An Indian diamond manufacturer shared with me his decision to send a few thousand workers home and to supply throughout 2009 all existing clients from his inventory. He will review the situation within a year, and when the decision is made to restart manufacturing, he’ll need between two and three months to implement such a re-opening. Read More...

While my inbox is cluttered with many wishes for a better 2009, there is also an alarming pile of “bad news.” This latter category refers to the phenomenon where diamond dealers under stress and in pain decide to try to survive by deceiving and even defrauding their colleagues or their banks. Read More...

During the holiday season we tend to reflect on events that have taken place thousands of years ago and rediscover their relevancy for present times. From a historical perspective, the diamond industry is still very young; its history is measured in decades or, at best, a few hundred years. Read More...

Though we are generally supportive of the NGOs Global Witness and Partnership Africa Canada (PAC), their calls for the suspension of Zimbabwe from the Kimberley Process (KP) are totally misplaced and will only widen the suffering of the Zimbabwean people, while benefiting no one. Read More...

“As a military helicopter hovered over the diamond fields of Chiadzwa in eastern Zimbabwe, police on horseback moved in with attack dogs to remove thousands of illegal diggers who had poured in, hoping to get rich. The diggers resisted, attacking the dogs with iron bars. The police opened fire from the helicopter, routing them. By the time it was all over, dozens lay dead.” Read More...

During the present economic crisis, our collective (and journalistic) attention is so focused on the major issues that otherwise-also-important stories take a backseat. However, journalistic fairness requires us to follow up on a particular Diamond Dealers Club-related arbitration story we covered earlier this year. An arbitration proceeding in which a $641,736.23 judgment was handed against an Israeli diamantaire... Read More...

We are so preoccupied with “preserving consumer confidence” that in any situation we will flash a smile and assert that things are beautiful...that the diamond is forever. Read More...

One of the first victims in any crisis situation is ‘hard information’ – potentially impacted people are reacting to rumors, to uncertainties, and too often panic becomes the driver of ‘rational’ decision making. Just ask any banker about runs on the bank. Read More...

In a letter to clients, Alrosa’s VP Oulin wrote, “Your company is one of Alrosa’s principal partners and has a record of long-term and successful cooperation with us. We look forward to a fruitful continuation of our business relationship and invite you to take an active part in the October trading session.” Read More...

At the same time that governments and central banks were pouring trillions of dollars into the world’s financial markets to save them, De Beers pooled all of its resources in preparation for launching the single-greatest consumer advertising blitz in the history of the company. It isn’t just throwing good money away. Though De Beers has no illusions, it recognizes a real opportunity to increase the share spent on diamonds out of the total consumer expenditure. Read More...