Happy New Year! Holiday season looks okay. Diamond trade ended challenging 2023 with 0.50 ct. RAPI -26%, 1 ct. -21%, 3 ct. -11%. Round prices stabilized in Dec. Mixed trend in fancies. Chinese retail slow ahead of Feb. 10 Lunar New Year. All eyes on De Beers Jan. 15 sight, as price changes could shake market. Labs report synthetic diamonds bearing forged GIA inscriptions. EU to implement sanctions on Russian diamonds, with Belgium trying to control market. No import regulations issued, and industry uncertain how rules will impact supply and costs. Rapaport warns trade to protect US market and will launch Rapaport US Diamond Protocol next week to restrict import of sanctioned diamonds.

The ongoing Russian-sanctions saga and two big deals for Botswana are among the hot topics for 2024.

Discussions on Facebook group Jewelers Helping Jewelers point to a decent season for the trade.

Members of the editorial team pick their favorite pieces from the internet.