New diamond trade hotspots
Friday, September 14, 2007
THE worldwide appetite for diamonds continues to grow, led by huge demand in India and China, a director from gem giant De Beers said yesterday.
India enjoyed a 26-per cent growth in the value of diamonds sold last year, while China experienced 18 per cent, according to David Rudlin, director of international markets at the Diamond Trading Company, the rough diamond distribution arm of De Beers.
Rudlin said De Beers is trying to create the same impact in China that it has created in luxury goods-hotspot Hong Kong, where 17 per cent of women own at least 10 pieces of diamond-encrusted jewellery.
"There are some absolute diamond fanatics (in Hong Kong). This is where we cut out teeth," he said.
"In China, the sky's the limit if we can get what happened in Hong Kong (to be replicated there)," he added, after the company had shown off a 102-carat diamond fitted into an elaborate necklace.
Rudlin said worldwide demand had not been affected by the Hollywood blockbuster "Blood Diamond", which showed how the diamond industry helped fund a bloody civil war in Sierra Leone.
"We saw no impact at all on (overall diamond) sales," he said. AFP
India enjoyed a 26-per cent growth in the value of diamonds sold last year, while China experienced 18 per cent, according to David Rudlin, director of international markets at the Diamond Trading Company, the rough diamond distribution arm of De Beers.
Rudlin said De Beers is trying to create the same impact in China that it has created in luxury goods-hotspot Hong Kong, where 17 per cent of women own at least 10 pieces of diamond-encrusted jewellery.
"There are some absolute diamond fanatics (in Hong Kong). This is where we cut out teeth," he said.
"In China, the sky's the limit if we can get what happened in Hong Kong (to be replicated there)," he added, after the company had shown off a 102-carat diamond fitted into an elaborate necklace.
Rudlin said worldwide demand had not been affected by the Hollywood blockbuster "Blood Diamond", which showed how the diamond industry helped fund a bloody civil war in Sierra Leone.
"We saw no impact at all on (overall diamond) sales," he said. AFP
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