The U.S. State Department announced late last week that it has entered into a partnership with Guinea to strengthen transparency and good governance in the west African nation’s mining sector, with a particular focus on the Guinean diamond industry.

Private equity firm Onex Corp. completed its acquisition of Nielsen Expositions on Monday, a $950 million purchase that includes the Couture show, the JA New York shows and National Jeweler.

The choker and ring designed by actress Angelina Jolie in conjunction with jeweler Robert Procop did not find buyers at Tiancheng International’s June 15 sale.

The new CEO of Rio Tinto said in a recent interview that he is focused on cutting costs within the company’s current operations and won’t sell the mining company’s diamond unit if the price isn’t right.

The head of the assay office in Birmingham is urging the U.K. jewelry industry to weigh in on proposed legislation that would regulate trade in so-called conflict minerals and, possibly, diamonds and colored gemstones as well.

From now through the middle of August, Swatch Group luxury brand Blancpain is co-sponsoring an exhibition of underwater photography at United Nations headquarters in New York, including the whale-meets-man photograph that attracted attention at Baselworld.

Two former employees of a Swarovski store in California are suing the jewelry company, alleging that they were forced to buy Swarovski jewelry they couldn’t afford to wear on the job and weren’t adequately compensated for the hours they worked.

Birks is introducing a new retail concept this summer by opening two new stores that will carry only one brand of jewelry: the Birks brand.

The Utah retail store robbed by pair of perpetrators posing as police officers is asking jewelers to be on the lookout for the pieces stolen during the incident.

The International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA) has decided not to take part in the Presidents Meeting in Istanbul this week due to very low registration from members.

There’s an old adage that it takes a village to raise a child. It also can take an entire cast to pull off an award-wining proposal, as one Pennsylvania man proved recently.

Diamond prices are likely to remain stable in the near term and the economy as a whole is improving, giving retailers a reason to be optimistic, says Russell Shor, senior analyst for the Gemological Institute of America.

Brands are becoming increasingly important for silver, as is stocking silver pieces in a wide range of price points, Silver Promotion Service (SPS) Director Michael Barlerin says.

Jewelers for Children held its inaugural Rings of Strength tour on May 30 during the Las Vegas jewelry shows and, through the work of participants, was able to raise more than $40,000.

A Canadian jewelry firm has created a novel way of tracking stolen jewelry in real time using GPS technology, which it says will dramatically increase the chances of retrieving the stolen items.

What is the No. 1 issue impacting jewelers today? According to one Washington-area retailer, it’s so-called showrooming, when customers basically use a store as their wireless hotspot in order to compare prices across the Internet.

This Patek Philippe Grand Complication No. 97912, the top lot of Christie’s June 11 auction, is the earliest and most historically significant example of a grand complication by the watchmaker.

The last of the checks in the De Beers class-action lawsuit settlement should go out in the next couple of weeks, and the case--which began more than 10 years ago and initially was settled in 2008--should be closed by year’s end.

A new collection of colored gemstone jewelry called Stained Glass and a sterling silver line incorporating freshwater pearls are among the latest additions for Effy.

The diamond brilliance dispute between retail heavyweights Zale Corp. and Sterling Jewelers Inc. is scheduled to head to trial about a year from now after the parties failed to reach a resolution in court-ordered mediation.

High-end consumers will buy the majority of gold jewelry going forward as shrinking supply makes it unlikely the metal’s price will drop to a level where it’s widely accessible again, representatives from the World Gold Council (WGC) said.

The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) is conducting a formal review of its Code of Practices (COP), and is asking for stakeholder feedback on a final draft of the proposed changes.

Robert (Bobby) L. Chance, a Maryland retailer for nearly 50 years, died on June 5 in Annapolis. He was 70.

A seminar on safety for jewelers is scheduled to take place next week that is free and open to all members of the industry.

The New York State Jewelers Association (NYSJA) will hold its fourth annual golf outing on Sept. 30 at the Willow Ridge Country Club in Harrison, N.Y., with a portion of proceeds going to Jewelers for Children (JFC).