Russia to continue buying diamonds through state fund in 2025
The Russian budget for 2025-2027 has set aside $1.55 billion for the purchase of precious metals and gems.
ALROSA is developing tools for remote diamond sales and has expanded the amount of data provided on lots in digital auctions, enabling clients to make informed decisions on purchases, bridging the gap between offline and online tender efficiencies.
The first digital auction in the new format will be held from September 22 to 13 October 13 2021, with over 2,000 carats of special-size rough diamonds (from 10.8 carats upwards) being put up for sale.
Bidders will have access to additional details on the features of the diamonds, as well as media files. Besides the traditional instrumental assessment data, each stone would be accompanied with expert color assessment made using GIA samples, as well as with fluorescence intensity and defect characteristics descriptions.
A video of the diamond against various backdrops will enable bidders to visually evaluate the nature and colour of inclusions, ALROSA said, while UV photos will help them to line up diamonds by the luminescence degree.
“Expanding the package of data on the diamonds put up for auction is a response to the wishes of our clients. In eighteen months, digital auctions have grown from a pilot project into a full-fledged sales channel,” Evgeny Agureev, Deputy CEO of ALROSA, said in a media release.
The tool compensates for the restrictions on foreign travel caused by the pandemic but also helps to make the industry more transparent and hi-tech. Through continuous dialogue with our buyers, we are tirelessly working to refine the process, in order to make digital auctions as similar as possible to traditional auctions in terms of convenience and efficiency,” Agureev said.
ALROSA began testing the digital diamond sales format in the autumn of 2019, and in the spring of 2020 held the first digital auction for special size rough diamonds.
The technologies used enable buyers to remotely analyze the key parameters of every diamond. 3D scanning data are provided in the standard Sarine Advisor planning format, and buyers’ experts can use them for planning and evaluation of polished diamond output, the miner said.
All the rough diamonds sold via digital auctions allow to guarantee the traceability of polished diamonds back to the mine of origin and to confirm their provenance using digital passports.
