Canada’s Lucara mine has had a sparkling start to 2021, with two major stones found at the company’s Karowe mine in Botswana in January.
First an unbroken 341-carat diamond was found in mine’s South Lobe on January 15, followed by an unbroken 378-carat gem-quality white diamond a few weeks later.
Karowe is renowned as a particularly prolific diamond mine, and the 378-carat diamond is the 55th stone over 200 carats to be recovered at Karowe since it began commercial operations in 2012.
Previous high-profile discoveries include the 342-carat Queen of the Kalahari, the 549-carat Sethunya, the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona and the 1,758-carat Sewelo.
Rex Merten, one of Australia’s most well-known and much-loved master jewellers, passed away after a long illness of acute myeloid leukaemia on the morning on…
Rex Merten, one of Australia’s most well-known and much-loved master jewellers, passed away after a long illness of acute myeloid leukaemia on the morning on November 17, 2020. Surrounded by his family, including wife Gabrielle, daughters Margaret and Rachel and his beloved identical twin brother Carl, his death was peaceful and full of love.
While we mourn the passing of this wonderful man, we know his legacy lives on through his many students and friends in the Australian and international jewellery world. His role in this world of fine craftsmen and women is a revered one, and something of which he was immensely proud – not the least through his many contributions and creativity, but also his love of teaching and genuine love of sharing and passing on his knowledge to the next generations of aspiring jewellers.
Rex started his jewellery apprenticeship at the age of 15 at Hardy Brothers in Sydney. It was no surprise this was his chosen vocation, as his father Ray Merten was also a jeweller, his uncle Rex Merten a renowned engraver (he would be flown down every year to engrave the winner of the Melbourne Cup). His brother Carl took up an apprenticeship as adiesinker, later moving into sculpture. Rex’s youngest brother Raoul was also a jeweller of note. So gold, silver, precious stones and the beauty that could be created with them ran in his blood.
Rex with Leone Meatchem in Jewellery World magazine in February 1998.
Rex enjoyed his time at Hardy Brothers enormously and relished the opportunity to learn the trade. He attended East Sydney Tech where he also attained a deep education in art. Precociously talented and with the support of an unusually creative family, this was a happy start in a career that would span over 60 years.
But Rex took two significant detours before truly committing to the trade. At the age of 18 he was called up for National Service which was compulsory at the time. On informing the recruiting officer that his talents included jewellery design, reading music and playing an instrument, he was appointed to the army band. It wasn’t until Rex arrived on assignment that he revealed his instrument was the pipe organ. He was quickly made assistant bandmaster. Rex made the most of this opportunity and was always proud he never had to fire a gun in anger.
The second major detour was a very personal one; in his early twenties, he became Catholic, decided to join the Marist monastery and spent five years studying to be a priest. Surprisingly, this experience laid the foundations for his future success as one of Australia’s most creative and respected master jewellers. Rex reflected on his time in the seminary with the observation that “I learnt a lot about myself while I was there. We had a habit of meditation which I never really lost. I learned there was more than one way to think about something. More than one way to look at a problem. More than one way to resolve a design, for example, for a client. I learnt to be more independent; I didn’t take for granted everything I had been told as the only way to do something. That helped me a lot and gave me a lot of confidence.”
It was this confidence in his way of seeing the world and interpreting it through design that spurred his extraordinary success when he left the seminary and took up jewellery for good – for this was always his true vocation.
Rex is the only Australian jeweller to have won four Diamonds International Awards for his remarkable pieces such as Man in Space (a lapis and diamond brooch inspired by the heady days of early space travel); the Spirit of Sydney (a modernist ring of rising rectangles topped with diamonds. As a young jeweller unable to afford to buy the diamonds in that ring, he returned them to the broker after winning the award.
Rex’s inspiration came from everywhere – nature, the materials, even the mundane – his award winning brooch La Mer of malachite and a cresting wave of diamonds was inspired by a surfing poster he saw wrapped around a telegraph pole. His Ring Watch presaged his fascination with designing multiple uses within a single piece.
