About the Marketing of Diamonds and the London Syndicate in the Twentieth Century

The marketing of diamonds, if fully told, is a story in itself and possesses many phases of interest. Formerly local buyers, who represented the leading diamond merchants of the world, competed at the South African mines for their product, but for the past several years the De Beers Company has sold in advance its annual production to a syndicate of London diamond merchants who have representatives residing in Kimberley, and this is now the medium through which both the product of the De Beers and the Premier mines exclusively reach the markets of the different nations of the world.

The daily production of diamonds is put away in parcels until there has accumulated about fifty thousand carats of De Beers and Kimberley diamonds, the stones from the two sources being mixed, and locally termed "pool goods." The sorters separate and classify them for accurate valuation as follows: 1, Close goods; 2, Spotted stones; 3, Rejection cleavage; 4, Fine cleavage; 5, Light-brown cleavage; 6, Ordinary and rejection cleavage; 7, Flats; 8, Naats; 9, Rubbish; 10, Bort. In the language of the diamond producers "Close goods" are pure stones of desirable shapes; "Spotted stones" are crystals slightly spotted; and "Rejection" stones are those seriously depreciated by spots. "Cleavage" means broken stones. "Flats" are flat crystals formed by the distortion of octahedral crystallisation; and flat triangular crystals--twin stones--are "maacles." The refuse is classed as "rubbish," and common bort or "boart" is polishing material, while round, or shot, bort, found at Kimberley, is now valuable for diamond drill points, since Brazilian carbonado has become scarce.

The first eight classes are further subdivided according to shades, as: Blue White, First Cape, Second Cape, First Bye, Second Bye, Off Colour, Light Yellow and Yellow. Only the "close" or first grade is actually assorted according to these eight shades; with the other grades the sorters are less particular. The ten expert sorters, all Europeans, use no magnifying glasses in their determinations, which are achieved with marvellous accuracy and rapidity. The assorted diamonds are divided into little heaps on a long table covered with white paper; the number of diamonds and their average weights and values are recorded. The buyers for the syndicate of Holborn Viaduct and Hatton Garden, diamond importers of London, pay for their diamonds at the De Beers Company's South African diamond office in cash or bills of exchange on London.

Upon receiving the stones the buyers sort them over to comply with the requirements in London, after which the diamonds, now in from three hundred and fifty to four hundred parcels, each in a specially made paper inscribed with a description of its contents, are packed in tin boxes and these are securely wrapped in cloth-lined packing paper, carefully sealed and delivered to the post-office, which forwards them to Europe as registered mail, the diamonds all being insured during transit in European insurance companies. The syndicate's buyers classify the goods thus shipped as follows: Pure goods, Brown goods, Spotted goods, Flatshaped goods--all completely formed or crystallised stones; Pure cleavage, Spotted cleavage, Brown cleavage--broken or split stones; Naats or Maacles--flat triangular crystals or twinstones; Rejections or Bort--diamonds not adapted to or worthy of cutting and used chiefly for splitting and polishing higher grade stones. The higher classes of these are sub-divided into six or seven shades and each colour is again subdivided into from eight to twelve sizes.

When the diamonds arrive in London, they are once more reassorted according to the requirements of the trade. The purchasers are dealers in rough diamonds, dealers in brilliants who have their purchases cut and polished for sale, and manufacturers who cut and polish the goods for their own trade, not depending upon the regular diamond-cutting industry.

The selling methods of the famous London Syndicate are peculiar. The different interests present, or represented by experts in the London market, are notified that a "sight" of the goods ready to be disposed of will be afforded on a certain date. The man who contemplates buying for himself or as a representative is compelled by the regulations of this strange market to declare his intentions and to make application to the absolute powers in control of the situation, weeks in advance of the time when a "sight" of the merchandise is expected, for the precious opportunity to buy.