Jewelry in India / Gems in India

Hi!

I hope that I can give you more background on this subject. By
way of background, I have been involved in importing gems
and researching jewelry in Asia since 1975. My wife wrote
the book "Jewelry of Nepal" (1999 - Weatherhill) and is a
German, professionally trained in the German apprenticeship
system as a professional goldsmith. She has had her own
design studio since 1975 until she retired last year.

Since banks in India were nonexistent until very resently, or
untrusted
(with good reason, as we've seen here in the last year), gold and
silver high karat jewelry is first a form of family wealth savings,
used as general savings and in marriage dowers, land purchase - in
many
transactions.

When a family has money, they go to a goldsmith and purchase
or have made a realtively simple piece of jewelry. There
is very little premium for the actual making/designing and designs
don't generally change much. Buyers are more interested in getting
the most gold or silver for the price. High karat gold is to be
preferred, then silver. India is about the biggest user of gold
as a medium of exchange in the world.

When a family NEEDS money, they go back to the goldsmith
and sell the jewelry for currency.

India is also a large producer of gems, both cut and rough.
While gems are used in Indian jewelry, it is not as important
as it is in the West and the metal is usually more important
than the stone(s). Colored stones are often cut in Jaipur, my
favorite city in India. Diamonds are now cut largely in Surat
and Mumbai.

Within the last 10 years, India has captured the majority of
diamond cutting in the world with almost 92% of cutting.
Rough comes largly from southern Africa, Russia and
(unfortunately) from the conflict regions in Central Africa.
Australia is also a fair size producers of rough. Diamond
rough trading is largely controlled by the Central Selling
Organization which grew from DeBeers. Diamond pricing
is much more controlled than other colored stones.

Hope this helps!

Ray Gabriel - www.raygabriel.com

Ray Gabriel wrote:

Within the last 10 years, India has captured the majority of
diamond cutting in the world with almost 92% of cutting.

Perhaps not now...

Early this year in Mumbai there were about 100,000 diamond cutters
thrown out of work and charities were operating free soup kitchens for them.

The vast bulk of the jewellery manufacturing industry serving export
markets shut down and people went back to their villages to await better
times.

--
William Black

So I looked at the script
It was six weeks filming in the desert.
No girls, no dialogue, just guys with guns.
They said "Do you want wages or a percentage?"
It looked like a certain turkey.
When they came the second time I was ready.
I haven't had to work since...

Eli Wallach on his roles in
"The Magnificent Seven"
and "The Good the Bad and The Ugly

On Jul 30, 8:18pm, William Black wrote:
The vast bulk of the jewellery manufacturing industry serving export
markets shut down and people went back to their villages to await better
times.

These are temporary phases, things are improving now and companies
regaining. India has been a international market place for diamond
jewelry for the last 3000+ years. All the big Diamonds those you can
think about are from India.

On Sat, 08 Aug 2009 10:18:28 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry Ganesh
wrote:

All the big Diamonds those you can
think about are from India.

Well, no.

Make that "many", and you're right. Many of the important historical diamonds
did indeed come from India, including some of the most famous, such as the large
blue diamond from which the Hope diamond was later cut.

However, South African mines also produced a number of famous very large
diamonds, including record holders. Consider the Cullinan diamond, the star of
Africa, and others. Those record holders in the British Crown Jewels, most of
them at any rate, are South African. But of course, the South African diamond
mines don't have the millenia old history and lore of the Indian sources.

Peter

On Aug 8, 10:23*pm, Peter W. Rowe
wrote:
However, South African mines also produced a number of famous very large
diamonds, including record holders. *Consider the Cullinan diamond, the star of
Africa, and others. *Those record holders in the British Crown Jewels, *most of
them at any rate, are South African. * But of course, the South African diamond
mines don't have the millenia old history and lore of the Indian sources.

But Koh-i-noor on records still is still the biggest finished diamond.
As per http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A730801 the stone originally
weighed 793 carats.

On Mon, 10 Aug 2009 08:52:14 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry Ganesh
wrote:


On Aug 8, 10:23*pm, Peter W. Rowe
wrote:
However, South African mines also produced a number of famous very large
diamonds, including record holders. *Consider the Cullinan diamond, the star of
Africa, and others. *Those record holders in the British Crown Jewels, *most of
them at any rate, are South African. * But of course, the South African diamond
mines don't have the millenia old history and lore of the Indian sources.

But Koh-i-noor on records still is still the biggest finished diamond.
As per http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A730801 the stone originally
weighed 793 carats.

