I'd say between $80,000 and $100,000. That's a superb diamond canary yellow. It's not just any yellow, that one. It's a very rare stone. This kind of stone often comes
from South Africa or Botswana. We buy Russian diamonds. We buy African diamonds.
We buy Australian diamonds. We buy a few South American diamonds,
some Canadian, a bit of everything. In Russia, they're very white. It's a big advantage. When they're white, they're very white. The yellow ones usually lose value,
but with an intense yellow, they can be more valuable
than the white ones. The value varies from
around $80,000 to $100,000 per carat. If you have a stone of 28 carats,
that makes about $1.8 million. So we should try not to drop it. Right. The slightest tip would be very expensive. Oops. For sure. Someone said to me,
you want to see the world of diamonds? Go to Antwerp. You'll see diamond globalization. Antwerp is today
the world's diamond capital. Seventy percent of the planet's
rough diamonds, $12 billion. The market is essentially restricted
to just three video surveillance streets, with 1500 companies and 35,000 people. The area's historic diamond workers, the Jews,
now live alongside their competitors Chinese, Russian, and above all, Indians, increasingly present
in the diamond market. Wars in Africa have seriously
tarnished diamond's reputation and led to various
international certification procedures. Here, it's a clean business under control. One major diamond group. The diamonds arrive rough. They're sent away to be cut
and returned here to be sold. Roby runs the group with his brothers. He specializes in small stones,
the mainstay of the market. My father died in 69. He had four children, four boys,
and all four have gone into diamonds. Now there's a second generation,
or rather a fourth generation, because my brother's children have come
into the business and sons-in-law too. It's a family affair. In the early 1950s, the family was in Beirut on the trade route of diamonds
sent by Lebanese traders in Africa. Roby's father bought some
and sold him in Antwerp. That's how the business began, but life for Jews in
an Arab country was untenable. In 1958, the family settled in Antwerp. Roby was just two years old. We were traders, as they say,
merchants, Phoenicians, a bit of Lebanese. We were trading in the buying
and selling of cut diamonds. We weren't manufacturing. We got supplies from other manufacturers,
either in Antwerp or in Israel. After more than 30 years in the business, Roby is a privileged witness to
the changes in the Antwerp diamond world. When a cutter looked at a rough stone,
he used his intuition and experience. Today, there are these 3D machines
that tell you everything. It's much more technical today. There are still about
150 or 200 cutters, I would say. Back then there were many more. They talked about 3000 to 5000 cutters
outside Antwerp in the Campine region, as it's called, the Campine. Thanks to their cutting-edge technology, certain companies have resisted the trend to delocalize the diamond-cutting
to countries where labor is cheap, but they deal essentially in large stones where the cost of manpower
is of little importance. The key is to lose as little
of the raw material as possible. The average is between
fifty and sixty percent. Here they limit it to forty percent. With ultrafast, vibration-free polishing
machines and laser cutting devices, science is an art or vice versa. The big plus is being able to simulate what can be done with a diamond
that has an impurity or an inclusion. Here they have their
in-house software and it's top secret. A girl's best friends,
sang Marilyn, are diamonds, but not necessarily a big rock. Roby's customers
may be supermarket retailers, major gem dealers,
or small-time jewelers. The market covers every sector. The bulk of the market is still jewelers. The mass market is jewelry stores. Be it high quality, standard quality,
or low quality, it's still jewelers. Today you have big names like the Place Vendome
with Cartier and Van Cleef. Their turnover is jewelry. The big retail chains in France,
like Carrefour, Leclerc, and Auchan, sell jewelry, your basic jewelry business. Low-quality jewelry
is sold all over the world. Even with one stone or two stones,
the advertising will say it's diamonds, but they're very cheap. They may sell for €49 or €50, very cheap,
but they're almost sand, I would say. When they buy rough diamonds here, they're not for manufacturing
common or garden jewelry. They're for reselling. A new shipment has just arrived. Is that rough? This is rough. It comes out of the mine like this. There's everything in there. There are white stones,
black, brown, yellow. There are nice stones and bad stones,
and pretty much every size. These are two stones per carat. These are 12 or 13 stones
per carat. These are smaller.
It's the same material. There's about $1 million worth
of merchandise, more or less. -More or less?
-We prefer more rather than less. Do you know how
much you'll sell them for? -Not exactly.
-Not exactly? We've estimated the value based on
the potential customers we might have. Just over $1 million. Of course, we sell them
for more than $1 million. We're not doing this
because we like the mine owner's face. I've left a stone there. Finders keepers. The diamond market is high-risk. The merchandise is expensive,
and it's very closely scrutinized. Today, the buyers are Hasidic Jews
and Indians from Surat, the world's cutting capital. Now markets go down
and you are talking about the same price. -It's not possible.
-If I say enough for this price, I cannot replace it again,
so I will send you one time. Just to get the to get a good price,
I can give you. If my client buys this,
but they cannot come again to you also. -No problem.
-I buy everything. I don't say buy one to pass. I'm asking you. Where are you? I see because my clients say around $60. I can offer $60.
