The Diamond Pulse – November 2025

Chinese Improvement, Miner Dilemmas, and All Things De Beers 

Miners continued to struggle with cash flow in October as the high US tariffs on India undid initial signs of improvement in the market. Petra asked shareholders to purchase additional company stock to the tune of $25 million in order to keep the business going. Ekati owner Burgundy Diamond Mines was looking for outside investment, while the owner of Lesotho’s Kao mine asked the government to limit fees so it could stay afloat.  

However, the month also saw the first real signs of a recovery starting in China and Hong Kong. Kering noted improvement in its jewelry brands’ Asia Pacific sales, while jeweler Chow Tai Fook saw revenues rise 11% in China and 13% in Hong Kong. Luk Fook also reported gains in those markets. Swiss watch orders from China showed a marked gain of 18%. 

De Beers had a number of things going on during the month. The company’s chief trade and industry officer, Feriel Zerouki, left after 20 years. Angola announced it was seeking a majority stake in De Beers, joining other offers already put forth by the Botswana government, former CEOs Gareth Penny and Bruce Cleaver, Australian mining veteran Michael O’Keeffe, and Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal. Most recently, the miner said its third-quarter sales had more than tripled to $700 million as a result of an extra sight this year, and that production for the period had grown 38% to 7.7 million carats. 

Here’s your diamond market analysis from Rapaport Trade for October 2025

In September, the price for the 1-carat RAPI softened to $4,437 by month’s end, down 0.9% from the previous month, when the index had fallen 1.1%. Better clarity diamonds in the D-H IF-VVS category led the decline in the index, falling an average of 1.1%, while the mid-tier VS quality diamonds fell only an average of 0.5%.

D-F and G-J SI categories saw a decline of an average of 2%, while in August they fell an average of 3%. Low-quality diamonds in the K-M VS-SI category saw an average decline of 1.8%, compared to August when they fell an average of 0.9%. Distribution across Rapaport Trade inventory categories and searches remained unchanged for the fifth consecutive month.

Please note: the searches breakdown are a breakdown of buyers searches on Rapaport Trade

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