Canadian Diamond?

[bluehouse]

From a buyer''s perspective - is there any difference on where a diamond comes from? Should I care that a diamond is Canadian?

One particular princess cut diamond I like is .99ct - wouldn''t the cutter have made more $ if they had cut it thicker or deeper to get to 1ct?

Thanks in advance for help and advice

 

[Hest88]

If you''re concerned about blood diamonds a Canadian diamond is the usual alternative. Otherwise, I''d be more concerned with how a diamond is cut than where it comes from.

 

[perry]

Only so far as your own attachment to Canada, or disattachment elsewhere.

For some Canadians it is a matter of pride to buy Canadian produced items.

Others wish to avoid things from Africa or other countries.

It is all personal, as their is no way you can look at a diamond and tell the difference.

Perry

 

[Paul-Antwerp]

Date: 2/4/2005 1:41:21 PM
Author:bluehouse
One particular princess cut diamond I like is .99ct - wouldn''t the cutter have made more $ if they had cut it thicker or deeper to get to 1ct?

In the daily diamond business, a cutter who finishes a stone at 0.99 Ct without previously warning the owner and showing why the 1.00 is not possible, will be fired on the spot. The owner (planner) of the diamond may have his own reasons to choose for a 0.99, but the cutter at the wheel makes an enormous professional mistake if he does it on his own.

Date: 2/4/2005 1:41:21 PM
Author:bluehouse
From a buyer''s perspective - is there any difference on where a diamond comes from? Should I care that a diamond is Canadian?

It is not really that you ''should'' care, the question is whether you do.

I am very interested in this matter, since from this month on, the majority of our goods will also carry the ''Canadamark'', indicating that the rough stone is of Canadian origin and that the stone has been tracked up to the point of sale, in order to guarantee that origin.

For us, as cutters, it is important that we can carry that mark of origin, because only a limited number of cutters are in the Canadamark-program. In this way, it is a sign that BHP-Billiton (owner of the Canadian Ekati-mine) believes in the quality of our organisation. Being a very young and relatively small player, we are very proud of this.

Also, with the quality of the Canadian rough, being in the Canadamark-program is kind of a long-term-guarantee of a supply of this very attractive rough. For our dealers, investing in our program, it is important to know that we will have a consistent supply of high-quality-rough, and this translates in a consistent supply of high-quality-finished goods.

Personally, I think that we should forget about the connection between Canadian origin and non-conflict-origin. Since a few years, one can seriously wonder whether something as conflict-diamonds still exist. As such, it is a non-issue.

On the other hand, however, with a diamond being of Canadian origin, you know that the diamond is mined in first-world-conditions, in agreement and co-operation with aboriginal communities living in the mining area and according to strict environmental rules.

The "values" of a diamond, after all, are not only its physical properties, and the resulting light performance, it is also the "romance" of rough stones being formed millions of years ago in the crust of the earth (long before other gemstones), brought to the surface by vulcanic explosions, often mined in difficult physical conditions, and brought to its real life by a team of master cutters and planners. With a diamond-of-origin, like a Canadamark-diamond, one can track the stone back to a specific mine, and to its history of millions of years.

Many consumers will certainly not care about this, but I suppose that others will. And in this way, we come back to my original reply, it is not that you ''should'' care, the question is whether you ''do'' care.

Live long,