Deepak Nair

Tiffany & Co.'s profits tumbled during its fourth fiscal quarter as the weak consumer market, particularly in the U.S., took its toll on company sales. Profits for the three months ending January 31, 2009, fell 76 percent to $31.1 million, the luxury jeweler reported before the bell Monday. Tiffany took a one-time pretax charge of $97.8 million for an early retirement program and other staffing reductions in the fourth quarter. Approximately 800 employees were offered early retirement, 600 of whom accepted, Tiffany reported. There was also a $7.5 million pretax charge related to the anticipated closing of Tiffany's Iridesse retail operations, charges of $12.4 million to write off an investment in diamond mining at the Jericho mine in Canada, and a pretax charge of $3.4 million to close its diamond polishing facility in Yellowknife, Canada. Together with the drop in headcount from the early retirements and the anticipated closing of Iridesse, Tiffany expects a total staff re...

Gems & Jewellery Sector May Recover Soon Gems & Jewellery Sector May Recover Soon - - Reports of increasing consumer spending in the US According to Press Trust Of India, Indian gems and jewellery exports, which have been declining owing to the global economic meltdown, are expected to recover in the next few months on account of revival of demand in the major market of America. "We expect that, in June and July, there will be some revival of exports as one of the reports revealed increasing consumer spending in the US," Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council Chairman Vasant Mehta said.However, he said that exports would continue to remain down by about 20-30 percent in April and May. As per estimates by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, the industry has suffered an export order loss of Rs 125.67 crore and cash loss of Rs 49.93 lakh during August-October 2008.The US accounts for 30 to 35 percent of the Indian jewellery exports.The declining trend...

GIA Museum To Debut 472-Carat Emerald --- It's a brilliant green four-inch hexagonal crystal According to Rapaport, the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) plans to debut a recently discovered 472-carat emerald crystal from the Muzo region mines in Colombia. The emerald, the El Itoco crystal, was named after Muzo Indian lore, according to Ron Ringsrud, the emerald dealer who loaned it to the GIA Museum on behalf of its owner, Hernando Sanchez, who is the emerald mine shareholder and Colombian emerald exporter. "This is the first time any of the Colombian mine owners have displayed such a significant emerald at any museum worldwide," Ringsrud said. "This is by far the largest gem-quality crystal to have come out of this historical mining area in a long time." GIA spokespersons stated that a gem-quality emerald crystal of this size is extremely rare. The four-inch hexagonal crystal possesses a color equivalent to the finest emeralds, according to Terri O...

Turkey To Challenge India In Gold Jewellery Sector --- According to Commodity Online, India may witness strong challenge from Turkey in the gold jewellery sector with that country focusing on better designs and new models. According to reports, Turkish gold jewellery sector is in a strong position and is set to continue growing. Reports appearing in the media said that Turkey could become the market leader for creating quality jewellery pieces from the precious metal. Turkey is in a very successful position in terms of workmanship and design. A strong culture of jewellery making combined with advances in marketing and design has put the country at the forefront of the sector. The number of Turkish designers has increased with gold jewellery experts on every corner in the country.

Alrosa Aims To Become World's Leading Diamond Miner ---Presently accounts for 25% of global diamond output En.rian.ru reports that Russia's largest diamond company Alrosa could become the world's top diamond mining company, and is considering buying foreign assets, the company CEO said. Sergei Vybornov said Alrosa has an opportunity to seize the initiative and become the global leader amid the ongoing crisis, as the company has the world's best diamond resources in Yakutia in northeast Siberia, while its rival De Beers has had to cut output. "There is also an opportunity to purchase very good diamond assets abroad - small companies that are going bankrupt or are on the verge of bankruptcy," Vybornov said. Alrosa accounts for 97% of Russian and 25% of global diamond output. The Russian government holds a 50.9% stake in the company.