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Saturday, April 9, 2011
A large trade in gem-grade diamonds exists. Unlike other commodities, such as most precious metals, there is a substantial mark-up in the retail sale of gem diamonds.[53]There is a well-established market for resale of polished diamonds (e.g. pawnbroking, auctions, second-hand jewelry stores, diamantaires, bourses, etc.). One hallmark of the trade in gem-quality diamonds is its remarkable concentration: wholesale trade and diamond cutting is limited to just a few locations; In 2003, 92% of the world's diamonds were cut and polished in Surat, India.[54] Other important centers of diamond cutting and trading are Antwerp, where the International Gemological Institute is based, London, New York City, Tel Aviv, and Amsterdam. A single company—De Beers—controls a significant proportion of the trade in diamonds.[55] They are based in Johannesburg, South Africa and London, England. One contributory factor is the geological nature of diamond deposits: several large primary kimberlite-pipe mines each account for significant portions of market share (such as the Jwaneng mine in Botswana, which is a single large pit operated by De Beers that can produce between 12,500,000 carats (2,500 kg) to 15,000,000 carats (3,000 kg) of diamonds per year,[56]) whereas secondary alluvial diamond deposits tend to be fragmented amongst many different operators because they can be dispersed over many hundreds of square kilometers (e.g., alluvial deposits in Brazil).
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