The tender aims to boost Israel's access to larger rough stones.
Israeli-French auction house, Tzoffey's 1818, will hold two separate tenders of rough diamonds during the International Rough Diamond Week to be held April 12-16.
One of the tenders is of original goods from an African mine, while the other is a tender of rough goods sourced in the open markets of Antwerp, Ramat Gan and Dubai.
Tzoffey's 1818 CEO Avner Sofiov said he was pleased to be participating in the second edition of the International Rough Diamond Week, and to bring rough diamonds direct from an African source to the Israeli rough diamond market.
"Many Israeli rough dealers and diamond manufacturers spend considerable time purchasing rough diamonds from African sources. They make numerous trips per year, but not each buying trip is as successful as they would like it to be. Once on location - and painfully aware of the expenditures of their buying trip - buyers often are cajoled into purchasing goods they not necessarily had planned on buying or on paying higher prices for," Sofiov explained.
"With the African tender, we bring goods to these traders' doorstep." The African tender consist of a run-of-mine production and of 4-8 grainers, 5-carat plus, 10-carat plus and a number of attractive specials. "The specials are a variety of stones of 50 carats and up, of good quality," he added.
The second auction comprises of rough goods sourced in the open markets of Antwerp, Ramat Gan and Dubai. "Contrary to the markets' conception that goods in the secondary market are more expensive, the opposite is mostly true. The goods in this tender were submitted - and continue to be submitted - to us by the various owners because they have to keep their inventories moving. This often results in very attractive prices," Sofiov stated. Asked to put a value on both the tenders, he volunteered that the total value of goods to be tendered is "several dozens of millions."
In addition to the Tzoffey's 1818 diamond tenders, the second International Rough Diamond Week will feature a series of rough diamond tenders by Alrosa, De Beers Auction Sales, Rio Tinto Diamonds and I Hennig/ Fusion Alternatives.
