shape
carat
color
clarity

What Tiffany does with its reject rough diamonds

Garry H (Cut Nut)

Super_Ideal_Rock
Trade
Joined
Aug 15, 2000
Messages
18,422
Laureton is the diamond procurement division of Tiffany
http://www.idexonline.com/FullArticle?id=42766
Copied here in full
(IDEX Online) – Laurelton Diamonds Belgium BVBA will be holding viewings of its next tender of rough and sawn goods at the Antwerp Diamond Tender Facility.

The tender will include a selection of white, cape and yellow rough parcels in sizes from +5cts to -7 in regular and high-quality assortments totaling around 8,000 carats, the firm said in a statement.

There will also be a range of white and yellow sawn kaps in sized parcels from +3gr to -5 in mixed qualities totaling around 10,000 carats.

The tender is scheduled to take place from January 23 to February 2, with viewing appointments available during regular office hours.

The tender will be held in the Antwerp Diamond Tender Facility, AWDC Building, Hoveniersstraat, Antwerp.
 

AprilBaby

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jul 17, 2008
Messages
13,234
Translate to dummy speak please? :confused:
 

bmfang

Brilliant_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jan 2, 2017
Messages
1,851
I've always wondered who ends up buying the rough that the high-end jewellery shops reject. Is it those cutters who end up having most of their inventory shown on virtual lists or on James Allen or Blue Nile?
 

Paul-Antwerp

Ideal_Rock
Trade
Joined
Sep 2, 2002
Messages
2,859
Thank you for sharing that, Garry, although it is 'old news'.

I think that almost a decade ago, I already reported that part of our rough-purchases came from Laurelton (Tiffany's). Laurelton was a relatively new organization at the time, and they were indeed tendering the rough they did not use for Tiffany-production.

At the time, that rough was interesting because of two aspects:
1. With technicians deciding on what rough stone not to cut, a hefty part of these parcels were a bit more tricky stones needing a bit more attention and dedication. Nothing inherently wrong with them.
2. With Laurelton being a new seller-at-tender, many potential customers regarded the primary Tiffany-selection as negative. Because the rough was not 'original' anymore, buyers were less interested as they also found pricing it correctly difficult.

So, definitely at that time, we were able to buy such rough at very interesting prices. Over time, that changed though.
1. Better rough-scanning equipment reduced the number of good (but tricky) stones, as the Laurelton-technicians could better predict the outcome,
2. The market grow to understand the composition of the parcels, and tender-pricing got higher.

Today, aside from such rough (not used for Tiffany-production), Laurelton is also selling polished diamonds at tender (also not usable for Tiffany).

As far as the rough goes, the fact that it is not being produced for Tiffany does not mean in any way that it is secondary in quality. We also select which stones from a parcel of rough go into production, and which not, and the rough we do not use, is not necessarily lower in quality.

It says far more instead about dollar-value than about the quality of the rough. Given the peculiarity of the diamond-market, some rough stones simply are worth more when cut into another shape, or in a lower cut-quality (with higher size). When you can sell that rough stone at its true value, you get more than cutting it, even if you are cutting it into a premium-make. Any cutting-house not going through this exercise is losing money hand-over-fist.

Live long,
 

ChristineRose

Brilliant_Rock
Premium
Joined
Aug 5, 2012
Messages
926
White, cape and yellow are older and broad terms for color, with cape being yellow M-Z.

Kaps are pieces of rough that have been cut and have one or more flat edges. They may have come off of a larger piece of rough or may have been abandoned after they were partially cut.

They are not selling individual stones, but rather boxes of stones in parcels of 3 ct+.

Hope that helps. :))
 

pyramid

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Nov 10, 2002
Messages
4,607
Thank you for posting Garry. Great very informative post by Paul. :clap:
 

bmfang

Brilliant_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jan 2, 2017
Messages
1,851
Pyramid|1484345811|4115131 said:
Thank you for posting Garry. Great very informative post by Paul. :clap:

I second Pyramid's compliments. Thanks for the response Paul! :appl:
 
Be a part of the community Get 3 HCA Results
Top