Diamonds have been identified as being precious but expensive gems for many decades. Diamonds were extremely rare, only found in India and Brazil until the late nineteenth century (Vogelsang, 2005: 5). After the discovery of diamonds in South Africa, the diamond industry began to flourish. Diamonds then became very abundant and cheap to produce. In order for the value of diamonds to remain as high as they were during the phase in which they were still rare, a diamond cartel was introduced. A cartel is defined as a group of firms that gets together to make output and price decisions (Cartel Theory of Oligopoly, n.d.). Hence, the diamond cartel aimed to maintain high prices to maximise the profits of the suppliers by restricting the supply. This essay will analyse the history of the diamond cartel, including diagrams that illustrate what the price of diamonds would be with or without the use of a cartel. The notion that diamonds are the only suitable stone that can be used in engagement rings will also be commented on. Furthermore, specific attention will be placed on the role of the diamond cartel in determining the price of diamonds. In 1867, huge diamond deposits were accidently discovered near the Orange River in South Africa. Cecil John Rhodes arrived at Kimberley Mine in 1874 and eventually began purchasing claims in the surrounding mines. Rhodes established DeBeers Consolidated Mines in 1888 to manage his assets. DeBeers allowed Rhodes and other suppliers to control the all-inclusive supply of diamonds by setting high market prices and regulating the output of diamonds into the market (Spar, 2006: 197). Ernest Oppenheimer gained control of DeBeers in 1929, after the death of Rhodes in 1902. The Central Selling Organisation... ... middle of paper ... ...14, April 16]. 2. De Beers fighting to restore monopoly; challenges lie ahead. 2011. Available: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-03-24/news/37981320_1_world-diamond-council-alrosa-rio-tinto [2014, April 16]. 3. A Diamond Market no longer controlled by De Beers. Available: http://www.kitco.com/ind/Zimnisky/2013-06-06-A-Diamond-Market-No-Longer-Controlled-By-De-Beers.html [2014, April 15]. 4. Lab-Created Diamond FAQ | Gemesis Lab-Created Diamonds. 2014. Available: http://gemesis.com/education/faqs/ [2014, April 18]. 5. Parkin, M. 2012. Economics. Cape Town, South Africa: Pearson Education South Africa. p. 275. 6. Spar, D. 2006. The Journal of Economic Perspectives. American Economic Association. pp. 195-197. 7. Vogelsang, I. 2005. The International Diamond Cartel. pp. 5-7. Available: http://are.berkeley.edu/~sberto/debers.pdf [2014, April 16].
Deep within African mines, elusive diamonds lay enveloped in the Earth’s crust. Possessing much influence, beauty, and tension, nature’s hardest known substance causes parallel occurrences of unity and destruction on opposite sides of the globe. Diamonds, derived from the Greek word "adamas", meaning invincible, are formed deep within the mantle, and are composed entirely from carbon. Moreover, only under tremendous amounts of heat and pressure can diamonds form into their preliminary crystal state. In fact, diamonds are formed approximately 150km- 200km below the surface and at radical temperatures ranging from 900-1300 C°. When these extremes meet, carbon atoms are forced together creating diamond crystals. Yet how do these gems, ranking a ten on Moh’s hardness scale, impact the individual lives of millions of people besides coaxing a squeal out of brides-to-be? These colorless, yellow, brown, green, blue, reddish, pink, grey and black minerals are gorgeous in their cut state, but how are these otherwise dull gems recognized and harvested? Furthermore, how and why is bloodshed and violence caused over diamonds in Africa, the supplier of approximately 65% of the world’s diamonds? (Bertoni) The environmental, social, and economic impact of harvesting, transporting, and processing diamonds is crucial because contrary to popular belief, much blood has been spilled over first-world “bling”.
Norris, Floyd. "Bausch & Lomb and S.E.C. Settle Dispute on '93 Profits." The New York Times. The New York Times, 18 Nov. 1997. Web. 16 May 2014.
Abelli, H. (2007). Mountain Man Brewing Company: Bringing the brand to light. (2069) Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing.
Analysis Introduction This project belongs in the engineering-efficiency category; therefore, it has to fit at least 3 of 4 performance hurdles, which are 1. Impact on EPS; 2.Payback; 3.Discounted cash flow and 4. Internal rate of return. In this article, some of those involved explained and described their opinions; however, professional knowledge may have been lacking.
