DIAMONDS AND THE DIAMOND-TRADE. 



277 



Denmark. The young Danes of North Schles- 

 wig paid no attention to it. The feeling in 

 the province was manifested by the action of 

 their deputy to the Reichstag, who, in conse- 

 quence of the order, refused to take the oath of 

 allegiance to the Emperor. 



DIAMONDS AND THE DIAMOND-TRADE. Dur- 

 ing the past ten years the diamond- trade of 

 the world has undergone great modifications. 

 The old sources of supply in India and Brazil 

 were practically exhausted many years before. 

 Very few new stones were discovered, and 

 diamond-mining had ceased to be remunera- 

 tive. The few stones brought to Europe were 

 almost wholly the remains of former findings 

 slowly brought forth from their hiding-places. 

 In 1868 diamonds were discovered in the in- 

 terior of Southern Africa, and the field was 

 soon found to be much larger and more pro- 

 lific than those of Golconda and Brazil had 

 ever been. The diamond region, vaguely known 

 as Griqualand, having an area of about 17,000 

 square miles, was formally annexed to the 

 British colony of the Cape. The actual dia- 

 mond-fields are of very limited extent, and are 

 scattered at wide intervals. The Kimberley 

 mine, hitherto the most productive of all, has 

 an extent of less than one square mile and a 

 half. It appears to be nearly exhausted, but 

 it is hoped that by digging deeper other dia- 

 mond-bearing strata will be reached. For a 

 dozen years and more the greater number of 

 diamonds have been derived from this quarter, 

 and it was supposed that so great an increase 

 of supply would materially depress the market 

 value. 



A considerable proportion of the African 

 diamonds are of inferior grade ; of these there 

 is an over-supply, and we are told by the most 

 extensive diamond-dealer in New York that 

 ''low-grade diamonds are a drug in the mar- 

 ket." He adds, however : " There is a constant- 

 ly increasing demand for choice stones, and 

 when such a one comes in our way we never 

 fail to buy it, if it can be had at anything like 

 a reasonable price ; for we are sure that we 

 need not wait long for a purchaser at almost 

 any price we choose to name." 



The weight of diamonds is always expressed 

 in carats a carat being equal to a little less 

 than 3^ grains troy; or, more exactly, one 

 ounce troy is equivalent to 150 diamond carats. 

 An ounce of pure gold is worth about $20 ; an 

 ounce of fine 1-carat diamonds would be val- 

 ued at from $20,000 to $60,000. 



But the value of diamonds increases in the 

 geometrical ratio of their weight. The nom- 

 inal rule is, square the number of carats of 

 weight, and then multiply the product by the 

 value of a single-carat stone. Thus, supposing 

 a fine 1-carat stone to be worth $200, a similar 

 2-carat stone w,ould be $800 ; a 3-carat stone, 

 $1,800; and so on. 



Rough diamonds are rarely brought to this 

 country, although they are admitted free of 

 duty; cut diamonds pay 10 per cent. They 



are usually sent to Europe to be cut ; the chief 

 places being Amsterdam and Antwerp, in 

 which cities there are said to be not less than 

 6,000 workmen in this occupation. Diamond- 

 cutting, however, has been introduced into the 

 United States within a few years, and there 

 are probably about 100 diamond-cutters here. 

 There is every reason to anticipate that this 

 occupation will be rapidly extended. Suppos- 

 ing the rate of wages to be the same in New 

 York and Amsterdam, there woqld be a saving 

 of 10 per cent, on the entire cost of a diamond 

 by having it cut here. The actual cost of cut- 

 ting is much less than is generally supposed. 

 The cost of cutting a $14,000 brilliant was not 

 far from $150. 



Diamonds always lose more or less, and 

 usually very considerably, in size and weight, 

 in the process of cutting, and to estimate the 

 probable amount of loss is one of the great 

 problems of the diamond -merchant; hardly 

 less important than the judging of the quality 

 of the stone, which can rarely be certainly 

 known while it is in the rough. The prices 

 of rough diamonds of low grade, at the Cape, 

 a year ago, averaged about $7.50 per carat ; they 

 are now quoted at about $13. Fine stones, of 

 course, bring much more. The diamond-mar- 

 ket at the Cape is mainly controlled by a num- 

 ber of European companies, with an aggregate 

 capital of $32,000,000. They operate measur- 

 ably in common ; work several of the principal 

 mines, loan money to individual miners, pur- 

 chase their findings, and transmit the stones 

 through their agents to all the markets, of 

 which the American is daily becoming more 

 and more important, although as yet it is con- 

 fined almost exclusively to cut gems of the 

 finer grades. 



Imports. There appears to be no means of 

 accurately estimating the value of the diamonds 

 annually brought into the United States; for 

 in the custom-house reports all kinds of jewels 

 are put nnder one head as "precious stones." 

 The reported value of these imports, in 1880, 

 was $6,698,000 ; in 1881, $8,090,000; in 1882, 

 $8,444,000 ; and probably much greater in 1883, 

 although the precise figures are not at hand. 

 Diamonds themselves probably do not consti- 

 tute a fourth, perhaps not an eighth, of this 

 amount. But even supposing that the yearly 

 importation of diamonds does not exceed 

 $1,000,000 or $1,500,000, the aggregate for 

 a series of years forms a very considerable 

 addition to the sum of our accumulated and 

 invested wealth ; for it must be considered 

 that whatever sum is thus laid up is one of 

 the most permanent of investments. And if 

 the purchases are judiciously made, this is one 

 of the safest of investments. Diamonds never 

 wear out; there is no known means of de- 

 stroying them except by burning them ; and 

 few things are less likely to be lost by acci- 

 dent. They may indeed be stolen, and are of 

 course a favorite object for thieves and burglars. 

 But the most successful diamond robbery is far 



