War Update
Scott Rowe, G.G.
Over one year ago, I wrote about the diamond wars in Sierra Leone in west Africa. I spoke on the subject at community meetings and gave some of the following facts.
500 U.N. peacekeepers were taken hostage in Sierra Leone by the R.U.F., (Revolutionary United Front). The same group is known as UNITA, (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola). The United States sent 50 million tax payer’s dollars to these nations to defend the local governments from these groups. It has been reported in the press that the recently detained leader of the R.U.F has personally profited to the tune of approximately 200 million U.S. dollars per year on the sale of diamonds from Sierra Leone. These diamonds are the reason civil war has raged in these countries for the last decade.
Now for the latest news. As I wrote over one year ago, there is a large settlement of Lebanese traders which settled in Sierra Leone in the early 1900’s, these Lebanese have direct dealings with the Taliban and Al Qaeda. These are the terrorist that have been committing atrocities against civilians such as hacking off arms and legs. For details, please ask for a reprint of my article titled “Diamond Wars”.
The latest news indicates that Usama Bin Laden has direct ties with these terrorist and that the profit from the diamond wars in Sierra Leone has been going directly into his pocket. This situation is still being investigated and our government will surely find a tie to Bin Laden and therefore, reasons to add government control to the diamond market.
I can see how easy it would be to connect the Sierra Leone’s R.U.F. to Bin Laden… they both like to cut off hands and feet. It will be easy to play on the public’s revulsion to these groups and to set new government regulations on the trading of diamonds. Of course it will be to fight the war on terrorism, but I predict that diamonds will fall under some type of government regulation to prevent the profits from falling into terrorist hands. So get ready to pay more for diamonds in the near future. When I reported on this topic over a year ago, DeBeers had a “solution”. They said they would not buy diamonds from any conflict zone, such as Sierra Leone, Angola or third party countries such as Liberia which broker diamonds for arms. However, DeBeers also increased the price of diamond rough to the jewelry industry as a result of this extra work documenting the source of their diamonds.
I find it interesting that the source of a diamond cannot be certified. Diamond is the only gemstone that is a pure element… Carbon. If a diamond is white, it is free from trace elements and cannot be tied to a specific location. The documents regarding source supplied by DeBeers is taken by the word of the seller. If the seller is unethical and sells DeBeers diamonds from a conflict zone, but signs a document that they are clean stones, there is no way to scientifically prove different.
To sum up these events, diamonds could finance terrorists, the government will probably require certification that diamonds are from a ‘conflict free’ zone, DeBeers will supply these documents, they will increase the price of diamonds as a result, and they are absolved of blame if they sell “bloody” diamonds because they have a document that swears it is clean.
My contacts in the diamond industry tell me that many of the diamonds have documents which state the source is Switzerland, which has no diamond production. One source told me that many of these diamond transactions take place in the Geneva airport, and that there is no real way to tell the “country of origin” of a diamond.
I have never recommended diamonds as an investment. Diamonds are a controlled commodity and I prefer the free market of the colored gemstone industry. DeBeers controls approximately 70 % of the diamond rough mined in the world and constricts the supply. At the same time, they create a huge demand for diamonds through a wonderful advertising campaign which we have all been subjected to.
They create an artificial tight supply and high demand. These
are the basic principals in the market that drive prices higher. DeBeers has
stuck with the principal for almost a century and it works.
Fine Diamonds have never been cheap and their prices have always kept ahead
of inflation. The reason diamond prices have always been steady is the marketing
strategies of DeBeers and I have great faith that they will seize this opportunity
to increase the price of diamonds again.
If you have any interest in purchasing a diamond anytime in the near future, I would urge you to begin planning now to avoid higher prices in the near future.
A & S Gifts brokers diamonds direct from cutters and importers to avoid costly mark-ups from large retail stores. I only use diamond dealers which do everything in their power to secure stones which are from “conflict free zones”.
We locate a stone which fits your needs, explain diamond grading, answer any technical questions, let you view it in our state-of-the-art gem lab with a ‘thru-the-microscope’ video so you can see the clarity of your stone on TV, use a digital diamond colorimeter to check the color of the diamond and charge a small commission if you wish to purchase the stone, with no obligation.
As gemologist, we see a large quantity of over-graded diamonds which seem to always be over–graded to the seller’s advantage, never the buyer’s. We provide fine diamonds, accurately graded, at current market values with very little mark-up and no risk.
Purchasing diamonds through a broker such as A & S Gifts is the cheapest way to purchase diamonds with the greatest value for your dollar. I care about intrinsic value and make sure that I have happy clients. It is also easy. Just call or come in to discuss diamonds whether you are a novice or expert.
Tanzanite and Tsavorite Garnet are two very beautiful, exotic rare gemstones which will also be affected by the “War on Terrorism”.
Tanzanite is from Tanzania and Tsavorite is from the north
in the Tsavo National Park in Kenya. These are the two countries in which terrorist
with contacts to the Taliban and Al Qaeda blew up our two embassies at the same
time.
If our armed forces chase terrorists around the globe, these countries are on
the list and I believe it will drive the price of these two gemstones through
the roof.
A & S Gifts also brokers fine colored gemstones, including
fine, rare and exotic gems such as these.
A & S Gifts is your full service jeweler and gemologist with expertise in
all facets of the gemstone and jewelry industry. We strive for the highest standards
of honesty, ethics and knowledge and try to pass on this knowledge to our clients.
