Diamonds In A Rough Place

Diamonds In A Rough Pace

If there's some good to come from this ecomomical down turn it's that terrible institutions are going belly up. I hate the diamond business. It's an over inflated market with the sole purpose of showing off how much your man spoils you. But thankfully it looks like times are a changin as Diamond sales on an all time low

Retailers are taking a big hit. Tiffany said Monday that its profit dropped more than 75 percent in the fourth quarter. Lynn Jewelers, a downtown Washington presence since 1946, closed its doors last month. Christian Bernard Jewelers, a national chain with several stores in the Washington area, has shut down, as well. They are among 1,000-plus jewelers across the country to go out of business in the past year.

In India, drought-ravaged villagers who found salvation in the diamond-polishing factories of Gujarat have been let go in recent weeks, and thousands are migrating home. And Botswana, which depends on diamonds for more than 30 percent of its economy, has put all four of the mines it operates with De Beers Group on furlough.

Jewelry "sales were down 10 to 20 percent last year -- I can't imagine they won't be again this year," said Dione Kenyon, president of the Jewelers Board of Trade, a credit-reporting agency for the industry. "I hear people say, 'Oh, things will [improve] and go back to the old days.' You don't go back to the old days -- there is a new order."

About 60 percent of diamonds cut and polished in the western Indian state of Gujarat are sold to the United States, and the region accounts for about 72 percent of the international processed-diamond industry.

Plants are being shuttered, and perhaps thousands of people are losing their jobs. The 50-year-old industry is in the midst of crisis after three decades of soaring business that provided work for about 1 million people, mostly poor migrants fleeing drought-ruined farms. They earned about $130 a month polishing diamonds, nearly four times what many made as farm laborers. The Indian media has recently reported a few suicides because of joblessness and debt.

"About half our business units have shut down, and many workers have either gone back to their villages or not returned from their vacation last October," said Champakbhai P. Vanani, president of the Surat Diamond Association. He said about 50 percent of the total workforce in the local diamond industry is now jobless, though officials said workers float between companies, making it difficult to give exact figures.

"Ours is a $15 billion industry," Vanani said. "But right now, only 15 percent of diamond cutting and polishing work is going on."

The diamond industry going bankrupt would be one of the best things to come out of this recession. Or, at the least, maybe we'll see less shit like this:


OH NO! My business model based on artificially low supply and artificially high demand entanglement with corrupt governments and exploitation of increasingly enfranchised people is failing why is this happening! Maybe you should ask for a fucking bail out you worthless piece of shit company.

But Javier, how will the diamond industry exist if not for the sole purpose that females demand males buy them expensive jewelery in exchange for sex and marriage? I'm sure the industry will adjust. Thankfully accordingly so that these shiny rocks are actually at their real value.


Someone's gonna suck dick tonight!

The diamond industry itself seeded that demand into our culture, The Story of the Diamond Ring is a fairly new addition to the whole wedding ceremony. Up until about 60 years ago, wedding bands were simply gold and no rock. So anyone who defends diamond rings as 'traditional' is an idiot.

I don't know what the best case scenario would be but fuck DeBeers forever. What pisses me off is that Debeers basically fooled the world into thinking diamonds weren't worthless. They'll still be Kabillionaires considering they pay their employees jack shit to nothing. With them going under it also means that Indians are going tobe starving.


Yeah.. they're not that ripped.

On the other hand, they were paid a pittance of the true value of their work so they were starving already. Fuck DeBeers. Now they can finally start bootstrapping themselves without the white man there to steal all their resources . Though I'm not sure how much good they are going to do on their own.

The benefit of all this I guess this means Cheaper Grillz.

The slowdown comes a year after De Beers invested $83 million in a cutting and polishing facility, an effort aimed at putting more people to work.

ha ha ha ha fuckers.



In the end, Diamonds are forever but the value of it is going to adjust. Much like beanie babies and comic books the real value of what these are worth comes out.

All I know is that when I eventually pop the question, I'm not going to be splurging on shiny rocks. Hell, I'll gladly wear my wedding band if it's a Green Lantern ring.