Transcript No Slide Title

Gemstones
Any non-metallic mineral or other natural
material (e.g., amber, jet, pearl) that can be cut
and polished for use in jewelry and related
products.
Mineral gemstones include: sapphire, ruby,
diamond, emerald, topaz, turquoise and opal
http://pubs.usgs.gov/
Why are some gems so expensive?
With the exception of diamonds, most
gemstones are highly valued because of their:
Beauty
Rarity
Tradition
Perception of permanence
Aaron’s Ceremonial Breastplate
"Fashion a breastpiece for making decisions—the work of a skilled craftsman. Make it like the ephod:
of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen. It is to be square—a span
long and a span wide—and folded double. Then mount four rows of precious stones on it […] Mount
them in gold filigree settings. There are to be twelve stones, one for each of the names of the sons of
Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes. (Exodus 28)
New International
Version
New American
Standard
King James
Young’s Literal
Translation
Contemporary English
Version
New Living Translation
ruby
ruby
sardius
sardius
carnelian
red carnelian
topaz
topaz
topaz
topaz
chrysolite
pale-green peridot
beryl
emerald
carbuncle
carbuncle
emerald
emerald
turquoise
turquoise
emerald
emerald
turquoise
turquoise
sapphire
sapphire
sapphire
sapphire
sapphire
blue lapis lazuli
emerald
diamond
diamond
diamond
diamond
white moonstone
jacinth
jacinth
ligure
opal
jacinth
orange jacinth
agate
agate
agate
agate
agate
agate
chrysolite
beryl
beryl
beryl
beryl
blue-green beryl
amethyst
amethyst
amethyst
amethyst
amethyst
purple amethyst
onyx
onyx
onyx
onyx
onyx
onyx
jasper
jasper
jasper
jasper
jasper
jasper
http://www.biblegateway.com/
The Curious Lore of
Precious Stones
Original Publication Date: 1913
Claimed that the twelve stones on
Aaron’s breastplate symbolized the 12
months of the year, not the 12 tribes.
The Hebrew calendar contains either 12
or 13 months in a year.
January
February
garnet
rose quartz
14.60 CT.
94.83 CT.
$737.99
$266.75
Price per CT.
Price per CT.
$50
$0.35
amethyst
SiO2
18.61 CT.
onyx
9.48 CT.
$626.99
$9.99
Price per CT.
Price per CT.
$34
$0.95
aquamarine
March
SiO2
SiO2
bloodstone
104.89 CT.
3.04 CT.
$7,854.59
$12.99
Price per CT.
Price per CT.
$75
$4.27
http://www.thaigem.com/
April
diamond
May
rock crystal
1.61 CT.
4,500.00 CT.
$10,368.40
$2,528.75
Price per CT.
Price per CT.
$6,440
$0.56
emerald
June
SiO2
SiO2
chrysoprase
4.70 CT.
4.57 CT.
$29.817.83
$9.35
Price per CT.
Price per CT.
$6,344
$2.08
alexandrite
moonstone
15.58 CT.
42.53 CT.
$93,230.99
$119.80
Price per CT.
Price per CT.
$5,984
$2.82
http://www.thaigem.com/
October
tourmaline
26.62 CT.
13.06 CT.
$18,688.16
$774.79
Price per CT.
Price per CT.
$702
$57
November
topaz
December
opal
SiO2
citrine
31.03 CT.
18.97 CT.
$23,236.19
$160.67
Price per CT.
Price per CT.
$749
$8
tanzanite
zircon
5.84 CT.
13.32 CT.
$219.95
$6,681.99
Price per CT.
Price per CT.
$502
$38
http://www.thaigem.com/
Region
Africa
Europe
(Russia)
North America
South America
Asia
(China)
TOTAL
27.0%
Angola
16.9%
South Africa
14.1%
Dem. Rep. Congo
7.4%
Sierra Leone
1.1%
Central African Rep.
