfold increase in retail sales, and income rose 88 percent to $9.9 million. First-half sales at luxury group PPR declined 4 percent to $13 billion, and net earnings were down 76 percent to $266 million. Sales in China and emerging markets proved robust, though, which helped to offset a slump in the U.S. and in Europe. Bulgari's sales decreased 22 percent to $559 million. It reported a loss in the first half of $57 million; one year ago Bulgari reported profits of $76 million.

Many of India's publicly listed diamond firms reported double-digit declines in sales. Classic Diamonds' sales dropped 28 percent to $25 million, and its profits fell 45 percent to just above $640,000. Shrenuj & Co.'s sales declined 20 percent to $32 million, and its net profits were down 26 percent to almost $682,000. Flawless Diamond's sales decreased 26 percent to $28 million, and its net profits dropped 30 percent to $1.1 million. Suashish Diamonds' sales rose 1 percent to $49 million, but its net profits fell 1 percent to $4 million. Bucking this trend of declines, Renaissance Jewellery's sales were up 52 percent to $19 million, and its profits grew sevenfold to $487,000. Su-Raj Diamonds' sales grew 20 percent to $144 million, but its profits decreased by 20 percent to $2.5 million.


WHO IS NEWS:

A New York judge told Jenny and Gemma Gucci that they cannot use their famous family name to sell or market products, saying they had not taken precautions to avoid infringing upon Gucci America trademarks. ALROSA appointed Yuri Konstantinovich Okoyomov as its vice president to lead the company's marketing and sales divisions. Louis Valentine, cofounder of GemFind and cocreator of the GemFind Networks, has resigned from the company, but he plans a new launch later this year. One of Canada's diamond mining stars, Eira Thomas, has joined the board of Lucara Diamond. Bill Boyajian, through his consulting firm, signed a deal with the American Gem Society (AGS) Labs. Former Circuit City executive George (Danny) Clark Jr. was appointed as Stuller's executive vice president of the supply chain division. Charles & Colvard appointed George Cattermole as its interim chief executive.


GENERAL:

Jewelers of America and Jewelry Information Center (JIC) are merging, pending approval from the state of New York. JIC will be the consumer public relations and marketing arm of Jewelers of America. JIC also launched a new interactive watch guide to assist consumers in the watch-buying experience. CIBJO now offers ruby and sapphire quality guides on its website in a printable single-sheet format. The guides complement the Colored Stone Blue Book. The International Gemological Institute (IGI) launched a same-day grading service, available for natural D-Z diamonds, which also includes the lab's security seal packaging upon request.


DIAMOND MINING:

The Kimberley Process reported that global diamond production rose 6.7 percent by value in 2008 to $12.7 billion. By volume, production fell 3 percent to 162.91 million carats. Mountain Province Diamonds raised $3.9 million in a private placement to fund general expenses and a feasibility study for the Gahcho Kue project. DiamondCorp's July tender of diamonds from the Lace mine achieved an average price of $108 per carat, an increase of 36 percent from its May sale. The company sold 506.56 carats of gem diamonds for $54,708. DiamonEx's plans to restructure under judicial managment of Botswana were put in jeopardy when its financial provider, the European Investment Bank (EIB), sued to terminate the process. Its Lerala diamond mine is under care and maintenance, supervised by a court-appointed judicial manager.


ECON WATCH:

For the week ending August 6, 2009

	Aug.6	July.30	Chng.
$1 = Euro	0.697	0.710	-0.013
$1 = Rupee	47.82	48.34	-0.5
$1 = Israel Shekel	3.92	3.78	0.14
$1 = Rand	8.06	7.82	0.24
$1 = Canadian Dollar	1.08	1.09	-0.01
Precious Metals
Gold	$963.40	$933.70	$29.70
Platinum	$1,261.00	$1,183.00	$78.00
Stock Indexes				Chng.
BSE	15,514.03	15,387.96	126.07	0.82%
Dow Jones Avg.	9,256.26	9,154.23	102.03	1.11%
FTSE	4,690.53	4,631.61	58.92	1.27%
Hang Seng	20,899.24	20,234.08	665.16	3.29%
S & P 500	997.08	986.73	10.35	1.05%
Yahoo! Jewelry Index	842.45	815.19	27.26	3.34%
USA
Birks & Mayors	$0.42	$0.40	$0.02	5.00%
Blue Nile	$51.39	$45.45	$5.94	13.07%
Charles & Colvard	$0.51	$0.39	$0.12	30.77%
DGSE Companies, Inc.	$0.82	$0.88	-$0.06	-6.82%
Fuqi International	$27.40	$22.95	$4.45	19.39%
JCPenney	$31.44	$29.41	$2.03	6.90%
Kohl's	$51.11	$49.35	$1.76	3.57%
Lazare Kaplan	$2.50	$2.50	$0.00	0.00%
LJ International	$2.54	$2.18	$0.36	16.41%
Macy's	$15.04	$13.60	$1.44	10.59%
Man Sang	$2.41	$2.30	$0.11	4.78%
Movado Group	$12.98	$14.55	-$1.57	-10.79%
Nordstrom	$28.03	$25.50	$2.53	9.92%
Saks	$5.34	$5.23	$0.11	2.10%
Signet	$20.49	$21.86	-$1.37	-6.27%
Sotheby's	$15.00	$14.91	$0.09	0.60%
Tiffany	$30.09	$29.75	$0.34	1.14%
Wal-Mart	$49.05	$49.96	-$0.91	-1.82%
Zale	$7.09	$5.56	$1.53	27.52%
EUROPE
Bulgari	€4.67	€4.00	€0.67	16.75%
Bijou Brigitte	€104.19	€99.61	€4.58	4.60%
Esa	€2.26	€2.65	-€0.39	-14.72%
LVMH	€63.64	€64.00	-€0.36	-0.56%
Pinault P-R SA	€80.28	€71.05	€9.23	12.99%
Richemont SA	CHF 26.10	CHF 26.70	-CHF 0.60	-2.25%
Swatch Group	CHF 200.60	CHF 198.30	CHF 2.30	1.16%
Theo Fennell (pence)	49.50	49.50	0.00	0.00%
INDIA (rupee)
Classic Diamond	17.75	16.15	1.60	9.91%
Gitanjali Gems	114.35	110.50	3.85	3.48%
Rajesh Exports	44.95	41.05	3.90	9.50%
Ren. Jewellery	40.95	40.10	0.85	2.12%
Su-Raj Diamonds	39.10	38.05	1.05	2.76%
Titan	1,189.85	1,211.35	-21.50	-1.77%
Zodiac JRD	16.75	16.05	0.70	4.36%
Suashish Diamonds	192.55	186.10	6.45	3.47%
NEW ZEALAND
Michael Hill	NZD 0.69	NZD 0.66	NZD 0.03	4.55%
MINING STOCKS
CANADA
Harry Winston	CAD 6.46	CAD 5.97	CAD 0.49	8.21%
Mountain Province	CAD 1.66	CAD 1.77	-CAD 0.11	-6.21%
Peregrine Diamonds	CAD 0.74	CAD 0.65	CAD 0.09	13.85%
Rockwell Diamonds	CAD 0.05	CAD 0.04	CAD 0.01	25.00%
Shore Gold	CAD 0.64	CAD 0.54	CAD 0.10	18.52%
Stornoway Diamond	CAD 0.12	CAD 0.12	CAD 0.00	-4.17%
True North Gems	CAD 0.13	CAD 0.13	CAD 0.00	0.00%
UK (pence)
African Diamonds	33.00	32.75	0.3	0.76%
BHP Billiton	1,574.00	1,576.00	-2.0	-0.13%
Firestone Diamonds	26.19	26.32	-0.1	-0.49%
Gem Diamonds	255.00	195.00	60.0	30.77%
Gemfields	6.18	7.00	-0.8	-11.71%
Mano River	7.75	6.53	1.2	18.68%
Mwana Africa	5.88	5.90	0.0	-0.34%
Namakwa Diamonds	36.50	36.50	0.0	0.00%
Petra Diamonds	32.44	33.75	-1.3	-3.88%
Rio Tinto plc	2,495.00	2,462.00	33.0	1.34%

INDIA MARKET REPORT:

POLISHED
Round
-1 point:	Good demand: +$300 whites & $250-$350 OWTTLB/ TTLC.
	Fair demand: $100-$250 whites.
-2 point:	Good demand: $325-$375 whites & $300-$350 OWTTLB/ TTLC.
	Fair demand: $100-$250 whites.
2-7 point:	Good demand: +$300 whites & $300-$400 OWTTLB/ TTLC.
	Fair demand: $100-$225 whites.
8-18 point:	Good demand: +$400 whites.
	Fair demand: $200-$350 whites; $350-$450 TTLC.
20 points:	Fair demand: +$600 whites.
25 points:	Fair demand: +$700 whites.
33 points:	Fair demand: +$900 whites.
50 points:	Good demand: $1000-$1500 & +$2000 whites.
	Fair demand: $300-$800 whites.
75 points:	Good demand: +$2000 whites.
1 carat+:	Very good demand: +$2000 whites.
	Good demand: $800-$1500 whites.
Princess
-3 point:	Good demand: $300-350 whites.
	Fair demand: $200-$275 whites.
+3 point:	Good demand: $350-$400 whites.
	Fair demand: $200-$300 whites.
+9-18 point:	Good demand: +14 pts $550-$600 whites.
20 point:	Fair demand: $700-$750 whites.
25 point:	Fair demand: $800-$850 whites.
50 point:	Good demand: $1600-$1,800 whites.
75 point:	Fair demand: $1,000-$1,200 whites.
1 carat+:	Good demand: +$1,500 whites.
Marquise
-6 point:	Good demand: $400-$500 whites.
	Fair demand: $250-$350 whites.
+7-18 point:	Good demand: $600-$700 & +14 pts $800-$850 whites.
	Fair demand: $250-$400 whites.
20 point:	Fair demand: $900-$1,000 whites.
25 point:	Fair demand: $1,100-$1,200 whites.
33 point:	Fair demand: $1,300-$1,500 whites.
50 point:	Fair demand: $1,600-$1,800 & $600-$700 whites.
75 point:	Fair demand: $1,100-$1,400 & $2,600-$2,800 whites.
1 carat+:	Good demand: $300-$600 & +$1,000 whites.
Tapers & Baguettes
	Good demand: $600-$800 +5mm whites. $250-$325
	2mm-2.5mm whites; $350-$400, 2.5mm-3mm whites;
	$400-$450 3mm-4mm, $500-$600 4mm –
	5mm & $175-$250 +2mm-3mm whites.
ROUGH
1-5 point:	Good demand: $85- $130 makeables; $100-$200 crystals.
	$35-$70 makeables.
	Fair demand: $7-$20 & $40-$80 OW TTLB & TTLC.
6-20 point:	Good demand: $150-220 crystals; $80-$180 makeables.
	Fair demand: $40-$50 clivage;
	Fair demand $50-$100 fancy shapes;
	$50-$90 OW TTLC & TTLB rounds.
21-50 point:	Good demand: $230-290 makeables; $100-$190 & $240-$320 crystals.
	Fair demand: $95-$200 rounds; $50- $90 clivage.
	Fair demand: $70-$180 fancy shapes;
	Fair demand $20-$40 OW TTLC & TTLB.
0.51-1.00 carat:	Good demand: $160-$320 makeables;
	$120-$240 & $270-$440 crystals.
	Fair demand: $70-$100 makeables; $40-$70 clivage;
	Fair demand $50-$100 fancy shapes;
	Fair demand $60-$90 OW TTLC & TTLB.
1.01-2.00 carat:	Good demand: $230-$600 rounds;
	$250-$700 crystals;
	Fair demand $140-$180 OW TTLC & TTLB.
	$90-$130 clivage; $170-$350 all fancy shapes.
2.01-3.00 carat:	Good demand: $250-$1,100 makeables; $350-$1,500 crystals
	Fair demand: $250-$325 clivage; $100-$325 flats & TTLC & TTLB
	$350-$800 OW & $400-$800 fancy shapes.
5.00 carat+:	Good demand: $1,000+ makeables, crystals & all fancy shapes till L color.
Mixed Lot:	Good demand: $2-$30.

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