Posted on 08/18/2003 9:12:19 AM PDT by bedolido
http://www.jckgroup.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA317139&industry=Gemstones+and+Pearls&industryid=704&webzine=jck&publication=jck
As for the value of diamonds, I learned my lesson twenty plus years ago. I met and befriended a 47th Street cutter (we'll call him Sigmond S.) He had a good side thing going with me and a few others, mostly Filipina Nurses. We would find prospective buyers through our own network. These folks were usually in their 20s & 30s and about to get engaged. I would take them out to look at the usual outlets to get a sense of what they wanted and how much they wanted to pay. Then I would ask if they wanted the same quality for half price or twice the stone for the same price. Siggy would then give me an envelope of stones from which the buyer would choose. Siggy requested a set price for each. What I got beyond that was not his concern. I never signed for anything with him. I would usually double what Siggy wanted and I still saved the buyer a minimum of 40%. Everybody was happy....and I learned that a diamond is nothing but a rock whose market value is determined only by the relative ignorance of the buyer.
It had to be so that the eye would work right.
Prepaid divorce attorneys.
(Smirk)
Plus which, it confers immunity to brain control waves, and sharpens any knives placed directly under it.
Or maybe a razor you can shave with for a year. Personally, I see no end to the potential practical applications of these technologies. Eyeglasses, lightweight armor-piercing ammunition, scratch-proof optical storage media, etc.
A Fidelity mutual fund. Of course. (j/k)
But what would you need to use for a cutting board? Another diamond surface?
But can it be laser shaped by ablation?
Ummm, laser?
You say it was no coincidence it was a diamond dealer who was arrested in the arms transfer deal last week. Do you have the slightest proof that diamonds played any role at all in that arrangement? They didn't, except in your overheated imagination. The guy was a crook who happened to be a diamond dealer, and had an illegal money transfer business. There are lots of people with flexible ethics in any sort of business, especially if they specialize in large-money overseas transactions. It could just as easily have been heavy machinery, chemicals, etc. Check out:
http://www.jckgroup.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA317142&industry=Security&industryid=687&webzine=jck&publication=jck
Why are people willing to spend large sums of money for " a rock whose market value is determined only by the relative ignorance of the buyer" as you contend? Well, maybe you and Siggy were selling spread or swindled fish-eye stones, or carbon-on-a-stick that would be rejected by any gemologist with two eyes -- only you know that. Selling stones like that does require an ignorant buyer or a dishonest seller.
But most people value diamonds for their rarity (yes, fine diamonds are rare), as well as their unique physical properties: the hardest natural substance known to man, their beautiful white color, the ability to refract light an extreme amount (R.I. 2.42), their ability to throw off beautiful rainbow colors (dispersion 0.044); their clarity and the quality of the laborious cutting.
There's no doubt that Indian Mogul emperors desired diamonds for that reason long before DeBeers came into existence. So did European courts which created crown jewels with stones found in the legendary fields of Golconda and Indonesia. The diamond cutting industry was established in India first, and later in Europe in the 1400s.
In recent years diamonds have become more of a commodity, especially since the advent of GIA diamond certificates, the internet and the Rapaport guide. An informed buyer can hammer out a very good deal on diamonds with some homework. Snob appeal is a very human trait. I was laughing last night at a TV program about the rich merchants of Medieval Venice, Italy. They built huge mansions and their consumption became so conspicuous that the rulers sent down an edict controlling the length of dresses women could wear because the trains were becoming cumbersome. The ladies got around that by teetering around on super high-lift shoes that allowed them to wear longer dresses.
Yes, DeBeers will continue to be a major player in diamonds, but 60% control isn't the 85 to 90% of years past. And despite DeBeers' Canadian fields coming on line, the Russians have the hole card with their bulging storehouses full of beautiful white Siberian diamonds. Will they continue to market through DeBeers? Will they try to compete outside the cartel, as Canada's Sirius has done with its Polar Diamonds? Buy your popcorn and get a good seat -- it's going to be quite a show.
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