"Birth" certification

[goldenringlets]

Do diamond dealers know where a given diamond is "born" (mined)? We are all so keen to known all we can about the diamonds we so lovingly carry around with us, it would also be interesting for me to know the diamond's provenance. Usually retailers know the location of the wholesalers, for example, Antwerp, but is source information also routinely available? Our baby diamond's *APGARS* were perfect, but where was *she* born? I just wonder if we "adopted" a little (not so little, 1.51 ct) Botswanan, or Russian, or Canadian, or.....

Does anyone out there know where your diamond was mined? Do you care?

Thanks,
Goldenringlets

 

[mount pleasant boy]

Hmmm-

Being from Africa myself, I guess I would prefer not to have a diamond which was sold in order to finance a war...

Otherwise, yes, I think it would be very interesting to know how these diamonds travel...

Anybody else?

Mount Pleasant Boy

 

[DiamondExpert]

This is a highly complex and confusing issue, but one which will see ever increasing demands/pressure from the public for solving it.

Today it is virtually impossible to unambiguously identify the mine of origin for all but a few colorless diamonds. This is true even for those like most Canadian stones. The major reason is the complex, convoluted paths the rough takes in going from the mine to sorting/grading centers in Europe and being bought and sold at various steps along the way and being redistributed to cutting factories, resold to wholesalers, then to retailers and finally to the end user. In grading rough and in constructing parcels, stones from many different sources are mixed/combined and their origins become unknown.

That is not to say that attempts are not being made to identify the origins of diamond rough...a lot of research is going on in this area, but it will require a huge, expensive and time-consuming effort before it is solved.

Also, with the decline of De Beers as the sole source of rough, greater control over the mine-to-end user path will allow improvements in the identity of origins in the future.

Even though the "conflict diamond" has been around since they were 1st discovered, and all valued resources/currencies have had and will continue to have "conflict issues", the present heightening of awareness and pressures with all their attendant issues brought about by an ever-demanding public is forcing a move in the right direction. The price paid will be slightly higher prices, but I think most feel it will be worth the effort for the piece of mind it will bring.