Ramat Gan is again preparing to put its best sparkle on for the Sixth International Diamond Week in Israel (IDWI), to be held next month on the trading floor of the Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) from February 13-15.
This year’s event will be the largest to date and will bring hundreds of diamond buyers from more than 20 countries around the world.
Among the special guests attending the trade show are Russian mining company Alrosa’s President Andrey Zharkov, Diamond Producers Association (DPA) CEO Jean-Marc Lieberherr, executives of Chinese jewelry retailer Chow Tai Fook, a delegation from the Hong Kong Jewelry Manufacturers Association and representative of the Armenian Jewelers Association.
During the week IDE will inaugurate its new International Tender Center, a state-of-the-art facility that will host international tenders of rough and polished diamonds throughout the year. Three major diamond producers and suppliers will hold international tenders during IDWI – Alrosa, Koin and I.Hennig.
Alrosa will put on display especially large and unusual rough and polished diamonds — three massive rough diamonds of 83.59, 90.52 and 207.28 carats, and an 80.59-ct round polished diamond, twin 10-ct fancy intense yellow radiant cut diamonds and a 22.45-ct round stone. These stones will not be offered for sale, however.
Alrosa will, however, exhibit and offer for sale polished diamonds, including an 80.59-carat round, twin 10-carat fancy intense yellow radiants and a 22.45-carat round stone.
During Alrosa’s auction, the Russian miner will offer 108 single rough diamonds of 11 to 199 carats, and unique white and fancy color polished diamonds of 10 to over 80 carats.
In addition, a replica of the Great Imperial Crown of the Russian Empire, which was used in the coronations of all Russian monarchs since Catherine the Great, will be exhibited on February 13 – 14, 2017. It contains 11,352 polished diamonds, with a total weight of 1,180 carats, and its value has been estimated at $20 million.
The IDE is expecting the upcoming event to exceed previous attendance records by several hundred people.
Haim Volner, Chairman of the IDWI Organizing Committee, said that buyers have registered from over 20 countries, including the US, UK, Germany, China and India.
“Most of those registered have come through social media, where we have conducted a very active campaign. A high percentage are repeat attendees, but we are seeing a great deal of new buyers, which is very encouraging.” he said.