Marange diamonds: It's Surat vs Rapaport

SURAT: While Surat Rough Diamond Sourcing India Limited (SRDSIL) has struck a deal with Zimbabwe's diamond consortium for the supply of rough diamonds worth $1.2 billion, global diamond industry leaders, who gathered at the recently concluded international diamond conference organised by Rapaport Group in New York, called for the segregation of Marange goods by the Indian manufacturers.
Susan Jacques, president of Warren Buffett-owned retailer Borsheim's in US' Omaha city, was not in favour of putting the diamonds coming from Marange into the jewellery pieces manufactured by her company.
Jacques told the conference that after the first auction from Marange, she wrote to her suppliers asking them not to sell Marange stones. She felt so strongly about this that she even notified her suppliers of diamond watches not to use Marange stones.
"We cannot sell the diamond pieces that come from the troubled region of Marange. I beg of Surat people to please segregate the Marange goods, before they supply us with the orders. If there are no social issues attached to Marange diamonds in India and China, jewellery buyers in the US would certainly not like to possess the diamond rings that come from troubled places like Zimbabwe," said Susan.
Aagam Sanghavi, director of Sanghavi Exports, who represented SRDSIL at the diamond conference, said, "It is impossible to segregate Marange goods. We do believe in ethical way of doing our business, but then it is not possible for the manufacturers to separate goods from a huge lot of rough diamonds of same size and colour sourced from different places across the world."
According to Sanghavi, the huge supply of rough diamonds from Zimbabwe is going to create new jobs in Surat industry. There will be more roughs and more work in our industry. The SRDSIL is assessing and addressing the risk factors involved in sourcing the Zimbabwe stones and will find out a solution.
Martin Rapaport of Rapaport Group said, "In all likelihood, there aren't any atrocities right now associated with the mines producing these stones. As far as Marange in Zimbabwe is concerned, there is no indication of human rights violation."