The trading week opens quiet: De Beers Sight 9 begins tomorrow, the first dated test of September's small-stone firmness

Quotes have not moved since September's RAPI, so the 0.50ct at +2.5% and the 1ct at +0.3% remain the last real reading, and the small-stone lead is the only firmness on the board. There is nothing to requote on the desk this morning: the rupee is flat near 94.9 to the dollar, the shekel and euro sit within the quoting threshold, and gold near $4,008 an ounce is barely changed on the day. The 7.25% drop it now shows since September 25 is mostly the result of the sliding base date rather than a fresh fall, a jewelry-metal cost signal rather than a stone-price one.

The quiet ends tomorrow. De Beers Sight 9 runs from October 26 to 30 and opens Monday, the first dated test of whether September's small-stone firmness reaches rough demand. It follows the producer's third-quarter update, which noted the Venetia mine's previously announced two-year pause while raising full-year volume guidance, and opens alongside the Dubai Diamond Conference from October 26 to 27 and JA New York Fall from October 25 to 27.