1. What is Debeers? Debeers is the world leading diamond company that was created by a family. The mines were founded in 1888 by Cecil Rhodes and Barney Barnato. The Debeers company has expertise in diamond exploration,mining, grading,marketing, and retail.
2. Is it an open Market? Debeers is not an open market because it is not legal in the United States. It is run in South Africa and is considered a virtual monopoly with a headquarters in London. All sight holders have to travel there and 80% of the world's diamonds are sold there.
3. Do Sight Holders have the power to negotiate prices? No, sight holders send in their request and basically what they are willing to pay. De Beers decides if they want to send the diamonds to them so no sight holders know what to expect. This can make or break sight holders profit for a period of time.
4. Why can't Debeer’s Operate in the USA? De Beers can't operate in the United States because it is considered a cartel and a virtual monopoly. The US has antitrust laws and De beers is considered a monopoly and has more control across the globe for diamond trade. De beers bought out the majority of the diamond companies around them and this gave De beers the ability to control the diamond market.
5. What is the connection between GE and De Beers? Did they make a deal? GE and De Beers set the prices for the equipment used to saw the diamonds and clean up at a higher price to cover illegal and fraudulent business activity. The plan was to prosecute GE and De Beers because the US thought they were involved in illegal activity.
6. What is one thing about diamonds most people do not know? Diamonds form below earth's outer crust and are located in the upper mantle. This is about 1,678 miles beneath earth's surface for the lower mantle and for reference it's about 10 kilometers below the ocean floor.