IBK

Diamond Sales Falling, De Beers to keep Prices High

2009-02-22T20:12:00.000-08:00

De Beers mothballs diamond mines as sales slide

By Tom Burgis in Gaborone reporting for the Financial Times

Published: February 23 2009 02:00 | Last updated: February 23 2009 02:00

The world's biggest and most valuable diamond mines have been mothballed since the start of the year when De Beers put its Botswana production on hold as sales of the stones slumped.

The mines, source of half of the group's supply of rough diamonds and nearly a quarter of the world's by value, sold no diamonds in November and "very little" in the subsequent two months, Sheila Khama, chief executive of De Beers' Botswana business, said.

"Debswana [De Beers' mining joint venture with Botswana] hasn't produced all year this year," Ms Khama told the Financial Times. "Why produce what you can't sell?"

The production suspension comes as the credit rating of Botswana is put under pressure from declining diamond revenues.

Global sales of the precious stones, which trade through auction houses and private placements rather than commodity markets, have fallen to a standstill. The US, which normally consumes as much of half of any year's diamonds, is in recession. Diamond cutters, the industry's middlemen, are weighed down with debt and stock they cannot shift to retailers.

Ms Khama could not say when Debswana's four mines - which include Jwaneng, the world's richest by value, and Orapa, the biggest by volume - would restart production. She said the challenge was to retain the "agility" to start up once demand returned.

Ms Khama said: "We think 2009 will be a very difficult year. We think, just based on historic trends, it might turn in 2010. We are saying cut costs because we don't know where the next penny is going to come from."

The mines, the country's largest private-sector employers, had not yet cut their 6,300 staff, Ms Khama said. However, workers at Botswana's downstream operations had had their hours cut.

The southern African country of 1.8m people depends on diamonds for four-fifths of the foreign exchange it earns and about a third of gross domestic product.

Baledzi Gaolathe, finance minister, said in his budget speech this month that diamond revenue would plunge by half this year, with prices down 15 per cent and production in the country down just over a third. In 2007, Debswana's revenues were P102bn, about £9bn-£10bn at today's exchange rate.

Last week, Standard and Poor's, the credit rating agency, warned that it might downgrade its opinion of Botswana's creditworthiness in light of the turmoil in the diamond market.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009

Cylindrical Clear Water Krystal Bag

2009-02-18T08:51:00.000-08:00

At IBK we know that crystal bags are all the range these days and therefore we have taken the time to create a wonderful selection of crystal bags so that you can also sparkle with the glamour of your favourite stars but without spending like one.

Pop princess Ashley Tisdale, who sparkled on the red carpet in a white Roberto Cavalli frock. The High School Musical’s resident diva opted to glamourize her look with a pair of crystal strappy sandals and a matching chic crystal clutch bag that propelled her to a stylish stunner status. Looking for the perfect piece to clinch your grown and a glamours look? Well, look no further than our Cylindrical Clear Water Krystal Bag.

Beyonce Uses Crystal Jewellery

2009-01-28T07:18:00.001-08:00

Dress like a star for less with these fantastic beautiful solid 925 sterling silver and crystal earrings. Even you’re A list celebrities like beyonce are wearing them. Whereas Beyonce’s may well be the true diamond version (which cost thousands of dollars) at IBK we have the exact same replicar for just a fraction of the price.

These Tiffany Inspired Drop Stud Earrings are made of solid 925 sterling silver. Their unique French wire design showcases a dazzling 2-karat round-cut diamond Crystal in a 4-prong setting. They are 0.85 inches in length, and have a delicate feel while fitting snugly to the ears. Different from a Tiffany look-a-like, these French wire drop stud earrings are made with quality materials.

You don’t have to pay a fortune to experience the magic of these eye-catching items. They’re available to you at an affordable price! To sparkle, or not to sparkle? At IBK we say sparkle. And shine. And save! For pierced ears only.

See our full range on affordable jewellery at our fully functioning, shopping cart driven web site here at www.ibkrystals.com

Welcome to IBK

2009-01-09T09:40:00.000-08:00

Innovative Beautiful Krystals (IBK), is a fashion jewellery company which designs, manufactures and distributes Krystal jewellery and accessories. Our main goal is to offer a highly unique range of products and provide an extremely distinctive customer service experience. We offer complimentary bridal consultations, and work hard to ensure that your beauty is truly enhanced by our products on your special day.

Established in 1999, our aim is to provide our customers with a range of Innovative Beautiful Krystal products that are exclusive to IBK. We pride ourselves on being different from everyone else on the market and are constantly striving to introduce exciting new designs and ideas into our product collections.

At IBK we pursue fashion with passion, daring innovation to produce truly innovative Beautiful designs.

Our entire Bridal range is handmade, with time taken to stone each Tiara by hand to adorn the beautiful bride.

Diamonds are a girls best friend, well Krystals are the next best thing, but without the expense. Even though the Krystals are not diamonds their sparkle is absolutely outstanding. We have chosen 925 sterling silver as the main precious metal, to be combined with our Krystals. Although our entire wedding ring collection is made from 18 karate Gold.

At IBK we are continually producing innovation from our creations.

Whilst predominantly the source of IBK Krytsals is from the Swiss Alps in Switzerland, they truly are the most purest on the market today. Even though they are not diamonds their sparkle is absolutely outstanding.

IBK Krystals are valued for their outstanding beauty. IBK Krystals are made from pure Austrian Crystal. The crystal is considered by many people to be the finest quality, full-lead crystal made today. It contains a minimum of 32%PbO, making the crystal optically very pure. The crystal is then faceted with tremendous precision, creating beautiful prisms.

Brilliant colours and/or coatings are added to these crystals to create pendants, stones, and beads of dazzling beauty and tremendous variety of shapes and sizes. IBK Krystal is unmatched in quality and distinction. Semi-Precious Jewellery is any gemstones valued for their beauty but which are not one of the four "precious stones", (emerald, diamond, ruby or sapphire).

Some examples of semiprecious stones are amethyst, aventurine, carnelian, garnet, opal, peridot, rose quartz, etc. A semi-precious stone is the naturally occurring crystalline form of a mineral which is desirable for its beauty and is used in jewellery. Semi-precious stones are available in many jewellery forms; we have used innovation to create our own unique eye-catching range.

All of our jewellery items are handcrafted using high quality gems. At IBK we have chosen 925 Sterling Silver as the main precious metal to accompany our Krystals. Hence our entire Krystal range is made from 925 Sterling Silver. Like gold, silver can be alloyed with other metals to improve its durability. Sterling silver is the industry standard containing 925 parts silver and 75 parts of another metal, usually copper.

Pieces made from sterling silver are marked 925 to assure silver content. Hence all of or sterling silver products are stamped with the 925 Hallmark to ensure authenticity. Items marked 18K or 750 have 750 parts gold out of 1000, or 75% pure gold.

Hence our entire Wedding Ring collection is stamped with the 18K or 750 hallmark. Like Silver gold can also be alloyed with other metals to enhance durability and strength. The alloy itself does not effect the value of the jewellery, which is instead determined by the labour and craftsmanship involved in making the piece.