A quiet close to the week: De Beers Sight 9 opens Monday, the first dated test of September's firmness in smaller stones

💎 Polished — Quotes have not moved since September's RAPI. The smaller stones still lead, with the 0.50-carat index up 2.5 percent for the month and the 1-carat index barely positive at 0.3 percent, and no new reading has shifted inventory valuations in three weeks. The main currencies also stayed within their normal ranges, with the rupee steady near 94.8 to the dollar.

The one macro mover worth noting is gold, which has eased about 6.7 percent since late September to roughly $4,028 an ounce. That lowers the metal cost in a finished piece but does not change the price of the stone itself.

📅 On the radar — De Beers Sight 9 runs from Monday, October 26, through October 30. It is the first dated test of whether September's firmness in the smaller stones carries into the rough buying cycle, and it follows the producer's third-quarter update, which noted the Venetia mine's previously announced two-year pause while raising full-year production guidance to 25 to 28 million carats, from 21 to 26 million. The Dubai Diamond Conference on October 26 and JA New York Fall from October 25 to 27 open in the same week.