This article via Boing Boing, is really amazing. It tells the bloodless side of the diamond industry, up until 1982 when it was originally published. The bloody side, which has been getting more and more attention lately, is wicked in its own right, but if you read this, it seems all the worse.
The whole story is interesting (with the exception of the last couple of pages). Highlights include:a discussion on the fourth page of the surprise factor of diamonds and the victorian social requirements for women to present a veneer of chastity; and a couple of choice quotes
"The British financiers who had organized the South African mines quickly realized that their investment was endangered; diamonds had little intrinsic value—and their price depended almost entirely on their scarcity. The financiers feared that when new mines were developed in South Africa, diamonds would become at best only semiprecious gems." (regarding the situation in 1870)
"By the mid-1980s, the avalanche of Australian diamonds will be pouring onto the market. Unless the resourceful managers of De Beers can find a way to gain control of the various sources of diamonds that will soon crowd the market, these sources may bring about the final collapse of world diamond prices."
It's amazing how long this tulip-market has been preserved. Please don't buy diamonds for any non-industrial, non-LP related reason.
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