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Diamond World
Diamond World consists of one of the most famous well known international diamond dealers, the DeBeers Corporation. In the diamond world, DeBeers Corporation engage in the entire diamond industry:
DeBeers Consolidated Mines was started by a merger with Cecil Rhodes and Barney Barnato companies in 1888. Rhodes started as the founder of DeBeers by renting water pumps to miners during the diamond rush at Kimberley, South Africa in 1867. He bought up claims of small mining operators from the profits of his operation and expanded into a separate mining company.
Rhodes negotiated a strategic agreement with the London-based Diamond Syndicate, which agreed to purchase a fixed quantity of diamonds at an agreed price in 1889. This agreement allowed DeBeers, with their joint ventures, to become the largest and world renown diamond corporations. They have many family businesses and joint ventures. Their mining activities are in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Canada. In the diamond world: dealers, traders, jewelers, and miners, over 50 industry organizations worldwide, as of 2000, are represented by the World Diamond Council (WDC) to insure all diamond trading activities are not being expolited for illegal purposes. This concern came as a result of the industry-wide response to the problem of rough diamonds being used by rebel groups in parts of Africa to finance civil wars. A new tracking system was developed to implement the export and import of rough diamonds.
Photo Diamond in the Rough The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme was established in 2003, after three years of negotiating the process, to set up an international diamond certification scheme to tackle the problems of the civil wars. This certification was endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly and the United Nations Security Council. All countries that signed up for the certification agreed to only trade rough diamonds with other participating countries. This cooperation between the countries guarantees the origin of the diamonds and gives written proof they have not been used for illegal purposes. This process is in the right direction, but they still have a long way to go.
Photo A Clean Diamond of Africa Today, diamond world is changing, the diamond trading is shifting to India and China. Most Indian diamond dealers live in Antwerp, Belgium. The Indians represent 2/3rds of the $26 billion diamond trade in Antwerp compared to 1/4th of the Hasidic Jews, who once dominated the diamond share in Antwerp, Belgium. The Hasidic Jews and Indians together dominate the diamond market and interact socially as well. In Antwerp, 80% of all the rough diamonds and close to half of the polished diamonds are traded. Hundreds of Hasidic dealers have left the trade, India and China have tranformed the diamond district in Antwerp. Dubai, a new competitor is also seeking a share in the global diamond trade by offering new facilities and incentives. A Diamond Professional Louping a Stone
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