News Briefing
NEWS BRIEFING: 2 April 2026
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A curated edit of the week's global jewellery news - national and international - compiled for industry insight and trend monitoring.
💰'Rio Tinto Calls Time on Diamond Business as Last Mine Closes'
Bloomberg, 26 March 2026
Rio Tinto Group completed its exit from diamond production as its Diavik mine in Canada's Northwest Territories delivered its final ore after 23 years and more than 150 million carats, with closure and reclamation work now set to continue through 2029.
💰'Diavik Diamond Mine Reaches Final Production After 23 Years'
A.J. Roan, 27 March 2026, Mining News North
A ceremony attended by Indigenous organisations, government representatives, and workers marked the formal end of production at Diavik — where the 187.7-carat Foxfire and a 552-carat yellow diamond were among its most celebrated finds — with reclamation work set to run until 2029 as a model of responsible mine closure in the Canadian North.
💰'Iran War Threatens to Reverse Central Banks' Role as Major Gold Buyers'
Bloomberg, 27 March 2026
For the first time in over twenty years, major central banks including Russia and Turkey have shifted from buying gold to selling it, liquidating reserves to fund budget deficits and defend currencies battered by surging oil prices tied to the Middle East conflict.
💰'Goldman Still Sees Gold at $5,400 By Year-End Despite Downturn'
Bloomberg, 31 March 2026
Goldman Sachs maintained its bullish year-end gold forecast of $5,400 per ounce despite the metal's worst monthly performance since 2008, arguing that central bank diversification demand, normalising speculative positioning, and expected Fed rate cuts remain structurally intact.
💰'Wealthy Consumers Are Turning to Jewelry as an Investment Amid Market Volatility'
CNBC, 26 March 2026
Ultra-wealthy buyers are increasingly allocating capital to jewellery, particularly rare coloured gemstones such as rubies, sapphires, and emeralds, as geopolitical uncertainty and soaring gold prices make tangible hard assets more attractive relative to handbags and other luxury categories.
💰'Signet Jewelers Axes 100 Stores and Shuts Two Brands in Major Restructure'
TheStreet, 28 March 2026, TheStreet:
The world's largest diamond retailer is streamlining its portfolio around three core banners — Kay, Zales, and Jared — closing approximately 100 stores and folding James Allen into Blue Nile, as surging gold prices and lab-grown diamond disruption force a structural rethink.
💰'Signet Jewelers CEO J.K. Symancyk Goes One-on-One with Jim Cramer'
CNBC, 19 March 2026, CNBC:
After reporting full-year fiscal 2026 results, Signet's chief executive discussed the company's recovery strategy, bridal market trends, and its outlook for navigating tariffs and record-high gold costs in the year ahead.
💰'As Silver Prices Soar, Jeweller Pandora Turns to Platinum' CBS News, 5 February 2026, CBS News:
The world's largest jewellery brand announced a pilot of platinum-plated bracelets in 30 stores across Northern Europe, with a global rollout planned for later in 2026, as a hedge against soaring silver prices and volatile commodity exposure.
💰'Richemont Beats Sales Forecasts as China Improves'
RTÉ News, 15 January 2026
RTÉ: Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels owner Richemont posted third-quarter sales of €6.4 billion — up 11% at constant exchange rates — beating analyst expectations, with its jewellery maisons rising 14% and China, Hong Kong and Macau returning to growth.
💰'CaratLane Eyes Retail Expansion with 40 New Stores Across India in FY27'
Business Standard, 29 March 2026, Business Standard:
Tata Group-backed jewellery brand CaratLane, which also has a US store in New Jersey and a second Dallas location imminent, plans to add 40 outlets in its next financial year as it pursues aggressive domestic and international growth.
💎'Taylor Swift's iHeartRadio Music Awards 2026 Red Carpet Outfit Proves Sequins Are Forever'
Gabrielle Chung, 26 March 2026, Marie Claire
Taylor Swift made her first red carpet appearance of 2026 at the iHeartRadio Music Awards in a custom mint green Wiederhoeft corset set, pairing it with Dena Kemp ombre tourmaline earrings, a Spinelli Kilcollin tennis bracelet, and the engagement ring by Kindred Lubeck for Artifex Fine — marking its first awards-show appearance alongside fiancé Travis Kelce.
💎'Taylor Swift Wears $11,000 Diamond Ring by Lebanese Designer Selim Mouzannar at iHeartRadio Music Awards'
Staff Reporter, 27 March 2026, The National
Alongside her Kindred Lubeck engagement ring, Taylor Swift showcased a striking 18k rose gold and diamond Beirut Rosace ring by French-Lebanese designer Selim Mouzannar — worth $11,070 — drawing attention to an independent jeweller rarely seen on mainstream red carpets.
💎'Gemma Chan Wears Steve O Smith to the Cartier High Jewellery Taipei Event'
Staff Reporter, 30 March 2026, Red Carpet Fashion Awards
Cartier hosted a gala dinner in Taipei to unveil the third and final chapter of its En Equilibre High Jewellery Collection — featuring over 350 creations spanning high jewellery and fine watchmaking — with ambassador Gemma Chan in attendance, making it one of the most significant brand presentations of the spring season.
💎 'iHeartRadio Music Awards 2026 Red Carpet Fashion: See Every Celebrity Look'
Gabrielle Chung, Tionah Lee, 26 March 2026, E! Online
The 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards red carpet served as a showcase for contemporary fine jewellery, with Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce making their first joint awards-show appearance, while broader coverage spotlighted mixed-brand jewellery stacking as a dominant styling approach among attendees.
