Diamond polishing in USA is not the 'Greatest'

[Serg]

To reduce manufacture expenses per diamond you need build factory. Conveyor cutting process, big scale manufactures are important to reduce all type expenses including management expenses, logistic expenses, stock expenses. it is also important to reduce loan cost.
Antwerp, New York are not good places for big factories. rent cost, staff expenses are too big.these cities are for big shops, instead big factories.
in years Belgium, USA diamond manufactures have not any chances to build big factories any compete with Indian diamond industry .
Robotization and customizations are creating conditions to build big factories in any countries with big local market. China USA, Germany, Japan manufactures would win a lot from robotization in many industries.
Same process is going in diamond industry also. Much slowly than in other industries because market for robotization is very small , but it is going. India has in 2-3 less polishers now than 10 years ago, production per person is much higher now. Sawing, bruting , blocking are much faster now and 80% automatized .
There are many attempts to automatize final polishing , grading.
Will any country win from 90% robotization in diamond industry ? may be Austria and China.

 

[Texas Leaguer]

This is slightly off topic, but I saw this JCK blog post by Rob Bates about a new documentary and found it fascinating. I had never heard of this episode in diamond history before. It's particularly interesting now in light of a new refugee crisis unfolding and with Cuba opening up.
http://www.jckonline.com/editorial-...-chronicles-lost-chapter-in-industry-history/

In terms of our discussion about resurrecting diamond manufactuing in the US, maybe the lesson is 'where there's a will there's a way'.

I contacted the filmmakers and have arranged for a private screening for our team here at Whiteflash on Tuesday morning. I will post a short review next week.

 

[Texas Leaguer]

We had the private screening and the film is excellent. It's an important film for a broad audience, but particularly interesting for people in the diamond business and for those interested in the diamond industry. I highly recommend it.

I wrote a review of the film and we just posted it here: https://www.whiteflash.com/about-diamonds/news/forgotten-jewels-review-1559.htm

 

[Rockdiamond]

Amazing stuff Bryan.
Brings back memories for me.
I was fortunate to have worked with a few cutters who had cut diamonds in Cuba during that period when I was at Harry Winston in the mid-late '70's.
Not like I knew them or anything, at the time I was in the diamond school, three rungs below the bottom of the ladder
But the Cuban cutters were kind of legendary even then.
Although the film depicts a lot of female cutters, I never saw one at Harry Winston, or come to think of it, ever.