ah, diamonds have been coveted and admired for thousands of years for their beauty. they were formed billions of years ago and are so rare because so few are able to survive the difficult journey from the pits of the earth to reach the earth's surface. from the diamonds that are being mind today, only about 20 percent are high enough quality to be sold on the diamond market as jewelry. but while diamonds are rare, they aren't as well as you think. throughout the 19th century de beers maintained a monopoly on the global diamonds mines. the cartel with stock paula diamonds, limit supply and drive on demand and costs, and it would only release enough diamonds to meet annual demand, giving the market the allusion that diamonds were exceedingly rare. but why is the diamond so expensive? perhaps it has to do with the amount of work it takes to mine of diamond. dime is

mining operates some of the most resource intensive activities, consuming large amounts of water and energy. you 1st have to mind the diamond and extract it from its or about a 133000000. carrots of rough diamonds are produced each year with botswana and russia being the largest producers. between them, they have half the world's production. and for diamond producers control about 65 percent of the market. to be years, the russian producer are rosa and diversified mining companies. b h p, and rio tinto. large commercially viable diamond mines are a rarity. and today, there are only about 20 major diamond mines in the world, and only 11 of them make up 62 percent of the world's production by carrot and no matter how big the mine is, you have to move a lot of rock to get a very small number of diamonds at when the riches mine,

one ton of rock contains only about 1.4 carrots of rough diamonds. now that's less than point 3 grams. on average a producer cells rough diamonds for $134.00, a carrot, giving it a profit margin of 20 to 24 percent. the minor then has to sort and sell them as 2 regrade diamonds or industrial grade. diamonds. cutters and polishes are next to by rough diamonds from the producers, and cut them appropriately and polish them to release their true potential. the majority of cutting and polishing is now done in india, followed by china because of low labor costs. jewelry manufacturers then by the polish stones usually add exhibitions, create the piece, sets of stones, and give them 2 retailers to sell, finished jewelry to customers, manufacturers and retailers depending on the prestige or the brand can enjoy a premium profit margin of up to 40 percent. but now,

man main diamonds are growing in popularity to the average person. these gems are indistinguishable from traditionally mine diamonds. and these live grown diamonds or l g 's are less expensive and considered an environmentally friendly alternative to mining. they take weeks to create and plaza reactors and have been recognized as quote, diamonds by the u. s. federal trade commission since 2018. so for more or less bring in eating goal and diamond industry analyst at diamond research and data. so how have the attitudes towards lab created, diamond or l gds shifted and recent years it seems to be gaining traction with the market expected to double by $6000000000.00 by 2025. well, actually interesting question. so lab group have been around for a good number of years and have entered the retail

marketplace as components in jewelry around 2000, the 16 by 2018. they were really already a thing. and at that point, they were, if you look at the old diamonds, that is natural, diamonds and lab programs together. lab going to the time are presented about 2 percent of the business to $1.00 to $2.00 depending really how you measure it. and we know that that figure has increased, then it doubled almost every year. and it currently stands at around 10 percent. so in terms of value, there's definitely a doubling almost every year. i don't know if we'll reach 6000000000, but there's no doubt that this is a, an item of growing interest in the consumer market. and,

and we're seeing it growing rapidly at this point. and while allergies are trying to position themselves more ethical compare with the traditional history of time and money, are they really when it takes so much energy to produce them and most of them are made in china? there isn't one answer to this question. in other words, since it's an industry, some companies are ethical in defense of labor conditions impact on the environment, the federal that cannot be filled for all companies. there are a number of companies out in china that have facing a lot of criticism. some of it has to do with their energy use and interviews that

is not clean. there is a lot of criticism about working conditions and some of these places. so in general, i think we really need to, to break this down. first has to do with, is it ethical in the sense that it is environmentally friendly and the other is difficult? is it harming anyone? in most cases we see that both the ethical side and, and environmental side kind of go hand in hand and and compared to, to the majority of natural if you look at natural values and mining their human condition by enlarge fantastic workers, a unionized in the largest companies, all of the large companies are, are public companies,

so they're facing serious scrutiny. if they do not meet standards, they are reporting on their own ethical and environmental impacts. and those are audited so, so. so in that regard, i wouldn't say vance who have grown diamonds are by definition more difficult than, than natural. and the elegy, the industry claims that its objective is to democratize the diamond industries so that it is more affordable to all. but by doing that, isn't it inherently killing off the diamond industry and taking away the layer of what makes diamonds so valuable and coveted? so the issue of the valley was an interesting one. so 1st of all, the issue of, let's start with the market. i think diamond's mother dies and guy is really. ready with the beers in the 940 a very accurately this the that in the. ready post. ready war