0.9%
Tanzania
0.6%
Liberia
0.3%
Ivory Coast
0.3%
Annual Worldwide Natural
Diamond
Namibia
5.3%
Guinea
1.3%
Production
Value ($1,000)
Market Share
5,354,910
1,595,000
453,555
(Canada)
Australia
Botswana
360,600
68.2%
20.3%
Mining
114 million
diamonds
5.8%carats raw
Ghana
4.6%
Lesotho
~
$7,000,000,000
76,450
1.0%
16,480
0.2%
Venezuela
0.2%
0.1%
0.6%
Guyana
0.0%
All phases of production, distribution,
and retail
7,856,995
100.0%
Brazil
2,000,000 workers
67,000,000 pieces of diamond jewelry
http://www.worlddiamondcouncil.com/
0.4%
Why are some diamonds so expensive?
Diamonds would be
moderately
expensive for the same
Summary
of the Settlement
reasons other gemstones are (beauty, rarity, tradition,
De Beers is the largest supplier of rough diamonds in the world. Beginning in 2001, Plaintiffs
etc.)
in several states filed lawsuits against De Beers in state and federal courts alleging that De
Beers unlawfully
monopolized
the diamonds
supply of diamonds,
conspired to fix,high
raise, and
control
However,
the
price of
is artificially
due
to
diamond prices, and issued false and misleading advertising. De Beers denies it violated the
the
blatant and highly successful manipulation of the
law or did anything wrong.
world’s largest diamond conglomerate: DeBeers.
The Settlement Agreement provides that $22.5 Million be distributed to the Direct Purchaser
The
a virtual
monopoly
on Class.
jewelClass,company
and that $272.5maintains
Million will be distributed
to the
Indirect Purchaser
De Beers
also agrees
to refrain from engaging
in certainthe
conduct
that violates
federal and
quality
diamonds,
controlling
supply
to keep
thestate
price
antitrust laws and submit to the jurisdiction of the Court to enforce the Settlement.
high.
Claims must have been filed before May 19th, 2008.
The company also has a series of highly successful
marketing campaigns (e.g., “a diamond is forever”) to
keep demand high.https://diamondsclassaction.com/
“A Diamond is Forever”
http://www.adiamondisforever.com/
Right
“Right Hand Ring”
Advertising Campaign
“Your left hand rocks
the cradle. Your right
hand rules the world.”
“Your left hand says ‘we’
Your right hand says ‘me’”
http://www.adiamondisforever.com/
DeBeers and Injustice in Africa
Besides their questionable business practices, DeBeers:
Officially “rejected” apartheid in South Africa, but exploited
the system to the benefit of the company (although not the
workers).
Continued to engage in apartheid practices at its South
African mines long after the apartheid government fell.
Supported the forced removal of the Basarwa people from
their traditional lands in Botswana, virtually ensuring the
destruction of their culture.
http://www.playahata.com/pages/eyecalone/blingbling.html
Update: 1/7/08
After years of international boycotts and protests, DeBeers
sold its mining operations in Botswana to Gem Diamonds.
The new owners have vowed to treat the Bushmen as
equal partners and seek their legal consent before any
further development.
In 2006, the Botswana High Court ruled that the Bushmen
http://www.zambezi.co.uk/
could return to their ancestral lands. However, the
Botswana government has denied the Bushmen everything
they need to live in the Kalahari (hunting rights, access to
“The Government was justified in removing
water, herding rights).
the Basarwa [‘Bushmen'] from the
http://www.survival-international.org/tribes/bushmen
Reserve... It is sensible of Government
to
take such action. Otherwise who would
always want to remain in the Dark Ages
while others move forward?”
Louis Nchindo, Managing Director, Debswana
(De Beers's Botswana subsidiary).
http://www.survival-international.org/
http://archiviofoto.blog.excite.it/img/BRITAINBOT.jpg
Conflict Diamonds
The diamond trade has also supported both war and terrorism
Bankrolled some of most vicious civil wars in
Africa over the last few decades.
Was and perhaps still is used by al-Qaeda
groups to raise and move funds.
http://www.amnestyusa.org/
African Diamond Producing Countries
Guinea
Central African Rep.