In “ “Blood Diamonds” and Africa’s Armed Conflicts in the Post – Cold War Era, “ Orogun (2004) said that diamonds are referring as “clean stones”. This article explains about the black market is really happening in African. I am using this article to support how the black market of diamond trades is still not regulated, and they defined it as “licit” trade.
The cocaine commodity chains play a big role in the history of illicit commodity chains in North America. The origins of the chain begun in the Andes when the drug was found in coca leaves discovered in the 1800’s. In the first paragraph of my essay I’m going to touch on the history of the commodity chain, however my main focus will be on the growth of the chain in North America between 1950 and 2000, the geographical regions, spatial logistics and organization.
Final contribution of de beers to the diamond pipeline is the promotion of diamond jewelry for the industry; through advertising campaigns developed from extensive market research; trade promotional activities and jewelry design competitions
Some of the highest producing diamond mines are countries in Africa. Countries that had some of the highest rate of conflict were Angola, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. The ...
It’s hard to imagine that a mineral could be fueling wars and funding corrupt governments. This mineral can be smuggled undetected across countries in a coat pocket, then be sold for vast amounts of money. This mineral is used in power tools, parts of x-ray machines, and microchips but mostly jewelry. Once considered the ultimate symbol of love, the diamond has a darker story. "Blood" diamonds or "conflict" diamonds are those mined, polished, or traded in areas of the world where the rule of law does not exist. They often originate in war-torn countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone, Angola, and Côte d'Ivoire were rebels use these gems to fund genocide or other questionable objectives. Even with a system known as the Kimberly process which tracks diamonds to prevent trade of these illicit gems, infractions continue as the process is seriously flawed. The continuation of the blood diamond trade is inhuman, and unethical, and in order to cease this illicit trade further action to redefine a conflict diamond, as well as reform to the diamond certification prosess is nessasary.
The film marker is trying to raise awareness of the illicit conflict diamond trade and reinforcing the Kimberley process1 and showing how it will stem the flow of conflict diamonds. This is successful mainly due to the public outburst after the movie. The great impact of the movie has caused diamond companies like De Beers2 to start a pre-emptive PR (public relationship) campaign, even before the movie was released to inform people that their diamonds are conflict-free.
For the past sixty-seven years, the citizens of India have embraced their country’s independence all the while seeking to regain their past. Prior to this renewed sense of freedom, India had belonged to the British Empire. From 1858 to 1947, the British government claimed India and its inhabitants as a colonial possession. Before the British Empire laid claim to the vastness of India, the British East India Company helped to oversee the transfer of the Kohinoor Diamond from the Sikh Empire to their motherland in 1851.
Santarossa, B. (2004, January 13). Diamonds: Adding lustre to the Canadian economy. Retrieved November 06, 2017, from https://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-621-m/11-621-m2004008-eng.htm
ix. Since India already enjoys 80-85 per cent of the world CPD market, scope for further growth in diamond exports is limited. Hence, if India's gems and jewellery sector is to substantially increase exports, the best bet lies in the jewellery sub-sector. Given the fact that the global market for stone-studded jewellery is expanding, there is scope for expansion in India’s diamond-studded jewellery exports as well.
Is it a big change to support what's going to happen to steel industry in the future?
One morning, a well-known gentleman went into a bank in London, and was received immediately by Mr. Alexander Holder, head of the bank. He asked for a loan of fifty thousand Pounds. Mr. Holder asked him to present collateral to cover that large sum of money; the man showed him a crown that belongs to the country. Knowing the risk, Mr. Holder agreed to lend the gentleman that large sum of money if he pays it back in a few days. After the gentleman left Mr. Holder decided to keep the crown all the time near by him, so he took the crown to his home in Streatham. There he lived with his only son Arthur and his niece Mary who was an orphan. He told them about his story with the crown of diamonds. When the father was going to sleep, Arthur asked for two hundred pounds. He refused to give him thinking his son was spoiled by his rich friends who had nothing to do except watch horses. Before going to sleep, he went to check that all windows and doors were locked. He saw Mary at a side window at the hall. She closed it quickly, and Holder noticed that she looked anxious. After he went to sleep, he heard some noise that woke him up; he waited until he heard it again coming from his sitting room. He jumped out of his bed and saw his son holding the crown broken from the side and three diamonds were missing. In grief, he accused Arthur of being a thief and a liar. Meanwhile Mary came in and seeing the crown fainted. Arthur asked if he could leave for five minutes but Holder refused and called the police to take his only beloved son to jail. The police searched the house but could not find anything and advised Holder to get the help of Mr. Holmes the famous detective.