I don't say this often. I do offer to the client. At $60, I cannot take your offer. I don't give offers around $60. I don't say $60. I don't think I'm asking a price
too far from reality. I hope they want to let
the opportunity go by. The originals you saw in the bags, once they're sorted, we have merchandise
that is worth practically nothing. The brand merchandise,
which is worth a bit more. The white merchandise
with slightly irregular models, which are naturally worth still more, and other white merchandise
with nice round white stones. Worth more again? Worth more again. There are other models to be sawn,
which are generally not for the Indians, but which are generally
for Chinese customers or ourselves, for our manufacturing requirements. We mainly concentrate
on the cheaper merchandise, the markets where
there's only one stone to cut. So there's an average price? This is merchandise
that isn't worth more than $10, and this is merchandise
that can reach $150, so we present an average price,
and we might offer the stones at $150. After that, we'll see if
they reached that price or not. This megalopolis of 20 million souls
is Bombay or Mumbai, the financial capital of the world's
third-largest economic power. In these suitcases,
diamonds arrive from around the world. India has today
cornered the cutting market, dealing with more than
three-quarters of all diamonds. The cutting takes place
in Surat, further north, but the business center is here in Mumbai. Here, it's only trading. All the shipments of rough diamonds come from Belgium, Africa,
or Russia, wherever. They come here. They are processed here and then shipped everything
to Surat for manufacturing. Then everything from Surat is shipped again to Bombay
and then processed here, either sold to the local markets
or re-exported to overseas markets. All the international clients
that come to India for diamonds come here. Everybody who lands
wants to buy a diamond, they will have to come here. Bablu runs the Tache office in Mumbai, a sales center,
and an observatory over a changing market. He's 41 years old and has been in
the diamond trade since he was a boy. My father moved me and my brother
to Bombay to learn about diamonds. Then my brother moved to America
to open a sales office for my family. I did not study.
I came at the age of 15. I started to work with my father
and with my uncle over here. Then I moved. I stayed here for a few years,
and I went to America with my brother. Then from America, I went to Hong Kong. Then I stayed in Bangkok
and I stayed in Belgium. In Belgium, I stayed for 14 years. Like in Antwerp, the diamond merchants
are gathered in one neighborhood, like Antwerp or almost. These are all small traders or brokers
or people who are dealing with the goods. It's all full of those people. If you put together all the values, they still take. A few million dollars a week
is being traded over here. They do not have any expenses. Everything is done with
mobile, word, and trust. There is no really a computer. There is no really authentic invoice
to make the business. Everything is on word
and people know each other. They trust each other.
Everything is done on a trust basis. -Hello. How are you?
-Fine, and you? I'm looking for a seven-carat stone.
Have you got one? -What type?
-Seven carats. JIXX. Yes, I have that but not here, in Antwerp.
We'll take my number. I'm listening. 912116100, Manuj. -Manuj? Okay. We met at Vinet's. Who? At Vinet's house. Right, I remember.
-That's why I stopped you. Okay. No problem. -Show the diamonds.
-Show them. It's a good business. Yes, but there are too many people. Do you see the business
happening over there? Business is done in the street
and preparation is done in the office. Although, the term "Office" is relative. They are friends.
I'll vouch for them. I'm just doing trading over here, in small trading offices,
and there are six people inside. There is like a There is one behind you. There's one here behind you,
also the same size. There is one here. There is one here on this side
and there's one on that side. In this space, there are six of them. This small place is $500 a month. I am a broker. You buy? Only brokerage. It means? Someone buys, and someone sells. I am only the commission, a big commission. Do you think they have a good business? They survive. They live far away. They make their monthly expenses. They are raising their children. They have a decent family and decent job. This is kind of a small office. He can make at least $100,000 a month
in business total turnover. Over there, even if he makes
$2000 or $3000 a month, it's good enough money for him. To live here in India
with the standard $2,000 a month also is a lot of money. I still love this business. You get to deal with the elite
and the masses, a very wide combination. Not many businesses are involved in both directions
from the top level to the bottom. In India with a billion inhabitants,
the mass market is gigantic, largely due to marriage culture,
engagements, weddings, and the like. It's like a father
when the daughter is born in the house. From that day, he starts thinking
that she will get married. He works for the time. He works to save some money
or to make small things, the jewelry that
he wants to give over a period. He spends his lifetime preparing himself,
to give his daughter jewelry, clothes, a good wedding, reception dinner
when she gets married. It's part of the culture that we have.
