The diamond industry can be divided into two categories: the production of gemstone diamonds and industrial grade diamonds. Both industries are flourishing, though they are entirely different in many respects.The gemstone diamond industry is controlled by a handful of entities and limited to a few major trading centers. One of the most important names involved in the process in Antwerp. The city has four diamond bourses, one for bort and the others for gemstone quality diamonds. The Antwerp World Diamond Centre is an important entity in the diamond sales because it sets the standards in ethics and regulations and is largely considered the center of the industry. 80% of all rough diamonds and 50% of all cut diamonds are handled at Antwerp. However, New York is the American diamond capital, and sells over 80% of all of the world’s diamonds. You will notice that the most famous diamond stones will usually pop up in New York for sale or for exhibition.
The most important company in gemstone production and sales is De Beers, still currently considered the world’s largest diamond miner, well over a century after its founding by Cecil Rhodes in 1888. De Beers is not only a powerhouse when it comes to advertising. The company also owns or controls many of the world’s rough diamond production facilities, also known as mines. The company sees somewhere between 40-50% of all of the world’s diamond production. Other important companies and organizations include The World Federation of Diamond Bourses, which has independent bourses stationed across major cities all over America, Asia and Europe for wholesale diamond exchange, The International Diamond Manufacturers Association, and International Diamond Council.
The industrial diamond industry takes a different approach from the gemstone diamond industry. The diamonds harvested for industrial use are valued for their hardness and the ability to conduct heat. That means that most of the gemstone diamond’s qualities, such as clarity, cut and color, are meaningless for this industry. Many diamond lovers do not realize that 80% of all diamonds mined in the world are unsuitable for gemstones. This means that about 100 million carats of diamonds are considered bort-industrial diamonds that get the job done but are none too pretty.
What are these diamonds primarily used for? In construction processes such as cutting, drilling and grinding, as well as in craftsman’s work such as polishing. The size of the diamond is not important in the industrial world. This might explain why some gem-quality diamonds, that unfortunately lack size, can still be used in an industrial setting. Realize that only a small amount of the diamond ore mined will consist of true diamonds. (Whether bort or gem-quality diamonds) When the ore is crushed, then care must be taken to prevent any diamonds from being destroyed, particularly larger diamonds.
Understanding the diamond mining process and diamond supply industry certainly helps one to appreciate the rarity of a clean and flawless diamond stone! Considering how rare such a find is, it’s only fitting that it lasts forever.
