DiamondBuzz
Lucara nets $54m from two stones from Karowe mine
The luxury brand’s new boutique at the Taj Krishna in Banjara Hills highlights its celebrated fine jewellery and global couture collections.
Lucara raised $54m from the sale of two exceptional stones – weighing 1,080 carats and 549 carats – both recovered at its Karowe mine, in Botswana, it said this week. The 549 carat Type IIa Sethunya diamond was recovered in February 2020 and was sold to the French luxury maison Louis Vuitton.The 1,080 carat Eva Star, recovered in August 2023, was acquired by an unnamed buyer.
Canadian miner Lucara, 100 per cent owner of the mine, said it was “delighted” to announce details of the sales, now that final payments had been received and the goods had been delivered. It did not specify the price achieved by the diamonds individually, but said they’d sold for a combined sum of $54m and had recognized $44m in revenue net of fees, excluding royalties.
“The company received $20m in previous years and following this sale, a further $24m was due, of which $16m and $8m were received in Q4 2024 and Q1 2025 respectively,” Lucara said in a statement. “The sale of these two extraordinary diamonds further validates our investment in the Karowe underground project,” said William Lamb, president and CEO of Lucara. “The unique characteristics of Karowe’s kimberlite, particularly in the South Lobe, continue to amaze us with its ability to produce diamonds of exceptional size and quality.”
DiamondBuzz
Russian President Putin Backs New Federal Regulations Governing LGD Labeling
Putin emphasized that stones formed by nature must remain the bedrock of the global diamond industry
Russian President Vladimir Putin has thrown his political weight behind strict new federal regulations governing how lab-grown diamonds are marketed and sold, signaling Moscow’s determination to shield its mined diamond sector from synthetic competition.
Speaking at the Russia-Africa summit in Moscow, Putin aligned himself with Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, emphasizing that stones formed by nature must remain the bedrock of the global diamond industry,
Addressing arguments from synthetic producers—who frequently contend that lab-grown stones are indistinguishable from mined gems in appearance and quality and therefore warrant comparable pricing—Putin pushed back against equating the two products.
He defended the Kremlin’s regulatory intervention, arguing that because synthetic stones are man-made, authorities are justified in prohibiting sellers from labeling them as diamonds in the literal sense of the word.
The president’s remarks reinforce a sweeping regulatory overhaul codified under Government Resolution No. 657. Taking effect on September 1, the rules mandate that all lab-grown stones be explicitly marketed as “faceted synthetic diamonds.”
Beyond renaming the category, the decree strips synthetic sellers of traditional luxury jewelry terminology. Retailers and manufacturers are barred from using the Russian word for “brilliant,” applying standard color and clarity grading scales, or deploying marketing descriptors such as “precious,” “genuine,” “natural,” “mined,” and “eco-friendly” when promoting lab-grown gems.
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