De Beers Drops Suit
On Nov. 1, De Beers voluntarily dropped its complaint against Adwar Casting and Dinaro Creations for allegedly infringing on its patents for the Everlon Diamond Knot collection, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.
“Adwar Casting has manufactured and sold castings to the industry for nearly 40 years, including copyrighted ‘Love Knot’ pieces dating back to at least 1980,” said Gregg Adwar, president of Rockville Centre, N.Y.–based Adwar Casting, via a statement. “De Beers’ dismissal assures our customers of our unquestioned right to produce and sell our ‘Love Knot’ castings.”
De Beers had sued retailer Kohl’s and a trio of New York jewelry manufacturers (Adwar, Dinaro, and Brilliant/MJJ) last August. Court documents show its lawsuit against Kohl’s and Brilliant/MJJ remains pending.
Now and Forevermark
De Beers’ Forevermark diamonds
De Beers plans to bring its Forevermark brand of diamonds bearing inscriptions on their tables to the United States. Charles Stanley—a veteran of De Beers, De Beers Diamond Jewellers, and Harry Winston—was hired as a consultant to explore bringing the brand to America.
“As the U.S. accounts for the majority of diamond sales globally, we are taking initial steps toward exploring how best to launch the Forevermark brand there,” says De Beers rep Lynette Gould. “We know what we want to do—we are just figuring out how to do it.” There is currently no timetable for Forevermark’s U.S. debut.
De Beers announced in October that Forevermark had hit $200 million in sales only two years after its launch. It is currently available at 300 doors in China, Hong Kong, and Japan, and De Beers is expanding it to India, Singapore, the Caribbean, and Mexico.
Argyle Rocks
Courtesy of Argyle Pink Diamond
The 2010 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender recently toured the world, featuring the choicest pink stones from Rio Tinto’s West Australian mine.
Some 55 stones were showcased, and Rio Tinto noted the color saturation in this year’s collection “set a new benchmark” with more “vivid” pinks than previous years.
One highlight of the collection: a 2.02-carat round brilliant fancy vivid purplish pink diamond, named the Argyle Mystra (pictured).
The tender made stops in Argyle’s home base of Perth, China, and New York City. In New York, the collection was accompanied by the Argyle Pink Diamond Tiara, designed by Asprey and featuring 178 rare Argyle pink diamonds.