Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) is now offering a special allocation of rough diamonds for young diamantaires.
Originally announced in September 2014, the program—run in co-operation with Panford (Israel) Ltd.—was launched yesterday and makes available small parcels of De Beers rough from first hand and at fair prices to young diamantaires, up to the age of 40.
A group of specially chosen diamantaires each received an envelope containing approximately 40 diamonds with an average weight of 3.27 carats.
Consisting of two commercial boxes from De Beers mines, the total lot was valued at $2.25 million. A condition of the program is all the diamonds are to be manufactured in Israel.
“Today, we are realizing an initiative we have dreamed about for a long time—the sale of rough diamonds at convenient prices to young manufacturers, in parcels they can finance,” said IDE president Yoram Dvash.
“We came to an agreement with Panford to allocate suitable rough at good prices, but we needed to wait to begin the program until rough prices stabilized.”
Panford general manager Dudi Shiama said the company is providing credit of 70 days for the initial allotment.
“When Yoram Dvash proposed this initiative we readily agreed,” he said. “We are trying to build a track that will create optimal conditions for new manufacturers.”