2 era, we're looking primarily the united states and joined the. ready boom, and the growth in the middle class, and that's where that is wherever the slogan and marketing campaign really didn't stop until that point. diamonds were really something that you saw primarily available to very rich royalties to hollywood stars. but the average joe. ready didn't have an opportunity or the financial ability to buy them forever. was a campaign that said look, let's make sure that everybody has an opportunity and a desire to buy a diamond. so there we go. what we're seeing is really that, that the market, the democratization of diamonds began 80 years ago.

so that's one another and. ready so there's issue of what is the value today? and there is a debate. so one of the tenants of a luxury item is that it's not available. everybody and, and it is pricey. so it's, it's the economic aspect of it will make it less available as well. as them american quantity of the market. and in that regard, if, if we see diamonds being sold for $200.00, you know, everybody can afford them. is it right? is the wrong social which and i think everybody should have access to something. they see that a is beautiful, and b makes him feel good. i think the biggest value of a diamond ring, for example, is how does it make you feel? does it make you feel it when you're gifted?

good and, and that, that you made somebody happy. if you're the person being gifted, does it remain a strong and positive memory that make you happy? the answers are yes. if you look at a diamond, you'd say, wow, i'm so happy i have it. if you have a great item and, and that makes it valuable. and at the end of the day, i think that's the most important thing. there's no doubt that the fact that i them will, will have a sort of a bifurcation diamonds in the back. in this, we will have diamonds that are high price and as such luxury items. and we expect to see that primarily happening with natural diamonds of other hand, we're going to have something that has mass produced easily accessible. the cost of manufacturing is and, and growing in will reduce over time, making it more and more accessible. and as such, i don't expect it to be of

a luxury item as much as it will be a fashion item available to everybody. thank you so much eating, go on by your insights. and when we come back, we'll discuss the real environmental casa jans. and what is the price countries are willing to pay to get a whole impression. don't go with a since the beginning of its history, the united states of america has officially declared the striving for freedom and people's rights to happiness. however, in reality, having won independence,

american colonists headed for the total extermination of the indigenous population of the continent, american indians were deprived of their land. local residents were driven into reservations and given the worst agricultural territories. while the best land was appropriated by white colonizers, the strongest blow to american indian tribes was the extermination of buys of native americans lived by hunting these wild animal, colonists slaughter the bison, and in fact, made them nearly extinct. every buffalo dead is in india and gone, said colonel richard dug a veteran of the bloody and vicious indian wars cynically. the indigenous population was simply exterminated. u. s. army general phillips sheridan express the essence of this policy. in the infamous words, the only good india is a dead indian, the genocide of native americans of north america lead to

a demographic catastrophe. the exact number of deaths is deal unknown, but the number of victims is in millions. having been the majority on the continent before the indigenous people make up less than 3 percent of the us population today . ah, ah, welcome back. it's not does diamonds that fascinate color gemstones have had a resurgence of interest in racing years. for example, in the duchess of cambridge sapphire engagement rang megan marco's aqua marine lang . and princess eugene coral pep, russia, and mor, this has led the sector towards a double digit growth with record prices for emeralds and rubies that surpassed the price of diamonds on a per carrot and basis. but all that growth comes with a price, which is unfortunately the environment. pounds in world south africa like niggers,

fontaine were destroyed when the damn bill to hold back. the waste from mining crumbled, sending grace slush throughout the community. the waste from mining, known as tailings, is a becoming a major problem as poor community are saddled with toxic waste. once all the gems are extracted, a similar dam collapsed in brazil years ago, killing more than 250 people. unfortunately, these mines are often in rural areas where operators lack the resources and expertise to manage tailing dams, and often skim in order to save on operational costs. money also involves building tunnels and pits which opens room for soil erosion lose. sediments will continue accumulating in the nearby bodies of waters and the land itself will become unfit for agricultural purposes, further promoting deforestation. so now knowing the true costs of these gems,