After stints as head designer at Hardy Brothers and Prouds, Rex again decided to walk his own path and set up a workshop at home where he worked amongst the rowdy business of having four kids and their friends running around. The Merten household was a much-loved destination amongst neighbourhood children as it was pretty much completely free-range with very few restrictions when it came to digging very deep holes for buried treasure or climbing to dangerous and thrilling heights in trees.
His business flourished, in no small part due to Rex’s ability to listen and intuit what his clients wanted. He always saw it as a privilege to bring to life something precious and beautiful that reflected the owner’s personality and dreams. The art was as much in creating something personal and bespoke as it was in his remarkable technical skills.
During this happy time, Rex also began teaching and this was as important to him as creating jewellery. He began teaching jewellery design at TAFE, wrote and ran the design course at the Gemmological Association and ran booked-out workshops with his brother Carl at the University of Southern Queensland. Teaching and passing on his knowledge was a great joy to him and his many students went on to their own career highlights.
Rex Steele Merten was a man of exceptional creativity, imagination and, above all kindness. He was a deep thinker, never afraid to tackle the big subjects and it was his creative vision, his way of seeing and re seeing the world that offered the gift of wonder and rewarded his curiosity, as well as leaving behind a creative legacy shared by his many industry friends and students. Vale Rex Steele Merten.
The strength of our industry has been proven by the way we stuck together as a community in the midst of a global pandemic. Let’s build on that.
I was going through some old emails the other day and came across a report that was produced back in 2014 outlining the growth of the jewellery industry up until 2020. The article boasted a glittering future for the jewellery industry with all-time highs. The reality is that this was very much the case up until the outbreak of COVID.
This got me thinking, what are the pundits now making of the industry now that a world forced to operate within a pandemic has been realised?
Well, it didn’t take long for me to come across a new report now produced by Business Insights.
The report stated that the global jewellery market size was USD $330 billion back in 2019 and fell to USD $230 billion in 2020. It went on to say that the value of the jewellery market is expected to increase to about USD $292 billion. (Shahbandeh, 2021)
Interestingly the men’s jewellery segment is anticipated to experience a growth due to the emergence of digital media platforms. This has also been observed in the leading companies profiled in the global jewellery market utilising digital media platforms to play a pivotal role in propelling their sales of luxury jewellery.
So, what does this mean for us? It may still be early to start celebrating, but things are looking positive again. Retail sales volume rose 2.5% in the December quarter, seasonally adjusted according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), following a 6.5% rise in the September quarter of 2020. The figures although small are pointing in the right direction. (ABS, 2021)
Which brings me to my last point. I am very proud of this industry and the way it kept together throughout this crisis. In the height of lockdowns, our facilities and that of other suppliers stayed open. When supply of precious metals became scarce due to foreign supply chain being severed, our sister company ABC Refinery stepped up and ensured that the industry could keep the doors open.
Hopefully 2021 shifts more towards social normalcy, so we can all see each other again at upcoming trade fairs and social events.
Argyle pink diamonds and pure gold come together in The Perth Mint’s most prestigious release of the year, and first since the Argyle Mine’s closure. Here with input from Argyle Pink Diamonds, The Perth Mint, several pink diamond ateliers, suppliers and jewellers specialising in pink diamond jewellery, we examine this coin’s numismatic glory, the state of pink diamonds, and their future.
An exquisite exaltation to Australian gold and Argyle diamonds
The Jewelled Horse coin was released on 18 January, and it follows similar luxurious Perth Mint pieces which celebrate animals significant in Chinese culture such as the Phoenix in 2018, the Dragon in 2019 and the Tiger in 2020. Pavé-set with 169 specially selected Fancy Intense, Vivid Pink and Purplish Pink diamonds to a total weight of 2.76 carats, the coin is just one of eight minted, and The Perth Mint product page describes it as the “numismatic embodiment of equine vitality, power and nobility.”
The Perth Mint’s General Manager Minted Products, Neil Vance, said that all previous Jewelled series have sold out, and at time of writing, five of the eight Jewelled Horse coins have sold.
“People are genuinely enamoured with pink diamonds and their unique features,” he said.
“Now with the prospect of these rare and exquisite diamonds no longer being mined, this makes them especially sought after.”
