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Antwerp Unveils Automated Polishing Technology

Interesting.
This could help Antwerp compete in natural polishing, but automation and robotics will be super important to the LGD market too. It will become hyper competitive as the cost of lab grown rough declines and cost of processing becomes the primary factor in determining profitability.

I assume these machines can be adapted to cut multiple like stones at the same time, or the technology can applied to a different apparatus. Polishing LGD will be less complicated in that the material will be uniform and yield will no longer be a main driver of craftmanship.
 
Interesting.
This could help Antwerp compete in natural polishing, but automation and robotics will be super important to the LGD market too. It will become hyper competitive as the cost of lab grown rough declines and cost of processing becomes the primary factor in determining profitability.

I assume these machines can be adapted to cut multiple like stones at the same time, or the technology can applied to a different apparatus. Polishing LGD will be less complicated in that the material will be uniform and yield will no longer be a main driver of craftmanship.

Bring on the machine-cut 2ct+ LGDs for $800/carat!! :razz: :D lol
 
Robot drivers in Antwerp may be able to compete with humans in India for a while, but robot drivers in India will still have an advantage.
 
Robot drivers in Antwerp may be able to compete with humans in India for a while, but robot drivers in India will still have an advantage.
Yes Neil, the drivers in India are maths and psychics engineers. they cost $10k a year vs Antwerp $150k
 
Great articles. If cutting is so much cheaper in India, one tenth as much than in Antwerp as the above article said, why are diamonds from India not one tenth the price of those from Antwerp? The math does not add up.

Using CBI diamonds cut in Antwerp as an example... given they are only slightly priced higher than Indian cut diamonds, is it fair to say the Indian cutters are getting a much high profit margin than the cutters in Antwerp, say, CBI?
 
Great articles. If cutting is so much cheaper in India, one tenth as much than in Antwerp as the above article said, why are diamonds from India not one tenth the price of those from Antwerp? The math does not add up.

Using CBI diamonds cut in Antwerp as an example... given they are only slightly priced higher than Indian cut diamonds, is it fair to say the Indian cutters are getting a much high profit margin than the cutters in Antwerp, say, CBI?
Who said 1/10th of anything?
Someone else commented that many of the big Co's in Antwerp are Indian. It's true. I have been in Indian firms employing Jewish graders and salespeople.
Cutting is not simply cheaper in India - Indians grasped Israeli technology in the 1990s and develpoed faster and better. Previously until then Indian cuteers were largely villagers. Now they are largely air con multi storey state of the art every device networked etc
 
Does this mean consistently highly symmetrical diamonds from Antwerp?
 
Who said 1/10th of anything?
Someone else commented that many of the big Co's in Antwerp are Indian. It's true. I have been in Indian firms employing Jewish graders and salespeople.
Cutting is not simply cheaper in India - Indians grasped Israeli technology in the 1990s and develpoed faster and better. Previously until then Indian cuteers were largely villagers. Now they are largely air con multi storey state of the art every device networked etc

Here is the article that says Indian labor in Surat is 1/10th hence my question why diamonds cut in India are not proportionally cheaper to diamonds cut in Antwerp (e.g.CBI). Are the Indians hugely inflating their margins.

https://qz.com/459422/how-indian-families-took-over-the-antwerp-diamond-trade-from-orthodox-jews/

EXCERPT:
The cost of polishing and cutting diamonds in factories in Surat, the main diamond-processing centre in India, is as little as a tenth of the equivalent price in Europe. The inexorable logic of costs and demographics has meant that over the years the cutting and polishing business has almost disappeared into oblivion in European cities like Antwerp and relocated to Asia, in particular India.
 
Cutting is not the only cost.

Indian cut stones ARE cheaper. That's why the Belgian and US cutting industries are on the ropes. Normally the address of the cutter isn't part of the information that makes it through to the consumer.
 
Ok... I am not being clear in my question, so I will re-phrase.

Why are most stones priced relatively the same, regardless of where they are cut if Indian labor is cheaper.
If Indian stones are 10-30% the cost of Antwerp stones, does this mean Antwerp is taking a hit on profit margin to compete with the Indian firms or are the Indian firms making a higher profit.

My question is about pricing and profit when comparing cost of labor and other services is fixed in comparison to India vs. Antwerp. I am assuming here India cutters see a higher profit margin because they are not pricing their stones cheaper.

Is it India firms making a killer profit or Antwerp firms barely breaking even?
 
Great articles. If cutting is so much cheaper in India, one tenth as much than in Antwerp as the above article said, why are diamonds from India not one tenth the price of those from Antwerp? The math does not add up.

Using CBI diamonds cut in Antwerp as an example... given they are only slightly priced higher than Indian cut diamonds, is it fair to say the Indian cutters are getting a much high profit margin than the cutters in Antwerp, say, CBI?

Hi Miki Moto,

The article you linked to was nicely written, but the estimate of cutting-costs in India being 10% of Antwerp's is erroneous. Currently, I would estimate it to be between 40% to 50%.

But the cutting-cost is only a fraction of the cost of a diamond. Remember, the industry teaches you that the value of a diamond is determined by the 4 C's. Now do understand that the diamond-miners only sell 3 of these 4 C's, and the main marketing-force of diamonds for decades being determined by the diamond-miners. As a result, the entire industry is giving far too much weight to the C's of Carat weight, Color and Clarity (the rough, essentially), and far too little to Cut-quality. And in the cost of the final polished, the majority of the cost is determined by the rough (Carat weight, Color, Clarity) with only a fraction determined by the cutting.

Obviously, in smaller size melee stones the 'added value' of cutting is proportionally higher than in bigger stones. The cutting-cost aspect in melee sizes can be as high as 50%. But in bigger sizes, the cost-factor of cutting is far lower, sometimes as low as 5% of the total cost. Even if that 5% is half in India, the effect on the total cost is still minor.

I hope this clarifies part of the math somewhat.

The major take-away however is that with the industry still following the concept of 'value is determined by the 4 C's', consumers all over the world are still over-paying for the 3 C's of rarity (Carat weight, Color and Clarity), and under-paying for the C of Cut-quality.

Live long,
 
Does this mean consistently highly symmetrical diamonds from Antwerp?
It is not that simple. For example there is no such thing as a round diamond. Hardness variations mean most are squarish, and those people think are round are actually triangular-ish.
The Indian's will still be polishing smaller cheaper rough - and especially the more complex stones where complex planning and twinning hardness variations occur.
 
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