is it still worth it? let's bring in eating gall and diamond industry analyst at diamond research and data for more. so even people today are increasingly looking to precious metals and color gemstones as safe assets. what do you make of that, and how do these precious gems such as sapphires, rubies, and emeralds compared to a diamond as an investment asset? so is this where there's a, there's a big debate about diamonds are a investment worth the item? and, and here too, we're seeing that we're looking at a i'm not let me restate that. which diamonds were saying that not old diamonds are investment, where the diamonds and there are some that are very much so. so diamonds that have the top top color, top clarity, perfect, polishing,

and in sizes that are very rare. so 5 carrots and above. so the flow liz, what is called the triple excellent. 5 carat diamond is rear and be and as they get bigger and remain those other characteristics, they become more and more less. ready available in the market and as such, where we see that usually at times of crisis, their prices tend to rise. and, and looking about the time of crisis, we're talking 9 live in ashima, 2000 a coven, endemic, and those kind of times we see that usually many elements, many economic elements are declining. so the stock market price of gold sometimes usually goes up, but sometimes goes down real estate, which is an important investment,

tends to break the real estate into the client at those times when people usually do as they turn to jewelry for a whole list of reasons psychological, primarily, and, and emotional. and what we see of those times is because there's a rise in demand and usually those sort of times difficult to mine, which was clearly the case doing over prices tend to rise. so as such, some diamonds are no doubt a hedge. so in that regard, they are a good investment for the long term, especially not just the damage scribe, but those with unique color than usual colors are pinks. red blues are, are in great demand and they're rarity, makes them especially expensive. and so for example, are the minute just really of it shut down about 2 years ago. was the main source

of diamonds. without that, mine is going to be a lot less being time is coming into the market so their prices are appreciating. that's the natural trend in terms of rubies and satisfies we're seeing those kind of trends with semi precious gems as well. although not the same extent, so they are some sapphires in emeralds and rubies that are appreciating and value. but this is primarily when they are attached to an interesting piece of jewelry. so necklaces, crowns earrings that have a story behind them. so providence does a lot to, to increase their value over time. and those are interesting investments. if we talk about investments in terms of, you know, if they go out to the store,

my local specialty jeweler and i buy one carrot ring with, with a typical color clarity combination. their prices do increase over time, but it's not a real investment opportunity. the whole retail model is based on the idea that i buy wholesale. i mark up for goods a little bit and then sell them very when you want to turn back to the store and say, look, you know, i buy this from you for so many dollars in the past 23510 years ago. and now i want to see this return on investment in our retailer won't buy it back at a retail price. so buy back in a hostile price because, you know, that's the basis of the retail business, holds only some retail so, so at times people can feel that they did not see the full appreciation. but mainly it has to do with the fact that they bought within

a model that does not encourage to create those kind of transactions. it seems like several, the top tier mines have already been depleted mines in me and more that contain the infamous pigeon blood rubies or cashmere sapphires, or the gal condom minds for diamonds have been long depleted. so do you see other semi precious stones like opals or awkward marines joining the ranks of the traditional sapphire rubies and rolls will it's so tricky question. so let's start with with you know, what, what is available will be available. one of the answers to the kitchen. ready wholesale ability is technology, right, would used to be impossible to reach in the past a little bit suddenly become became available. when technology change, when exploration technology is improved when conditions of improve, look at

a lot of the diamond minds around the world. today they're underground. and, you know, i've been to diamond mine in the started as an open it, which is a typical my and it went more than 600 meters underground. now, this is technology that didn't exist you know many years ago. and today, you know, your mining diamond at keno, a kilometer below sea level. so, so it's, it's really a matter of technology. i had a conversation with the ceo of the beers with, with clever who said, look, we're already seeing changes in technology that will allow us to find them as a places that in the past we thought they're, they're not there. or in the past we felt they are a possible resource. but just because of the costs and complexity of mining, it is resources. whenever. busy developed and now we're able to develop

them and really see that the new clause working on of us get there and, and be able to extract these gems economically. so this and this is true for all gen, this is not true just for diamonds just with ruby, for sapphires, emerald, et cetera. so that's the answer. first part of the question, will we see other gems rise and become interesting and precious. but sylvia, it's a possibility, i think that there are a lot of beautiful minerals out there that are not being traded as is very expensive or valuable items and you know, taste, change, interest, change. i wouldn't be surprised at all. we'll see that some of these items that are today viewed and sort of pedestrian become desirable and of

