After a very strong showing at the Basel show, where attendance was up over 5 % and active demand at the first Christie’s and Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewelry Auctions in Hong Kong and New York, global consumers continue to take notice of the strength of the colored diamond market, particularly in the up market jewelry segments of major cities around the world and the strong demand coming out of emerging markets.

The most recent supply figures coming out of South Africa and Australia continue to indicate further pressure and declines, when coupled with the strong demand in emerging markets and global buyers is the main reason why DeBeers has raised prices of diamond rough 8.5 % so far in 2008.  This situation coupled with the weakening US Dollar has led to dealers continuing to raise prices as dealers, investors and buyers recognize that they will have to pay more for rare diamonds in an environment of rising prices.  This is also evidenced by the increasing activity at the auction level as well as dealer