It is certainly true that India plays a major part in the diamond and jewelry
industry today, and the world wide markets in both. But please, don't let that
fact blind you to the fact that the rest of the world is also rather involved as
well...
Peter

Hi Peter & Group!

I didn't mean to start a culture war here! Just wanted
to pass along some background.

India had an extremely large part in the cutting and
"consumption" of diamonds and gems when it was home to the
various principalities ruled by the Maharajahs. This all
came to end at the close of the British Raj and the
formation of the states of India and Pakistan.

They consumed vast quantities of top and famous colored
stones and diamonds - many one-of-a-kind. Many
of these stones came from somewhere else -
Brazil, South East Asia (Siam, Cambodia, Laos, etc.),
various countries in Africa, most brought to India
by traders anonymously and sold to either cutters or the ruler
direct for cutting. And many of these diamonds came from southern
Africa, of course. Many weren't mined in India.

India does control the diamond cutting industry at the moment.
There is no question of that. Marketing, control of rough, sales,
etc.
are largely controlled by the Central Selling Organization / DeBeers.

Cutting quality is purely a matter of quality control. Many of
you have seen the "junk" cut colored stones, largely cut to
make them carat-heavy. I've never been sure where all those
stones wind up, but I've seen literally tons of them in Jaipur -
India's colored stone cutting center. Indian cutters are capable
of doing superb work - also making junk - but India has
always played a large part in consuming, trading and cutting gems.
There are certainly other notable cutting countries - including
Thailand and (now) China.

Finally, gems of all kinds (as well as precious metals) have had
"magical powers" in various cultures.

Ray
gems to excite your imagination! (tm) - since 1975
http://www.raygabriel.com