London—The Diamond Trading Co.'s (DTC) last two sights of the year will be reduced in size, the DTC confirmed in an e-mail to National Jeweler.

DTC spokeswoman Louise Prior said the sights, scheduled for Nov. 3-7 and Dec. 8-12, will be smaller than those held earlier in the year.

The reasons for the smaller sights include decreased diamond demand from sightholders in the face of the global economic crisis and because the last two sights of the year are always smaller, due to the Indian festival Diwali and that the majority of holiday orders already have been placed.

In addition, Prior said, the DTC will be sharing its fourth-quarter plans with sightholders at the November sight.

Earlier in the year, the DTC made headlines when it announced that its prices for rough diamonds increased a cumulative average of 16 percent over the course of the year.

This includes as much as a 15 percent increase in the price of larger, higher-quality rough, which is in high demand worldwide.

The announcement on the cumulative increase was the result of a request by sightholders.