Rating: 
Summary: Everything you wanted to know about Diamonds but....
Review: After hearing a bit about the cable-based feature exposing the incredible monopolistic hold De Beers has on the diamond industry and the associated corruption, crime and cruelty associated with diamond mining and the inherent competition, I became acutely aware that the bobbles adorning our fingers, wrists, necks and ears came at a very high price--human as well as financial. To my surprise, I ran across DIAMOND and hoped it would delve deeper into this mysteriously clandestine industry. Matthew Hart unravels the mystery quite well.Hart has a leg up on most journalists penning a book on this trade. His position as editor of the industry trade magazine, "Rapaport Diamond Report," provides him with the expertise to report on this cabal industry as well as the background and knowledge to impart the history of the diamond trade. However, Hart does the reader one better by being a genuinely gifted storyteller. Hart lays out the basic foundation and history of diamond geology and its shrouded history. From yarns about hustlers and theives to the geological formations known as pipes, Hart imparts the beauty and dark side of the trade. And, as mentioned, Hart casts his line into the vast monopoly known as De Beers. He explains how De Beers has managed to control the flow of diamonds not only to the wholesale "site" markets but, more recently, to the retail market as well. We learn how the Oppenheimer family has ruled this industry with an iron fist and a deft touch. Further, and strangely to this reader, we learn the origins of the De Beers name...a totally unexpected twist. Hart informs the reader of great finds and great adventures. He focuses on several large diamonds discoveries - an 81-carat pink from the jungles of Brazil and the discovery of Canada's first major diamond mine. One of the more adventurous stories is that of Eira Thomas, a 24-year-old female geologist who played a major role in the Canadian find. We learn of the painstaking 3-year study and comiseration prior to the actual cutting of the 599-carat Centenary diamond as well as the discovery of the 3,107-carat Cullinan diamond (the largest "rough" on record). Hart even takes the reader behind the scenes to an advertising agency where a mentally exhausted executive, in a 11th-hour blitz of creative brio, coins the enduring phrase "A Diamond is Forever." Hart is engaging, cogent and very well informed. Anyone wanting to learn more about this industry and the mysterious wonder of the "beautiful rock," will find this book fascinating reading.
Rating:
Summary: A good book that makes you want to know more
Review: After reading "Diamond", I wanted to know more. More about what the diamond trade has done for (and to) the people of Africa, about what the search for diamonds has done to the environment of Canada, and about what the whole of the diamond trade means to the world economy. What would a diamond really be worth today were it not for DeBeers? How and why did Cecil Rhodes start endow the Rhodes scholor program at Oxford?
Rating:
Summary: A good book that makes you want to know more
Review: After reading "Diamond", I wanted to know more. More about what the diamond trade has done for (and to) the people of Africa, about what the search for diamonds has done to the environment of Canada, and about what the whole of the diamond trade means to the world economy. What would a diamond really be worth today were it not for DeBeers? How and why did Cecil Rhodes start endow the Rhodes scholor program at Oxford?
Rating:
Summary: A good book that makes you want to know more
Review: After reading "Diamond", I wanted to know more. More about what the diamond trade has done for (and to) the people of Africa, about what the search for diamonds has done to the environment of Canada, and about what the whole of the diamond trade means to the world economy. What would a diamond really be worth today were it not for DeBeers? How and why did Cecil Rhodes start endow the Rhodes scholor program at Oxford?
