The diamond market – Lesson 5

The practices and rules that regulate the world of diamonds are not well known. This lack of knowledge may lead to misinformation.
You will probably ignore that the Earth doesn’t “produce” new diamonds.
Younger diamonds have at least 900,000 years, while “geologically” older ones are over 3 billion years old!
Diamond trade consists of two parts: the rough market and the polished market.
The first includes anything from mining activities up until the selection of rough diamonds suitable for the manufacturers for cutting process.
The second includes all actions taking place later, up to the final consumer finger…
The supply chain has to respect the UN scheme called the Kimberley Process.
The major diamond miners belong to public companies listed in a stock exchange like the former monopolist De Beers (Anglo American) and Rio Tinto, or belong to government agencies such as the giant Alrosa, Russia.
Rough diamonds are sold directly to manufacturers with scheduled auctions or through the main “secondary market” based in Antwerp, Belgium which is the only one rough diamond exchange in the world where even the smallest manufacturer can buy a single rough diamond.