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Alrosa Plans to Dominate Colored-Diamond Market
Jul 15, 2018 9:44 AM
By Leah Meirovich
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RAPAPORT... Alrosa is planning to become the world’s largest producer of
polished colored diamonds, with the entire mine-to-customer process handled
in-house.
“We think we will be able to integrate into this segment and
even dominate it,” a company spokesperson told Rapaport News Sunday. “As
Alrosa is the largest diamond miner, it is reasonable to expect today [that] we
are the largest miner of colored rough diamonds as well.”
While polishing is currently only a small part of its
business, the Russia-based miner launched this division several years ago. Last
year, the company began focusing intensively on cutting unusual diamonds.
“We have enough experience to work with colored stones,” the
spokesperson added. “We have a very strong cutting division, rich traditions
and unique masters who still remember what a real Russian cut is.”
Alrosa is currently working on cutting and polishing a large
assortment of colored diamonds from its mines, including yellow,
turquoise, purple and pink stones. The miner will debut the collection in
September at the Hong Kong Gem & Jewellery Fair, after which the stones
will go up for auction.
One of Alrosa’s most prominent colored diamonds is a
27.85-carat pink stone (pictured), which it recovered last year. The
nearly inclusion-free gem is the largest pink the company has ever found, and
is expected to fetch approximately $500,000 per carat at auction. It is the
most expensive rough in the history of Russian diamond mining, Alrosa claims.
The company is cutting and polishing the pink
diamond through its Diamonds Alrosa enterprise, with the assistance of an
international consultant. The stone will not be finished in time for the
upcoming September auction, but will be sold at a later tender.
One potential advantage Alrosa sees is that the polished stone’s origin is completely transparent.
“The buyer knows for sure that this stone has a clean
history, because it was mined in Russia and never passed [to a third party],”
the spokesperson noted.
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Tags:
Alrosa, colored diamond, Diamonds Alrosa, Hong Kong Gem & Jewellery Fair, Leah Meirovich, Rapaport News
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