Rating: 
Summary: A truly excellent read
Review: Although the title of the book does little to convey the true allure of the book, I found it to be an excellent piece of engaging research. Mr. Hart demonstrates not just "knowledge" about diamonds but a complete mastery in the field. He grabs reader attention through very interesting stories about major finds, tracing the provenance of several well known gems, highlighting the history behind the treasure and managing to pack in a good dose of easily understandable geology as well. All this makes for a very interesting book. As one interested in economics and business, I found the Mr. Hart's treatment of the business dimensions to be very insightful. Diamond mining is apparently a very risky business that comes complete with its own cast of colorful characters, schemers, backstabbers, awfully unethical companies, very talented artisans. Mr. Hart captures the nuances of the careers of this varied cast and does so with a thoroughness that is seldom seen. For example he discusses the intricacies of polishing and cleaving diamonds and brings the entire process to life through his vivid descriptions of the skilled people in New York, and Antwerp who make it happen. The way in which an expert labors, actually obsesses, about the potential cut and the number of facets that he'd like to use on a piece of diamond rough, the mathematical precision with which he brings his vision to life and the single minded attention to detail in an enterprise that could make or break fortunes with the tiny slip of a cutters wheel.....remarkable prose. His discussion of the evolution of the Centenary diamond owned by De Beers is scintillating in that it illustrates the dilemmas that the artisans face when they have to turn a rough diamond into an object of desire. In equal measure he discusses the developments in Brazil, India and South Africa showing how industry performance drivers are changing and how these factors make or break the viability of new finds. His elucidation of the latest developments in geology and prospecting are equally interesting even to those with a passing interest. I know I am waxing poetic about this book. I really feel very strongly positive about the contents that Mr. Hart has placed in his reader's hands. Thank you for a wonderful read Mr. Hart.
Rating:
Summary: A truly excellent read
Review: Although the title of the book does little to convey the true allure of the book, I found it to be an excellent piece of engaging research. Mr. Hart demonstrates not just "knowledge" about diamonds but a complete mastery in the field. He grabs reader attention through very interesting stories about major finds, tracing the provenance of several well known gems, highlighting the history behind the treasure and managing to pack in a good dose of easily understandable geology as well. All this makes for a very interesting book. As one interested in economics and business, I found the Mr. Hart's treatment of the business dimensions to be very insightful. Diamond mining is apparently a very risky business that comes complete with its own cast of colorful characters, schemers, backstabbers, awfully unethical companies, very talented artisans. Mr. Hart captures the nuances of the careers of this varied cast and does so with a thoroughness that is seldom seen. For example he discusses the intricacies of polishing and cleaving diamonds and brings the entire process to life through his vivid descriptions of the skilled people in New York, and Antwerp who make it happen. The way in which an expert labors, actually obsesses, about the potential cut and the number of facets that he'd like to use on a piece of diamond rough, the mathematical precision with which he brings his vision to life and the single minded attention to detail in an enterprise that could make or break fortunes with the tiny slip of a cutters wheel.....remarkable prose. His discussion of the evolution of the Centenary diamond owned by De Beers is scintillating in that it illustrates the dilemmas that the artisans face when they have to turn a rough diamond into an object of desire. In equal measure he discusses the developments in Brazil, India and South Africa showing how industry performance drivers are changing and how these factors make or break the viability of new finds. His elucidation of the latest developments in geology and prospecting are equally interesting even to those with a passing interest. I know I am waxing poetic about this book. I really feel very strongly positive about the contents that Mr. Hart has placed in his reader's hands. Thank you for a wonderful read Mr. Hart.
Rating:
Summary: Diamonds from Top to Bottom
Review: At a conference on diamonds in 1997, a speaker expressed his confidence in the diamond market. It was founded on two supports, he said: vanity and greed, and humans could be relied upon for a perpetual supply of both. It isn't surprising, then, that there has been a multimillion dollar advertising campaign stretching over the last decades to emphasize the happier side, the romance of diamonds. Romance or not, there is someone eager to steal a diamond from a mine, or to divert rough diamonds from their appointed cutters and polishers, or to jump a claim on a supposed diamond field, or fence diamonds to sponsor a war, or jack up prices artificially. "Malfeasance rustles in the background of the diamond world like a snake in dry grass," writes Matthew Hart in _Diamond: A Journey to the Heart of an Obsession_ (Walker & Co.), a wide-ranging and entertaining look at different components of the diamond business. One cannot tell the story of diamonds without telling about De Beers, which started cornering the market in diamonds over a century ago; but much of this story is about how De Beers is losing control over the diamond market. De Beers executives do not travel to the United States, because they would be arrested; there are charges, the latest from 1994, for price fixing. ("The most senior managers of the world's preeminent diamond company are thus effectively prevented from setting foot in their largest market.") The main assaults on De Beers have not been legal, of course, but simple economic competition. Diamond mines in Russia, Canada, and Australia are now profitable, and India, which is not a primary supplier of diamonds, is busy supplying cut and polished jewels which other mines formerly sold only for industrial use. Hart is best on the skullduggery, large and small, in the diamond trade, which is taken for granted. He tells about the history of some famous gems, like the Hope Diamond, and describes the complicated process of cutting a diamond in some detail. Hart has plenty of good stories. He has been the mining editor for the New York monthly the _Rapaport Diamond Report_, and has visited the exotic areas he tells about. Diamonds in the rough are an annual six billion dollar industry; those same diamonds wind up in the jewelry stores going for 56 billion, and Hart has surveyed the process from beginning to end. There are summaries here of geology and history, as well as the technology of cutting and polishing the gems we cannot get enough of. Hart is not a flashy writer, but the many facets of this lucrative and larcenous trade make scintillating reading.