Sierra Leone
Dem. Rep. Congo
Liberia
Tanzania
Ivory Coast
Botswana
Ghana
Lesotho
Angola
South Africa
Namibia
Wars in African Diamond-Producing Nations Since 1990
Lesotho Intervention (1998)
Lesotho, South Africa, Botswana
First Congo War (1996-1997)
Dem. Rep. Congo, Rwanda, Uganda
(over 200,000 civilian killed)
Great War of Africa (1998-2003)
Dem. Rep. Congo, Zimbabwe, Angola,
Rwanda, Uganda, Namibia, Chad, Libya,
Sudan, Burundi (5,400,000 deaths)
Angolan Civil War (1975-2002)
(over 500,000 military casualties)
Guinea-Bissau Civil War (1998-1999)
First Liberian Civil War (1989-1996)
(over 200,000 killed)
Sierra Leone Civil War (1991-2002)
(~75,000 dead)
Second Liberian Civil War (1999-2003)
(~150,00 killed)
Ivory Coast Civil War (2002-2007)
Patients at a clinic in
Freetown. Their hands
were chopped off by
rebels (RUF) in the
Sierra Leone Civil War.
http://www.msu.edu/course/pls/461/stein/refugees.htm
Human Rights Abuses by RUF (Sierra Leone rebel group)
Massacres, Individual Murders, and Fire-Related Deaths
Burning Alive
The Use of Games to Maximize Terror
Mutilation and Amputation
Rape and Sexual Assault
Abduction
Targeting of Particular Groups
The Use of Civilians as Human Shields
The Use of Drugs by the RUF and Forced Drugging of Civilians
Treatment of Prisoners
Violations of Medical Neutrality
Human Rights Watch, 1999. Getting Away with Murder, Mutilation, Rape: New Testimony from Sierra Leone 11: 3(A).
http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/sierra/index.htm#
Human Rights Abuses by RUF (Sierra Leone rebel group)
“Some of the atrocities committed by the RUF rebels were unthinkable. Infants and children
were thrown into burning houses, the hands of toddlers as young as two were severed with
machetes, girls as young as eight were sexually abused, and hundreds of children of all
ages were traumatically separated from their communities and forced to walk into the hills
with strangers whom they had seen kill their family members.
In some cases children, many of them originally abductees, participated in
the perpetration of these abuses. Child combatants armed with pistols,
rifles, and machetes actively participated in killings and massacres,
severed the arms of other children, and beat and humiliated men old
enough to be their grandfathers. Often under the influence of drugs, they
were known and feared for their impetuosity, lack of control, and brutality.
Human Rights Watch, 1999. Getting Away with Murder, Mutilation, Rape: New Testimony from Sierra Leone 11: 3(A).
http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/sierra/index.htm#
UNICEF estimates there
were 5,400 child soldiers in
the RUF, but the number
could have been as high as
10,000 or more
Many former RUF child
soldiers are currently being
recruited for wars in other
western African nations (e.g.,
Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea).
Human Rights Watch, 2005. Youth, Poverty and Blood: The
Lethal Legacy of West Africa’s Regional Warriors 17:5(A).
Photo: ©UNICEF / Giacomo Pirozzi
http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/afrec/vol15no3/153chil2.htm
For a Few Dollars More
Global Witness, April, 2003
100 page report on how terrorist
groups Hezbullah and al Qaeda used
diamonds to support their activities,
including:
1. Fundraising
2. Avoiding financial sanctions
3. Money laundering
4. Transport of funds
Report also addresses al Qaeda’s use of
other commodities like gold and the
gemstone tanzanite
http://www.globalwitness.org
For a Few Dollars More
August 7, 1998 - 10:30 a.m.