Quite possibly, although the actual weight at the time, before being butchered
in recutting in europe, is a bit uncertain, simply because records, and indeed
the exact definition of the carat, may be hazy.

However, Currently, it's not the biggest, or the finest, diamond around. And
for sheer size, the Cullinan, originally weighing in at over 3100 carats (one
and a third POUNDS) is still the largest rough diamond ever found, or at least,
the largest one we have records of. It's also one of the finer quality stones
ever found too.

Peter

Ganesh wrote:


But Koh-i-noor on records still is still the biggest finished diamond.
As per http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A730801 the stone originally
weighed 793 carats.

You're wrong again!

The "Golden Jubilee Diamond" at 545.67 carats is the largest finished
diamond in the world. By a very large margin.

And the Koh-i-Noor (105.6 carats) isn't the second, third or even 15th
largest finished diamond. Not by a long shot.

The "Cullinan I" or the "First Star of Africa" weighs 530.2 ct

And the "Cullinan II" or the "Lesser Star of Africa", weighs 317.4 ct.

"Spirit of de Grisogono" (found is west central Africa), weighs 312.24 ct.

The "Centenary Diamond" (btw, also NOT found in India) weighs 273.85 ct.

"Jubilee Diamond", 245.35 ct.

"Millennium Star", 203.04 ct.

"La luz de dia", 201 ct.

"Orlov", 189.62 ct.

"Jacob Diamond", 184.5 ct.

"Darya-ye Noor", 182 ct.

"Paragon Diamond", 137.82 ct.

"Florentine Diamond", 137.27 ct.

"Premier Rose Diamond", 137.02 ct.

"Tiffany Yellow Diamond", 128.54

"Star of the South", 128.48 ct.

"Portuguese Diamond", 127.01 ct.

--
Abrasha
http://www.abrasha.com

Ganesh wrote:
On Jul 30, 8:18pm, William Black wrote:
The vast bulk of the jewellery manufacturing industry serving export
markets shut down and people went back to their villages to await better
times.

These are temporary phases, things are improving now and companies
regaining.

Possibly.

However the main diamond cutting centre has moved twice since I was
born, from Amsterdam to Tel Aviv and from Tel Aviv to Bombay.

It could move again...


--
William Black

The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing.
If you can fake that, you've got it made.

Ganesh wrote:
On Jul 30, 8:18pm, William Black wrote:
The vast bulk of the jewellery manufacturing industry serving export
markets shut down and people went back to their villages to await better
times.

These are temporary phases, things are improving now and companies
regaining. India has been a international market place for diamond
jewelry for the last 3000+ years. All the big Diamonds those you can
think about are from India.



3000+ years?!?

Yeah, right. India has been an "international market place for diamond
jewelry", since 1000 BC

"All the big Diamonds those you can think about are from India."
The first one I can think of, and the largest diamond ever found is the
Cullinan, found in Cullinan South Africa in 1905

The "Excelsior Diamond" was found in 1893 at the Jagersfontein Mine in
South Africa and was the largest diamond ever found until the Cullinan
was found.

The third one I can think of is the "Oppenheimer Diamond" from
Kimberley, South Africa.

The "Lesotho Promise" was found in, you guessed it Lesotho in 2006

I could go on for a while, but that would become boring.

--
Abrasha
http://www.abrasha.com

On Aug 25, 12:42 am, Abrasha wrote:
Ganesh wrote:
On Jul 30, 8:18pm, William Black wrote:
The vast bulk of the jewellery manufacturing industry serving export
markets shut down and people went back to their villages to await better
times.

These are temporary phases, things are improving now and companies
regaining. India has been a international market place for diamond
jewelry for the last 3000+ years. All the big Diamonds those you can
think about are from India.

3000+ years?!?

Yeah, right. India has been an "international market place for diamond
jewelry", since 1000 BC

"All the big Diamonds those you can think about are from India."
The first one I can think of, and the largest diamond ever found is the
Cullinan, found in Cullinan South Africa in 1905

The "Excelsior Diamond" was found in 1893 at the Jagersfontein Mine in
South Africa and was the largest diamond ever found until the Cullinan
was found.

The third one I can think of is the "Oppenheimer Diamond" from
Kimberley, South Africa.

The "Lesotho Promise" was found in, you guessed it Lesotho in 2006

I could go on for a while, but that would become boring.

--
Abrashahttp://www.abrasha.com

This is THE most fascinating discussion I have ever read on this
group...spirited and informational! I am really enjoying Google -ing
each of the stones mentioned and learning the lore, mystique, and
history behind each of them - thank you for sharing all this
knowledge.

Robyn Hawk
http://facebook.com/aflyonthewallblogs