👗'Current Price of Silver as of Tuesday, March 31, 2026'
Staff Reporter, 31 March 2026, Fortune
Silver closed March sharply lower — recording its worst monthly decline since 2011 — as soaring oil prices linked to the Iran conflict reignited inflation fears and destroyed the Fed rate-cut expectations that had underpinned the metal's exceptional industrial and investment demand narrative throughout the prior year.
👗'Diavik Diamond Mine Marks Last Day of Production in N.W.T.'
Staff Reporter, 26 March 2026, BNN Bloomberg
Rio Tinto's closure of the Diavik mine — combined with a broader diamond sector downturn driven by lab-grown stone competition — leaves only two operating diamond mines in Canada's Northwest Territories, marking a structural contraction in the global natural diamond supply chain whose long-term pricing implications for jewellers remain significant.
👗'Forecast of Fashion Trends on the Red Carpet in 2026'
Staff Reporter, March 2026, Red Carpet Fashion Awards
Analysing data across the Golden Globes, Grammys, BAFTAs, and Oscars, this feature identifies five red carpet jewellery and fashion trends set to carry through 2026: architectural black gowns, feathered silhouettes, sheer construction, single-statement diamond jewels, and Tiffany & Co. as the dominant jewellery house across all ceremonies.
👗'Red Carpet to Real Life: 6 Jewelry Trends to Try at Home'
Staff Reporter, 26 March 2026, Stacker / North Country Now
Jewellers Mutual's trends expert identifies six practical jewellery directions consumers are drawing from the 2026 awards season: collar necklaces, bold brooches, soft geometry, modern stacking, quiet luxury, and timeless gemstones in contemporary settings — with coloured diamonds and vintage stones performing especially strongly.
👗'Hong Kong Palace Museum Unveils 'Treasures of Global Jewellery from The Metropolitan Museum of Art''
Staff Reporter, 27 March 2026, Alt Africa / HKPM
The Hong Kong Palace Museum announced its landmark joint exhibition with The Metropolitan Museum of Art — presenting around 200 jewellery masterpieces spanning 4,000 years and five continents — opening 15 April 2026 and marking the Met's first major international travelling show of its encyclopaedic jewellery collection.
💍'Jewels in Motion: The Most Dazzling High Jewellery Collections of 2026'
Staff Reporter, March 2026, Grazia Middle East
Grazia's survey of the season's standout debuts spotlights Cartier's third En Equilibre chapter — with its Euphonia ruby necklace, the Ondora jellyfish piece in chrysoprase and turquoise, and the 34-diamond Splendea ribbon — as well as Chaumet's transformable Envol wing tiara and Fred's 90th-anniversary Force 10 diamond tassels.
💍'Cartier Reveals Third Chapter of En Equilibre High Jewellery at Taipei Gala'
Staff Reporter, 30 March 2026, Red Carpet Fashion Awards
Cartier unveiled the final chapter of its En Equilibre High Jewellery Collection in Taipei — comprising over 350 pieces across high jewellery and fine watchmaking — closing a trilogy of global presentations that began in Stockholm and continued in Beijing, marking the house's most ambitious travelling high jewellery programme in recent memory.
💍'Rio Tinto Exits Diamond Mining at Diavik After 150M Carats, Accelerating Global Supply Contraction'
Edahn Golan, 28 March 2026, EdahnGolan.com
An analytical assessment of Rio Tinto's diamond market exit argues that the Diavik closure — following Argyle's 2020 shut-down — accelerates a structural tightening in natural rough diamond supply at the same moment that lab-grown stone competition is suppressing prices, creating a complex and paradoxical moment for the industry.
💍'Significant Selection of Ancient Art & Jewellery Is For Offer at Apollo Art Auctions'
Globe Newswire, 27 March 2026, Globe Newswire / AP
London-based Apollo Art Auctions announced a two-day sale on 11–12 April featuring ancient jewellery and beads from Roman, Egyptian, and Near Eastern civilisations spanning the third millennium BC to the 18th century AD, including pieces from The Prince Collection and items published in 'The Gold of the Pharaohs.'
💍'What to Watch: Jewelry Continues to Shine, With Creativity Enhancing Expensive Commodities'
Staff Reporter, January 2026, WWD
Soaring gold prices are forcing designers to rethink production methods — pressing platinum and silver into greater use, reducing gold weight in pieces, and investing more in design distinctiveness — as Stephen Webster and other leading jewellers confirm they have never seen commodity prices behave as they did in 2025.
🏛️'Dynastic Jewels: Napoleon's Sword and Queen Victoria's Tiaras Among the Highlights in Paris'
WWD, 10 December 2025, Women's Wear Daily:
The Al Thani Collection and the Victoria and Albert Museum have assembled over 100 royal and imperial jewels — including Catherine the Great's diamond dress ornaments and a crown commissioned by Napoleon — for a landmark exhibition at the Hôtel de la Marine in Paris, running until 6 April 2026.
🏛️'Paris Exhibition Celebrates 100 Years of Art Deco Design'
WWD, 20 October 2025, Women's Wear Daily:
The Musée des Arts Décoratifs has mounted a 1,200-object centenary retrospective of the Art Deco movement — including archival Cartier brooches, hardstone pieces by Boucheron, and Van Cleef & Arpels jewels — tracing the style's evolution from its 1925 origins to the present day, open until 26 April 2026.
🏛️'The V&A Opens Landmark Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art Exhibition'
The Design Editions, 28 March 2026, The Design Editions:
The Victoria and Albert Museum's first-ever UK survey of the House of Schiaparelli — spanning over 400 objects from Elsa Schiaparelli's surrealist jewellery and accessories to Daniel Roseberry's present-day creations — opened this week in the Sainsbury Gallery and runs until 8 November 2026.