Simultaneous bombing of U.S. embassies in Kenya and
Tanzania, killing 224 and injuring 4,500. An FBI investigation
blamed many members of al Qaeda, including terrorists
connected to several companies involved in the diamond trade.
http://archives.cnn.com/2000/LAW/10/20/embassy.bombings.01/
http://www.globalwitness.org
For a Few Dollars More
After August 7, 1998
Al Qaeda diamond
operatives flee Tanzania,
taking their experience in
the diamond trade to their
new homes in West Africa
- particularly Liberia and
Sierra Leone.
http://www.globalwitness.org
For a Few Dollars More
Al Qaeda
Charles Taylor
Former president of Liberia,
currently being tried in the Special
Court for Sierra Leone at the Hague
for war crimes (8/21/08)
http://afp.google.com/
RUF
Diamond Trade
http://www.globalwitness.org
For a Few Dollars More
Estimates of the amount of money raised for al Qaeda by the diamond
trade vary, ranging somewhere in the tens of millions of dollars. After the
9/11 attacks, all parties in the diamonds-for-arms dealing in Sierra
Leone and Liberia claimed they did not know they were dealing with al
Qaeda operatives.
http://www.globalwitness.org
The Kimberley Process
http://www.kimberleyprocess.com/
“In order to fully combat the scourge of conflict diamonds, on November 5, 2002,
fifty-two governments ratified and adopted the final Kimberley Process
Certification Scheme [… and …] have agreed that they will only allow for the
import and export of rough diamonds if those rough diamonds come from or are
being exported to another Kimberley Process participant.
The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme requires that each shipment of
rough diamonds being exported and crossing an international border be
transported in a tamper-resistant container and accompanied by a governmentvalidated Kimberley Process Certificate. Each certificate should be resistant to
forgery, uniquely numbered and include data describing the shipment’s content.”
Angola, Australia, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Canada, Côte d’Ivoire, People’s Republic of China,
Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany,
Greece, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, Gabon,
Ghana, Guinea, India, Israel, Japan, Republic of Korea, Lesotho, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Namibia,
Norway, Philippines, Russian Federation, Sierra Leone, Socialist Republic of Vietnam, South Africa,
Swaziland, Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United States of America and
Zimbabwe (12/20/02)
World Diamond Council, 2002. The Essential Guide to Implementing The Kimberley Process. PDF: http://www.worlddiamondcouncil.com/
National Day of Action on Conflict Diamonds
September 18, 2004
Amnesty International surveyed 246 stores in 50 U.S. cities:
27% of shops were able assure us that they had a policy on conflict diamonds.
30% of the shops that said they had a policy were unable to produce a hard
copy or explain it.
13% of shops provided warranties to their customers as a standard practice.
37% of the shops claimed to be aware of the conflict diamonds issue, but 54%
of them reported an inaccurate definition of the crisis.
28% of the shops were aware of the Kimberley Process.
29% of those who were aware of the Kimberley Process had only a minimal or
limited understanding of it.
When asked whether consumers inquired about conflict diamonds, 83% of
respondents answered rarely or never.
110 shops refused outright to take the survey.
http://www.amnestyusa.org/business/action_update.html
12/20/06
The release of the movie “Blood
Diamond” prompted DeBeers (through
their major trade organization) to launch
an extensive website lauding the
diamond industry as a force for good in
the undeveloped world:
http://www.diamondfacts.org/
Among other questionable statements, it
includes the fact that approximately one
million people are employed by the diamond
industry in India. What it doesn’t report is
that up to 10% of those workers are children
(12-13 years old), and many of those are
“bonded” – a polite word for children sold
into slavery.
http://ihscslnews.org/view_article.php?id=61
Conflict Diamonds
US jewelry retailers still not doing enough
Published February, 2007
The majority of the top-selling US retail jewelers that provided information to Global
Witness and Amnesty International do not have adequate policies in place to
combat blood diamonds. A survey, conducted by Global Witness and Amnesty
International between December 2006 and February 2007, queried the 37 jewelry
retailers listed collectively by National Jeweler magazine as The $100 Million
Supersellers on their policies to stop the trade in blood diamonds.
56% of respondents had no auditing procedures to combat blood diamonds.
57% of respondents had no policy posted on their websites.
50% of these huge retailers did not respond at all.
The survey also noted that a few industry leaders such as Helzberg Diamond
Shops, Sterling (Signet) and Tiffany & Co. have taken stronger measures to
combat conflict diamonds.
http://www.globalwitness.org/media_library_detail.php/549/en/global_witness_amnesty_international_uk_diamond_re