One of the five fortunate buyers of this coin was Julian Farren-Price, director of long-running Sydney jeweller and watch retailer J Farren-Price. Julian said he was thrilled to acquire one of the eight coins, having previously purchased and sold the Dragon, Phoenix and Tiger coins.
“All the coins have been stunning but I must say the Horse is especially beautiful, the pink diamonds seem particularly strong in colour and the design is magnificent,” he said.
“This is in fact one of the pieces that I am not very fussed if I sell or not as it really is so collectible for the future.”
Sales and Marketing Manager of Argyle Pink Diamonds, Marie Chiam, said that the market understands Argyle pink diamonds’ collectability, and thus pieces like the Jewelled Horse speak to their incomparability and value appreciation.
Market turmoil after Argyle’s end
All our contributors agreed that Argyle’s closure has caused a remarkable rise in the interest in and price of pink diamonds, with varied accounts as to how it’s affected them. Marie said that the market is well aware of the market fundamentals of Argyle pink diamonds – with no known source of supply to replace Argyle, combined with an insatiable demand built off the back of 37 years of production.
“We saw this in the results of our 2020 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender with a record number of participants and continued double digit price growth,” she said.
“The prices of our annual Tender diamonds have grown over 600 percent since 2000.”
Director of Mondial Pink Diamond Atelier, Michael Neumann, said that the pink diamonds which sold in the 2020 Tender brought record prices.
“The knowledge that there will be only one more Tender and new production limited to the last batch of ore extracted in November, has certainly seen upward pressure on prices and scampering within the trade and public to secure pink diamonds now,” he said.
Leibish is a New York-based internationally recognised specialist and online retailer of high-end diamonds and jewellery, with expertise in natural fancy coloured diamonds and gemstones. Founder and president Leibish Polnauer said that Argyle’s closure had a dramatic effect on Argyle Pink Diamond prices across all categories.
“It raised the interest for investment, for collecting and owning historical diamonds,” he said.
Leibish said the 2020 Argyle tender contained 20 stones over 1ct and Leibish’s company bought 10 of them.
“The interest of investors to own an Argyle Pink Diamond over 1ct from the tender is very strong.”
Stelios Palioudakis is director of Perth jewellery store Stelios and he said has been heavily involved in buying and selling diamonds over the past five years, having witnessed the increased interest and corresponding prices over that time.
“In the past you could always find what you wanted or something similar, (but) as the mine closure approached the price seemed to go up monthly as goods were disappearing at an alarming rate,” he said.
“Five-page stock lists were reduced to one in a matter of three months, the activity leading up to closure and post closure was nothing like we have ever seen before.”
Stelios said there was always a year-on-year price increase for Argyle diamonds, and that leading up to the closure, it commanded the highest prices ever. He said that for investors or buyers, it was no longer a case of carefully considering what a diamond ‘ought’ to cost, but rather “If you want it, this is the price.”
“I guess whoever buys the naming rights of Argyle will dictate what happens to the price next… Let’s hope it goes even higher!”
The response to the mine closure has been unprecedented for Julian and his team at J Farren-Price.
“Never before have I seen so much interest in pink diamonds,” he said.
“I am buying everything I can get and on the other side we are selling pink diamonds nearly on a daily basis.”
Julian went so far as to say that he considers the gems to be the “Monet of the diamond world”: ultra rare, collectable and valuable.
“We never promote purchasing as an investment, we are not investment advisors but the statistics show that pink diamonds have been appreciating at around 13% per annum over the last 20 years and our clients can draw their own conclusion around that.”
Echoing a similar sentiment, owner of Affection Diamonds Nirav Shah said that since the mine closed, it caused a massive increase in the enquiry and sales for pink diamonds, and there has been high demand for investment purposes as well.
The struggle to supply a slowly dwindling diamond
When asked about being able to supply their customers with the pink diamonds they want going forward, naturally most of our respondents all concurred that their stocks were good for now, as is their ability to source, but the end is inevitable, and it’ll be a scramble for the stones still available. Leibish said his company has the privilege of reliably supplying customers with pink diamonds, but only for a limited time.
“Even though we bought and hold many Argyle diamonds, the supply is finished,” he said.
“A stone we sold cannot be replaced.”
