You’ll hear JCK editor-in-chief Victoria Gomelsky and news director Rob Bates talk about the 24 Karat Weekend, including the Gem Awards, updates about crime stats at the Jewelers’ Security Alliance lunch, and some news that broke at the Jewelers’ Vigilance Committee luncheon. This leads to a discussion of a potential increase in restrictions on Russian diamond imports and the complexities of this issue. Victoria asks Rob about his take on falling lab-grown diamond prices. She also shares some insights learned from a presentation about differences in lab-grown diamond quality and how those quality issues occur. Finally, the hosts touch on recent events with banks and their impact on the industry.Sponsored by De Beers: institute.debeers.comShow Notes01:45 24 Karat Weekend05:00 Updates on U.S. sanctions on Russian diamonds13:00 Lab-grown diamond prices15:00 Lab-grown diamond quality variance23:00 Silicon Valley BankEpisode CreditsHosts: Rob Bates and Victoria GomelskyProducer and engineer: Natalie ChometPlugs: @jckmagazine; institute.debeers.comShow Recap24 Karat WeekendRob attended the 24 Karat Gem Awards, while Victoria sadly had to stay home. It was a beautiful event, which included a lovely tribute to Steven Kaiser. JCK writer Amy Elliott (https://www.jckonline.com/writer/amy-elliott/) was up for a media award. Victoria and Rob give a big shout out to Amy, who is a critical member of the JCK edit team and express their pride at her nomination. And they congratulate Michelle Graff, who won this year’s media award.Rob also attended the Jewelers’ Security Alliance (JSA) lunch, where it was reported that last year was the worst for crime that they have seen in a very long time. On the lighter side of things, Rob enjoyed Joe Piscopo’s performance at the 24 Karat Dinner (lots of Sinatra).At the Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC) luncheon, Jeffrey Fisher was presented the Stanley Schechter Award in a warm, emotional ceremony. The speaker at the luncheon was James O’Brien, U.S. sanctions coordinator. He made a bit of news in his speech. He gave an effective, folksy speech about the U.S. efforts to put sanctions on Russia. He’s now involved in one of the largest sanctions packages in U.S. history.Stricter Russian Diamond Sanctions on the Horizon The office of U.S. Sanctions wants to put further restrictions on Russian diamonds to close the “substantial transformations” loophole, which allows Russian diamonds that are cut and polished elsewhere to come into the U.S. While they may not eliminate the legal doctrine of substantial transformations, they may put further restrictions on Russian diamonds including requiring sellers to make a declaration that the diamonds they are are selling are not from Russia. This would be a big change in the market.In a brief interview following O’Brien’s speech, Rob asked what happens if people don’t have the proper information about Russian origin. O’Brien said that you can get into a lot of trouble if you aren’t honest with customs. There are still questions about many of the details, including what the size cut-off would be for these sanctions, and what type of proof would be required.