The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) is an international not-for-profit organization promoting responsible, ethical, human rights, social, and environmental practices in a transparent and accountable manner throughout the jewelry industry, from mine to retail.
Prices of smaller goods, below one carat, continued to rise in December after increasing in November, responding to rising demand in the consumer market. Larger goods, however, which suffered from price declines in November, experienced a long-awaited revival, rising 1-1.5% in December, according to the Mercury Diamond Global Tracker™ (MDGT™). The MDGT™ index averaged 109.45 in December 2018.
The formation of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), was the result of developments in both retail and the science of diamonds. The combination of a growing need to standardize information provided to consumers and deeper understanding of the gemological aspects of diamonds gave rise to the need for an unbiased third party that could fill the gap between what was available at the time and the little that was available.
A sharp drop in demand and a rise in inventories characterized trade in December. Polished diamond traders around the globe were feeling blue after retail sales of diamond jewelry failed to meet expectations.
As the year draws to a close, we at Mercury Diamond stopped to take a look at the state of polished diamond prices over the past year. We noticed that prices have been lingering for some time and decided to look at what some of the other diamond indexes in the market show. No surprise here, we all show pretty much the same scenario.