Rating:
Summary: It Is All Perception
Review: At one point in the book there is a brief description of the opening remarks at an international gathering of diamond merchants. The featured speaker was explaining the two reasons diamonds have value, "vanity and greed". For those unfamiliar with the diamond industry and the control that DeBeer's has held over the prices of diamonds, the book's contents may be somewhat of a shock. The monopoly this company holds is so complete, the executives of the company cannot come to The United States for they are likely to be subpoenaed if they did. Events described in the book of major new diamond finds together with owners may greatly diminish DeBeer's hold on their monopoly, but they would likely still control 50% of the world's market. Massive diamonds and a variety of stones that are rare due to their color understandably command whatever price a person is willing to pay. The diamonds that are on the hands of women throughout the world are extremely common, unless they are wearing a golf ball size rock like Elizabeth Taylor. One example the author shares of market manipulation is with a relatively small but perfect stone. When graded d-flawless a diamond is just as the description describes, the price is an entirely different matter. DeBeer's has manipulated the market so that at times such a stone would cost a person $10,000 and when they get greedy or angry, the price becomes $70,000. The price of this grade and size of stone will also change dramatically based on where you make a purchase, head to Tiffany's and you pay for their 5th Avenue location and their name. Head to a less flashy address in the same city, and you will save many thousands of dollars. Matthew Park also covers a wide variety of topics related to these stones, the history of some of the most famous gems, the efforts to control the sale of stones that finance wars, and the people that are out searching and finding massive fortunes of their own. One particularly fascinating tale is of a young woman who finds an area that will yield billions of dollars of value in Canada. At 24 years of age it was her persistence to keep her father interested, and not walking from a site that brought the find to fruition. The other aspect that is covered is the art of taking a rough stone, and then cleaving and polishing it to a gem. One interesting example was the creation of, "The Centenary Stone". The man who cut and polished the stone took 3 years to create the masterpiece. He spent an entire year studying the rough before making a single move to change it. This book will whet your appetite for reading more about this phenomenon, for the book covers many areas but does not have the length to cover them in depth. It was also unfortunate that all of the pictures of these remarkable jewels were in black and white, which did little to visually communicate how stunning they are.
Rating: 
Summary: loosely strung theme
Review: First, this book can be read in two sittings. With that in my mind, most of its flaws can be forgiven. Chief among these is the fact that the book is essentially a collection of anecdotes and stray stories, rather than a straightforward historical narrative or discussion. The end result is not very gratifying and only slightly edifying. (The most interesting factoid: De Beer's marketing suggestion that one spend 2 months' salary on an engagement ring, is 1 month in Europe and 3 months in Japan.) Some minor, but frustrating factual inconsistencies, e.g., the # of grades into which De Beers sorts its diamonds, as well as some sloppy editing. It's funny that the book's cover includes a blurb from Susan Orlean, author of The Orchid Thief. She pulls off this style of complex storytelling much more effectively and with a much clearer thesis that runs consistently throughout.
Rating:
Summary: And overall great read
Review: Hart left out Israel. This is my only complaint with "History..." Other than that omission, the book is satisfyingly complete, covering all major contributors to the diamond industry at every stage in production (that is, not just mining countries, but also countries where the rough diamonds are processed), without being excessively long or overdetailed. It is educational, but because the book is intersperses "field stories" with edifying text, it never gets boring or overly dry. Additionally, Hart's writing style itself is quite engaging.
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