Sharing similar sentiments, Julian said that all good things must come to an end, and so the privileged position J Farren-Price holds in being among the small group of original Ateliers for Argyle diamond is going to change somewhat.
“I suppose there might be a year or two of production in the pipeline but after that it will be incredibly difficult to source nice pink diamonds,” he said.
Mondial’s mission, as taught to Michael by his father and founder Fred Neuman, has always been to individually select each diamond in their stock for quality and value.
“We try to choose the best colours and finest clarity, over having any diamonds which may be compromised by heavy flaws,” he said.
“We do our best to acquire the pinks which are uncommon, unique in some way, so that our clients have the opportunity to purchase not just any pink (or blue, or yellow or champagne/cognac) but something which is a shining and premium example of what the mine has to offer.”
At Affection Diamonds, Nirav said his company will continue to sell Argyle pink diamonds until their stocks run out.
“(Then) we will source more which are available around the world in future,” he said.
Stelios said he has plenty of pink diamonds to use in jewellery for the foreseeable future.
What happens to the coloured diamond industry now?
With Argyle closed, the Alrosa mine in Russia has taken over as the largest producer of coloured diamonds in the world. Most of our respondents are happy to continue purchasing, investing and selling what Argyle pink diamonds remain available and have not given life after Argyle too much consideration. However, Leibish is one company which has cast a wide net, with the president reporting that his company is buying and manufacturing pink diamonds from many different sources.
“If we see the right goods in Alrosa at the right price, we will buy by them also,” he said. “Argyle’s greatness was not its huge magnitude of pink diamonds production but in their incredible fruity colours – let’s see If Alrosa can show something similar.”
Nirav believes that once Argyle stones are finished from the market, Russian pinks will be more popular and Affection Diamonds will be happy to sell according to their clients’ needs.
Stelios’ focus once pink stocks are depleted will be on large white diamonds and semi-precious stones.
“Moving forward in production, we are already cutting rough diamond in a lot of other fancy colour diamonds,” he said.
Stelios also believes Argyle pink diamonds are headed for a similar fate as Kashmir sapphires.
“The Kashmir sapphire mine had same circumstances as Argyle: the mine closed and it produced the world’s best sapphires. Now the prices are crazy and it’s impossible to find them.”
Another who is shifting focus to white diamonds is Julian, who suspects it’s a great buying opportunity.
“…whites could become the new pink,” he said.
As for coloured diamonds, Julian shared Stelios’ views and said many people fail to understand that there has not been a new diamond mine found in the last 30 years.
“It is predicted that in the next 30 years we could see the end of all diamond mining in the world if something new is not found,” he said.
Unfortunately Michael does not believe there will be any significant new mines or sources of coloured diamonds here in Australia, but there will always be an appetite for natural coloured diamonds, and the coloured diamond market is sustainable.
“It’s simply a question of to what level,” he said.
“We have every intention of continuing to be heavily invested in coloured diamonds in the future because we are passionate about them and have decades of experience purchasing and designing jewellery with them.
It was the Greek philosopher Aristotle and not a branding guru who first coined the term “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” but it could well have been the marketing guy. The ability of a brand to elevate a product’s perceived value over and above the accumulative worth of its various components is a hallmark of business in the 21st Century and particularly in the luxury product sector.
But the power of a well established brand is measured by more than just by its propensity to deliver a financial premium. Brands nurture fierce client loyalty, creating return business from consumers who identify with the product, the company and the exclusive community of which they have become part. Brands communicate the set of values with which the company wants itself and its products to be associated, like sustainability and responsible sourcing.
Brands dominate certain personal luxury product categories, like watches, fashion, perfume, luggage, shoes, apparel, cosmetics and beauty care, but when it comes to jewellery they are still grossly underrepresented. Here, they comprise less than 20 percent of the trade. Jewellery consumers are far less likely than their fashion counterparts to buy a particular product because they identify with what it represents, rather than purchasing it mainly because they feel are getting good value for their money.
The upcoming CIBJO webinar discusses branding with an esteemed group of industry leaders.
CIBJO’s second season of Jewellery Industry Voices webinars are offered for free online. Previous webinars can also be viewed at: cibjo.org/webinars