interest marketing. we haven't had that interesting brand will come out with design or jewelry line that is based on a certain item that will promote it clearly. so it's definitely a possibility. so we know that the rarity of diamonds is somewhat manipulated by the beers who have monopolies. what about the color gems? markets are the color precious gen innately scares or are there other market forces a play? it's a common misconception that the beers is a monopoly, that is gaming prices. so look for the past, you know, back in the old days talking, you know, 304050 years ago. the mirrors had an 80 percent market share was a combination of market share fucking by the value of rough diamonds. this market was created not only by the fact that the beers was the largest diamond

minor in the world, who was also the largest marketer. in other words. ready would buy diamonds from other companies and market it jointly and made a lot of sense for the exploration other exploration mining companies. we didn't have to deal with the marketing process. we have to clean the diamonds of the sort the diamonds. they didn't have to maintain a large operation of understanding, what's the price of certain stone, that of, you know, 3 to 8000 different ways of, of the breaking you can bring the diamonds up to, you know that some they could down 530023000 categories and some breaking to a 1000. so there's a lot of a lot of issues involved in how do you price and market design. so it was easy to provide it to the business. about 20 years ago the company became very sensitive. issue of it's not the listing

position and made a couple of changes in the way that it works. that changed it. so today the beers is about my value 30 percent of the supply for the market. there's another company rosa that up until about a year ago. when they found the sanctions you sanctioned in february 2022 because it's the russian company. so, but at that point it was the biggest supplier of diamonds by phone, right? by value a little bit less. so, not only that, the beards isn't the biggest minor anymore, it's, it's, you know, some could argue it's, that's not going to find me. not only would you say that, so now it could be argued that not only that de beers is not a majority provider, inclusive provided to the market. that in fact,

it's not even the biggest company in the market because there's another company that sells more by thank you so much eat and go on for your time and insight. now in the debate between diamonds and colored, jans is the consumers who will ultimately decide are these beautiful stones worth? the stress we put on the environment is the cost justified when the lands are stripped and rivers polluted. ultimately, it is up to the consumer to decide if it is worth it to them, or if they're happy with a counterfeit. i would say, synthetic sense, counterfeit has the connotation of deceit, and people are not necessarily being deceived. but the beauty of purchasing a stone that has been growing for millions of years and then plucked out of the ground is so special. and no amount of technology could ever replace or even come close to the fascination of a natural stone. but at what cost to the and my me, i'm christy, i thanks for watching and was see right here next time on the cost of everything

with ah, ah, in luis hunter, russia state. cool. never. i've started as i'm one of the most lansky div december candles, all sons, and up with fin. the 50000 distal, occlusal amount is 2000 speedy, one else above the sea. below we've ruled bad in the european union, the kremlin media machine, the state on russia today, and archie spoke. they're given our video agency roughly all band to on you to a big with

. mm ah, the 1st time in history and entire countries, culture has been cancelled. the very modern weapon council culture really desperate, wonderful language, sheffield mile. absolutely thought in william frog yet just misleading the with the phrase now particularly refers to counseling russian culture. yet i know what to create the few orders that i give to when you're my folks sure which of over your there is cha, whatsoever that the most of the separate yolanda e des moines what rush has created over the past 1500 years. there's no question, partially condemned, reviled and reject it to sort of like

a symbol of bell. there's a lot closer on a whole bunch. thank you. sort of a little short list. joining total condemnation, gross daily, and now enclosed dostoevsky, to cascade shostakovich that i need to you all left. but yes, she says that what that done, will you do a bummer lee? you're not going to look it up with a wrong one. i just don't know if you have to fill out the theme because of the applicant, an engagement. it was betrayal. when so many find themselves worlds

apart, we choose to look for common ground. ah, ah. hello and welcome to cross sack where all things are considered. i'm peter lavelle . the west presentation of the ukraine conflict is always been muddled and confusing. remember the phrase, as long as it takes that is not a strategic goal now or presented with as long as it takes pertains to the amount of conflict it doesn't pertain to the amount of assistance. do you understand what that means? ah.