London’s diamond trade may not be forever

Richard Orange

19 May 2007

Richard Orange says London’s traditional dominance of global dealing in uncut stones is under threat from new players based in India, China and Dubai

The buyers are as much of a London mix as DTC’s diamonds. No sightholder is actually headquartered in London and, like the diamonds, sightholders are in effect carefully selected and graded by value, not by their geographical origins. The skullcaps and dark suits of the Jews who historically controlled the diamond industry are still well represented, but Indians now predominate. As much as 33 million of the 44.5 million carats of rough diamonds DTC exported last year went to India — more than 40 per cent of Britain’s total diamond exports by value. The arrival of the Indians as major players in the late 1960s took cutters in Antwerp by surprise, although perhaps it shouldn’t have given the trade’s historical origins. ‘They rather underestimated the Indians,’ remembers Mark Boston, chairman of Goldie & Co, a diamond broker. ‘They were quite condescending about them for a long time: “les hindoos” they used to say.’

Since then, Indian diamond cutters have come to dominate their craft. About a million workers in and around Surat, north of Mumbai, cut and polish 11 out of every 12 diamonds worldwide. And competition for Antwerp and New York, the two historic cutting centres, is only going to get fiercer. The Chinese are taking a growing role, and now the Indians are threatening to usurp Antwerp as a trading centre as well. The Bharat Diamond Bourse, a two million sq. ft. diamond trading complex in Mumbai, will be completed this October. Centres such as Hong Kong and Dubai are also pushing for a greater share.