Tiffany's Looks To Africa As Diamond Industry Shifts

Wall Street Journal:

In a windowless factory in this African village, Tiffany is teaching more than 80 workers to transform raw diamonds into gems for Tiffany engagement rings. As novices recently pressed pea-size stones against whirling blades, a visiting Tiffany executive spied a problem.

Read the whole story: Wall Street Journal

Comments

[loki]

Sounds similar to another diamond buying act of compassion when Cecil Rhodes and a couple buddies bought up Debeers farm through force and extortion methods after a large diamond was found there. That day started over a century of crime,corruption, murder, extortion, slavery, monopoly , price fixing and more that still exist today. Cecil even had a country named after him for his corruption, anyone remember Rhodesia?
Wonder if Tiffany's will try to out due Cecil and friends? Only time will tell.

[Haditup2here]

Can't let Debeers corner the market on exploitation for diamonds.

[washlib]

maybe the "blue box" should be tied with a blo0d-red bow!

[washlib]

nice, their 90% markup ISNT ENOUGH>

what friggen greedy bast4rds!

[washlib]

DeBeers has warehouses FULL of diamonds, and, by cornering the market and via racketeering, have kept prices artificially high for decades. Question is, why does the US govt do NOTHING about it????

Diamonds ARE plentiful.
Diamonds are incredibly overpriced
diamonds are all blood diamonds
diamonds are forever...­.evil.

[poster1122]

Diamonds aren't good or evil. And the problem isn't DeBeers. It's the customers.

DeBeers stockpile notwithstanding, we already have the technology to mass produce diamonds. The only reason they're "valuable" is because consumers want them to be, making a wholly silly distinction between diamonds grown in the earth versus those made in a lab. Consider this, a reason why a lab diamond is so "worthless" is because, being made in a clean room, it's of too high quality to have been produced by nature.

It's actually kind of sick. People want them to be valuable so they are. But if the price were to reflect actual supply and plummet, the same rock would be "worthless".

[Klimb]

"Diamonds aren't good or evil... It's the customers.­"
Just like "guns" argument..­.its the customers.­..
YOU ARE SO SPOT ON...the manner in which we as humans utilize things/ objects in our environment tend to dictate their value.

[loki]

Im sorry but I must disagree. Debeers does hoard diamonds, and they do control the price and output of diamonds world wide. Up until the Aussies told Debeers to take a hike, Debeers controlled 97% of the diamonds in the world. After the Aussies told them to take a hike, the Russians, and then Canadians did as well. Now Debeers still has a healthy 75% of the market and still hoards and releases diamonds on the market to keep prices high, or dumping to hurt competition.
The reason Debeers is still operating and the US gov has done nothing is because they are in London. the UK doesnt mind harboring ruthless monopolies and price fixers. After all, the country itself have a long history of doing just that.
The US wont touch them when they are here because of the wealth. And since the US is an Oligarchy by action , the wealthy like Debeers do what they wish. The US doesnt touch the private invite only Sight sales to sight holders in New York, but 10 years ago debeeers tried to open have satellite stores and debeers only offered to pay a couple million to settle to long standing fine against them for a monopoly, the US said no thanks, we want more. So Debeers pulled the plug on it.

[Klimb]

Biggest diamond processing centers are based in Antwerp and Tel aviv...

[satanlite]

The marriage industry and women are the primary markets for ornamental diamonds. It's an industry rife with fraud, price fixing, murder, and human abuses before the stone even comes out of the ground. Women should cry foul and refuse to wear diamonds or accept diamonds as gifts. Until they do, nothing will change. You can bet your donkey men are not going to do anything as long as a gift of diamonds gets them what they want. Ladies?

[FrTown]

It's troubling how the diamond and illegal drug trades are similar. As long as there are crackheads, there will be suppliers, and hence abuse of the little people at the other end of the supply chain.

[anothervoice]

It's just a stone, pulled from the ground at significant karmic cost and risk of life, with a profit margin that would make you sick.

All so you can validate your love. I can't possibly be communicated any other way. Your trophy must have your imprimatur and scare off all others. Mark your territory. And pick up a stone-encrusted rollie while you're shopping so we'll recognize you by what you can afford.

[jws2346]

Talk about "out sourcing" I'll bet that package in the picture was wrapped in Argentina. This is really a non interest article to me, the only diamond I'll ever deal with is a baseball diamond (no, I'm not married)

[FrTown]

Christmas is around the corner; As we brace for another wave of empty and hollow slogans like "Diamonds are for ever" or "Diamonds are [air-headed] girls' best friends,' Tiff and co et al are laying the grounds for a PR ground attack.

[ADunafraid]

I don't understand why women and black men are so mesmerized by diamonds.

It is a shiny rock whose supply (and ultimately price) is manipulated.

[FrTown]

Constant hammering by the DeBeers and co with ads since the 20's

[DestinationsUnknown]

diamonds are not even a precious stone

s precious stone is worth much more than a diamnond

blood diamonds are a fact

never wanted one nor do I like them

[DestinationsUnknown]

the advertisers and marketing succeeded

[Gover]

A Tiffany's representative had the following to say about the issue of conflict diamonds:

"BUY MORE DIAMONDS!"

[rayjoy]

You mean Tiffany's is looking to buy some blood diamonds? Stay classy, Tiff!

[FrTown]

Diamonds have always been blood tainted. No matter how they spin it.

[rivergirl301]

Even the ones that claim to be "blood free," I don't believe it. Buy zirconium instead.

[satanlite]

You said it. There is no such thing as a human-abuse free diamond.

[NilesCrane]

oh the irony, they are going to sell back the diamonds to the people who mined them at an incredible price hike?

doubt it.

[AnimalLover6]

Tiffany's "wrote off" their diamond mining interests in Sierra Leone, eh? Did they also "write off" its victims? Go to google images and type in: "photos of children mutilated in sierra leone diamond mines." And I'm talking toddlers here.

All people should boycott the blood-diamond slavers, such as Tiffany's.

[Dnietz]

all diamonds are blood diamonds

1 - it is a fake market with a bountiful product that has unlimited shelf life, but somehow it is pound for pound the most expensive item in the world. the entire industry is fake and needs to be destroyed. all the execs of the biggest companies should be arrested and charged with crimes against humanity.

2 - whether your diamonds came from blood soaked hands or not, by buying any diamonds at all you indirectly support the market in general. if you support the market, then you are indirectly helping the people with the bloody hands

i can't believe to this day how many people that know this to be true just continue to support this industry. i have a friend that i respect greatly. she is intelligent, educated, has a professional job, is a liberal progressive and occasionally volunteers for campaigns. she gets very offended at even the suggestion that people should quit buying and boycott all diamonds. ""i love my jewelry" is what i hear. how can anyone like me listen to this and not completely lose faith?

[NilesCrane]

did you know that ink is the most expensive liquid in the world? crazy huh?

[MicheleCA]

Raise Hope for the Congo

Conflict Minerals In the Congress

Introduced by Senators Brownback (R-KS), Durbin (D-IL), and Feingold (D-WI), the "Congo Conflict Minerals Act of 2009" (S. 891) will bring the resources of the U.S. government to bear on a critical economic driver of conflict in eastern Congo: the demand for minerals used in everyday electronics products that finances armed groups who commit horrific atrocities. If passed, this bill would provide the authority and direction for the United States government to help ensure that the mineral trade stops contributing to human rights violations, including killings of unarmed civilians and sexual violence, while at the same time developing mechanisms to allow the Congolese people to benefit from these resources.

link to urge your representatives' support

http://www.raisehopeforcongo.org/special-page/conflict-minerals