Trade Organization

The Diamond Producers Association (DPA) has announced that Sally Morrison, Managing Director of Marketing, will leave the organization in May to pursue another professional opportunity.

The DPA said that to ensure continuity of momentum in its U.S. marketing activities, Michael Pace will join the organization at the end of March as Interim Managing Director of Marketing, until a permanent replacement to Morrison is appointed.

Watch exports from Switzerland were down for the eighth consecutive month last month, with a value of $1.75 billion, a decrease of 3.3% on the year, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry said in a statement.

The export figures were greatly impacted by developments in the Hong Kong market, the Federation said.

The Diamond Producers Association, an organization of the world's leading diamond miners, has launched two movies as part of its campaign to attract millennial buyers.

The movies are part of the 'Real Is Rare' brand campaign which followed more than six months of research which featured interviews with young people aged around 18 to 35 in the United States.

The GIA said in a statement that only 175 of the 1,042 diamonds which had their grading reports altered in a hacking case by the lab's Indian sub-contractor have been returned for examination to the lab.

The American gem lab said that it was critical that all of the diamonds in question and their reports be returned to GIA for examination to remove the fraudulently changed reports from the market.