1886 THE ORIGINS OF THE MONOPOLY
The history of the DE BEERS Syndicate begins in the late 1.800s with Cecil Rhodes, who managed to buy all the mines in South Africa. Upon his death in 1.902, HE WAS CONTROLLING 90% OF THE EXTRACTION OF ROUGH DIAMONDS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD. Trough this strategy, Rhodes had realised his target: THE DIAMOND PRICE ON THE MARKET WILL BE CONTROLLED BY ONE PLAYER.1926 THE MONOPOLY OF ROUGH DIAMONDS BECOMES ALSO MONOPOLY OF WORKED DIAMONDS
The HOPPENHEIMER family, Jewish cigar merchants, when Cecil Rhodes passed away, acquired the majority of DE BEERS and in 1.926 ERNEST HOPPENHEIMER became its president. HIS EMPIRE WAS BASED ON TWO BASIC PRINCIPLES :- Control of the offer, to manage the prices of the entire supply chain.
- "A DIAMOND IS FOREVER", this concept is spread worldwide : buying a diamond means buying a safe haven that will always retain its value.
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ANTWERP STOCK EXCHANGE
There is a known misconception that the world diamond trade is in the hands of the Jewish people. Indeed, after Second world War and the Nazi persecution, some of the few families that survived have hidden in their clothes diamonds and precious stones. Starting from this experience, they have built a fast growing business and joined the ANTWERP DIAMOND EXCHANGE, already opened in 1904.Today there is a DIAMOND CLUB in New York, a DIAMOND EXCHANGE in Tel Aviv and, the most growing, THE DIAMOND EXCHANGE in Bombay. ALL THESE DIAMOND CENTERS operate mainly through ANTWERP, where there is no VAT applied on import and export of diamonds.
HISTORY OF BRUNO LAUFER & SONS
Escaped from Vienna, in march 1.938, just beforethe night "Crystal's Nacht", Bruno Laufer and his parents achieved to hide in Merano until Rome, just before the entrance of the American Army. With the few diamonds and pieces of gold of his mother Clara, in the beginning of the 60's he started to import from Antwerp and sell all over Italy. On his travels to Antwerp it was easy for him to build solid and competitive relations. There were two main advantages:
- he is of the same religion of the best manufacturers
- he speaks Yiddish, a dialect typycal of the Jews from north and east Europe.
With his unique selling skill, at the end of the 80's he was one of the major five importers in Center and South of Italy.
LAUFER IS A GUARANTEE OF QUALITY.
AGR Antwerp Gemology Research
THE ORIGIN OF GEMOLOGICAL INSTITUTES begins in 1973, when the BIG OIL CRISES brought worldwide an hyperinflation. GOLD and DIAMOND PRICES rose suddenly around 400 to 500%. Many companies were found to sell diamonds without any knowledge about gemmology. TO PROTECT FROM SPECULATIONS AND FRAUD ON DIAMONDS, in 1973, The University of Antwerp together with The DIAMOND EXCHANGE of ANTWERP, Created the HRD : Hoge Raad voor Diamant, the FIRST LABORATORY RECOGNIZED BY ALL THE DIAMOND EXCHANGES IN THE WORLD. With the increasing demand of certified and sealed diamonds, in 1996, AGR was created WITH A VERY PRECISE FILOSOPHY:- Each stone must be pre-certified by IGI or HRD in Antwerp.
- before sealing the stone, a certified HRD registered Master gemologist has to double check and only than sign the certificate.