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July brought some exciting articles and auctions to the colored diamond world. Not to worry if you missed any of these pieces, Arpege Diamonds is here to recap the important diamond news from the month of July!

  1. Rappaport News announced that Rio Tinto has lowered its diamond production forecast for the year. Despite output exceeding the expectation during the first half of the year, the diamond giant known for producing pink diamonds is expecting production to slow during the back stretch of 2016. 
  2. Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop talks with the Chairman of Christie's Asia Pacific Francois Curiel about the status of the colored diamond market. The first half of 2016 saw record after record broken for colored diamonds, and Curiel is certainly taking note of the potential in these sales. 
  3. Dr. James Shigley of the GIA discussed how science is able to differentiate lab-grown diamonds from naturally occurring diamonds. Dr. Shigley goes on to discuss the composition of the lab-grown gems as they compare to their more "authentic" counterparts. 
  4. Rappaport News gives the latest update on the Diamond Industry Stock Tracker. A notable winner during of the week was Stellar Diamonds which boasted at 35% gain. Other notables included Anglo American which picked up 6.3% after reporting a lessening debt. 
  5. Ashley Davis discusses some possible reasons behind the surprising outcome of the auction on the Lesida la Rona diamond at the end of June. The diamond, which was the second largest ever found, failed to meet its $70 million reserve during the June 29th auction. The Lucara Diamond Corp who originally found the diamond retains possession of the behemoth beauty. 
  6. Russell Shor summarizes some of the amazing colored diamond sales seen in the first part of 2016. Sales have totaled more than $800 million so far this year, with major auctions being held by both Christie's and Sotheby's. The biggest sales include the Oppenheimer Blue diamond which sold for $57.1 million, as well as the Millennial 4 which sold for $32 million. 
  7. In perhaps the most bizarre diamond news of July, a couple bought an antique chair at auction, only to find more than $6,500 of diamonds in its cushion. The couple bought the chair for just more than $6 at auction. Talk about a windfall! 

For more diamond news, see the following links: