An Overview Of The International Diamond Trade
Mining diamonds is a long and arduous process that involves many countries around the world before final products can be sold to high-end consumers. Diamond mining takes place in a number of countries, including Australia, Russia, Canada, Tanzania, Zaire, Angola, and Sri Lanka. After diamonds are mined and sorted by screening facilities, they arrive in one of three countries. Israel and Belgium focus on normal-sized diamonds that can be cut with saws and conventional tools to set. India imports all of the small diamonds that require fine detail work by individual workers. As with many other industries, diamond-cutting has been outsourced to India as a means of getting cheap labor. The United States and Hong Kong are the world’s leading diamond consumers, with a majority of those coming from India.
Diamond trading has been the target of controversy since the De Beers was targeted by United States anti-trust laws during World War II. De Beers owns the Central Selling Organization (CSO) cartel, which handles 70% of the rough diamonds produced by the world and regulates prices to keep them stable. Although not as criticized by OPEC because it deals exclusively in luxury goods, the CSO has come under fire several times, especially by corporations that rely on diamond-tipped tools to produce goods.
The international diamond trade is also often criticized by human rights activists, who see it as an outdated aspect of colonialism. These people argue that diamond companies are essentially robbing natives of valuable natural resources while leaving nothing but poverty and desolation in their wake. Governments still allow the mining, however, because companies often support political candidates in undeveloped countries who allow the diamond mining to continue.
No matter where you stand on the issue, the international diamond trade is an important economic structure with very complex ideas and issues.
Why Can’t I Just Return My Diamond To The Jewelry Store
August 14, 2016 by Julia Lawrence • Business •
There are many reasons why many jewelry stores do not accept returns of any diamonds. There are many reasons for this and you must make sure you read the store’s refund policy before you buy any diamond. You do not want to end up in a big disappointment. The most you will probably get is an exchange. If you are hoping for a full cash refund, you may end up very upset, because most will not give it to you.
When jewelry stores do not let you return any diamonds to them, what this means is that once you buy it is yours. They do not know what has happened to the diamond after is has came out of their hands. This is their way of not losing any money. That is why most of the stores will offer you an exchange rather than a refund because they do not want to lose money. They make big profits when they sell their jewelry. As always, you just must do the smart thing and either ask them about their return policy, read it before you buy it. In case something may happen to the diamond, you still will have an option left. You just want to make yourself aware of it, so you do not feel like you have wasted any of your money in the long run. On top of the exchanges they may give, some jewelry stores only offer these exchanges for a limited time only. Do be careful , and watch out for these type of stores. Make sure they can offer some kind of warranty if that is the case.