Strong diamond prices expected

"We should see very strong prices," Ernie Blom, also a founding member of the World Diamond Council, said in a telephone interview. He pointed out that the current supply shortfall would last for the foreseeable future, propping up prices, but declined to give a percentage prediction for price increases this year.

Former top-rated diamond analyst James Allan, now a partner at consultancy firm Allan Hochreiter, said that he expected "modest" price increases in 2008, of around 5 percent across the board.