pricescope
Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Dec 31, 1999
- Messages
- 8,266
Check out also this online book by Edward Jay Epstein: The Diamond Invention.
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On 1/2/2004 5:59:35 PM LawGem wrote:
It is true that the industry has a lot of dirty laundry stretching back a long way. It is also true that there have been a lot of improvements in the past decade or so. But Bismarck's old saying about laws and sausages could be applied to much of the diamond and gem world.
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Off the top of my head? Sri Lanka is not so bad, depending on how you feel about the Tamil Tiger business. Among other things, the government prohibits all mechanized mining to a) protect traditional gem recovery jobs and b) limit environmental damage. Madagascar could be a lot worse. Tanzanite has a bad reputation, but a South African company named AFGEM has (so I am told) set up a fairly enlightened mining operation in one block of the tanzanite tract. Compared to everything else going on in Africa, De Beers, despite its reputation, is one of the more respectable outfits (consider the DRC, for example). Russian diamonds are probably no worse than Canadian diamonds, but as yet they aren't being sold by origin so that's not much help.----------------
On 1/8/2004 10:29:43 AM valeria101 wrote:
LawGem,
do you know of any gem trade route that does not deserve this? I guess Canadian diamonds would be relatively Ok (maybe some corporate issues, but nothig too outrageous I know of); I couldn't say too many bad things of benitoite and red beryl and Montana sapphire. But anything originating in worse off countries is such a (literally) bloody mess
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