Rapaport progresses with certified-diamond auctions, tenders
October 12, 2007
New York—The Rapaport Group has announced that it will hold a series of certified-diamond auctions and tenders in October, November and December.
The online auctions will take place Oct. 23-25, Nov. 14-15 and Dec. 12-13. All diamonds offered will be selected, certified and guaranteed by Rapaport. In addition, they will all be round, 1.01 carats and larger, D-K in color, IF-VS2 in clarity, guaranteed with Gemological Institute of America "Excellent" to "Very Good" grading reports, and meet strict RapSpec1 standards.
Registration and bidding for the auction will be held online at
Diamonds.net/auction and is restricted to the jewelry trade, authorized financial institutions and investors. Prices will be made public and used to develop a Rapaport Investment Diamond Index meant to eventually provide the basis of a diamond-futures contract.
After disappointing results in the first certified-diamond auction held last month—only 27 of the 210 lots sold—a number of changes have been made for the October auction. First, reserve prices will be disclosed in the auction catalog to give bidders more transparency and minimum price levels. In addition, diamonds can now be offered for sale globally without having to be sent to New York first. Rapaport offices in
Antwerp, Belgium; New York; Mumbai, India; and Ramat Gan, Israel will take delivery of diamonds for the auction. The stones will be sent to New York or other locations after they are sold.
In addition to the auctions, the Rapaport Group will also hold a number of diamond tenders before the end of the year. These include an Antwerp Rough Diamond Tender from Oct. 15-18; a New York Fine Polished Diamond Tender from Nov. 5-8, offering a broad range of cut polished diamonds, including GIA-graded diamonds sent in by appraisers on behalf of consumers; and the quarterly Rapaport Pawn Shop tender from Dec. 3-6, offering more than 15,000 carats of polished diamonds directly from pawn shops. All tender sales are based on the physical inspection of diamonds that are sold
as is without Rapaport-quality guarantees other than compliance with the Kimberley Process, U.S. Patriot Act and other legal requirements.
"Everyone in the trade is invited to sell or buy diamonds through our worldwide auction and tender markets," Rapaport Group
Chairman Martin Rapaport said in a statement. "A key strategic goal of the Rapaport Group is to provide increased opportunity for diamond trading as we create diamond markets with greater price transparency, improved standards and fair access to all."
For more information, visit the Rapaport Certified Diamond Auction Web site,
Diamonds.net/auction, e-mail auctions@diamonds.net or call (702) 893-9400.
Editor's Note: For earlier developments in this story, visit
'Disappointing' results for first Rap diamond auction.
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