WORLD'S ROUGH DIAMONDS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 646, 25 February 1914, Page 3

WORLD'S ROUGH DIAMONDS.

WeeHy sales of uncut diamonds are r.ot held in London throughout ihe year. The London Diamond Syndicate, an association of some half-dozen immensely wealthy firms, practically controls the whole market in uncut diamonds by virtue of a yearly contract with the South African mineowners.

The bulk of uncut diamonds exported from the mines reaches London in weekly consignments, which are received in London by the syndicate, and sorted into a series of grades, from the pure-white stones of finest water, white. Cape white, yellow, etc., down to the dark-coloured and least valuable stones. Good shape is also a consideration taken into account in the sorting process. When the work of arrangement has been completed, the brokers are advised as to the number and character of the series for disposal. Prices are quoted at the same timei, and they are never haggled over, the lots being bought as they stand by brokers acting for the polishers of Antwerp, Amsterdam, New York, and other places. It is a convention in the trade that the buyer of one quality has no opportunity of inspecting the purchases of another, thus eliminating anything in the nature of a public auction. The value of the stones passing through the firm's hands reaches £6,000,000 a year.