How does a diamond get from the mines to the stores?
Finding the rough diamonds is only the first step. Once diamonds have been mined and processed out of the ‘overburden’ (that is, the kimberlite rocks in which they are imbedded), the rough crystals are sorted and categorized according to their size, color, shape and other characteristics. At this point, a diamond can follow one of two routes. The most common route is through the channels of DeBeers’ Central Selling Organization (CSO). Many people are familiar with DeBeers mainly because of their advertisements and commercials and because of the famous motto that they coined in the early half of the 20th century: “A Diamond is Forever.” While DeBeers’ market influence has decreased somewhat over the last few years, they still control the majority of the world’s diamond production (an estimated 30% to 40% of annual diamond production). The purchasing arm of the CSO not only buys diamonds from member mines around the world; it also finances mining technology for governments which do not h