Jewelry plays a very big role inside. It's dawn at Mumbai Central station. The beginning of the monsoon season
and families have come to take shelter. With Bablu back at work,
my guide now is his cousin Mehul, aged 25. Like a fish in water
in the diamond business, he too started at an early age. Trained in Situ,
he finally joined his brother, for whom he is now acting
as a sales manager. In Mumbai, as an Antwerp,
the family is important. I leave Mumbai for the world's
diamond-cutting center, Surat, in the state of Gujarat. Why here? Labor is abundant and cheap, and the local government
has favored the business through various measures. Industry is vital in a country
where the land is often flooded by monsoon rains
and where shantytowns abound. Unbelievable as it sounds, there are 2000 diamond-cutting
works in Surat. This is one of them,
and here's the managing director. Before 15 years ago,
those kinds of only were with others. Just now, we are using certain or very, making a window
and not any kind of polishing. To see the diamond inside,
that kind of only we use it. Before, it was only thinner. Then the second generation is here, and now the third generation is here. It is fully automatic. If you can come in two, or three days,
you are also going to polish the diamond. Modernization is done gradually, but nothing is ever thrown out
if it still works, especially for small-scale operations. Our next visit is one of Surat's
more modern cutting works. It's clean and air-conditioned. Worker's overalls are replaced
by an executive look. The atmosphere is American
and computers are everywhere. Proof that the Indian cutters
are not complacent about a market won by cheap labor. Technology is also used
for quality control. I'm shown a diamond
that has come back from a cutter. There are two stones,
one expensive, one cheaper. A cutter hoping to make a profit
can sometimes replace the smaller stone with a waste of a lesser diamond. It happens, but here the guilty party
can easily be found. A barcode accompanies each stone. But according to Rahul,
the manager of Venus, such ploys are not worth it. If any one of them steals a diamond, instantly, almost instantly
in the industry, there's going to be news. Mr. So-and-so, he was caught
stealing a diamond from this factory. All the diamond manufacturers
around will come to know of it, and this guy can never get a job
in a diamond company again. That is too big of a risk
to steal such a small stone. He adds that people are well-paid here, which limits temptations, $800 to $1000
a month, more than twice the average. I'd like to believe him, but what about the cheap labor
that has led to considerable offshoring? In the heart of the world's
third-largest economy, diamond cutting
is not their only ambition. We've had this discussion
a lot of times with our boss. He has this dream to see Surat becoming the largest trading center also, along with being the largest
manufacturing center of diamonds. So yes, definitely,
we are looking at Surat becoming the next
Antwerp or London, probably. The reality of Surat is far removed from the antiseptic world of Venus
and its dreams of dominance. Witness the switch market. It is here, Mehul tells me, that one can find
the cheapest diamonds in the world. Can I see those? -Good diamonds?
-Yes, but uncut, not finished. Yes. You're being filmed with me. No, polished,
but not finished, incomplete. Why? Because it is the... With pieces of diamond switched
in cutting workshops, 2000 suppliers, and 10,000 people a day, it's a market for tolerated theft
with numbered places. Of course, there are
no authenticity certificates, and we're a long way
from the international agreements that regulate the diamond
industry to avoid trade being infected by African blood diamonds. -$70, is that it?
-It's top quality. $70? He is selling them for $70? $77. Hang on, I'll calculate it. On a basis of 45,
that makes $77. Come on. Name your price.
What are you offering? Mehul doesn't buy anything, and not because
of the absence of certificates. If you don't personally know
the seller here, you know nothing, but he's seen what he wants and
his contacts in Surat will deal with it. Where the stones are coming from? I cannot answer that,
and even he cannot answer that. Some people are genuine traders. Some people buy from the factories
the rejection and they manufacture small. Some as you know, I can't say too much. Otherwise, we're in trouble. Later, I'm told that everything
goes on here, theft and smuggling. No doubt, some war diamonds, everything that defies
official trade practices. This man works in a whole other world. Every month he visits
De Beers in London for a site. The syndicate,
what we call the syndicate, is De Beers, and we call them the syndicate because they control eighty percent
of worldwide production. They're going to present the merchandise
they want to sell to us. We're going to see
what's been selected this month and what the prices are like
if it's worth buying or not. Jacky represents his family
as an authorized buyer with De Beers. For some 200 years,
the grand English firm has grown rich from its South African mines. It now faces stiff competition,
notably from the Russians, but remains the world's leading
mining company with $10 million worth of rough diamonds per year. Its prestigious position enables it to
continue its traditional selling methods. De Beers London is still the inner sanctum
of the world's diamond trade. Not everyone can become a buyer here. Personal relations
were previously vital here, but today De Beers has become
the diamond trade company and candidates are selected on merit. There were 150 before. Today barely 80. We have to put them in order, obviously. Everything's a bit mixed
up, 86, 85. There. So we have the whole range, in fact,
from small ones to bigger stones. So, I'm going to stop.
That would be South Africa. Hello. Yes, Elaine. Fine. Are you ready for the sight? The sights or sight
sales are not only held in London. The family is authorized by De Beers to buy in South Africa, Namibia,
and Botswana. As a site to take place simultaneously,
they need to coordinate their purchases. No, they were a bit under 1700. Yes below 1700. They've gone up to 1732. Okay, well, get at least half a box full, and then concentrate in the five to 10s
and the 10 to 15s. A site sale involves an entire day
of examining diamonds. By evaluating what potential
a certain diamond can offer, one can estimate a sale price
and therefore the price to pay to buy it. This stone is worth about $50,000
in the rough, obviously, and it'll give two stones, which would hope to sell together
for more than $50,000. If we look at this lot here, the big stones that are here,
that's $1 million. It's a collection worth $1 million, and we have to decide
if we invest in that or not. It's impossible to say if
the site is good or not at this stage. It's only at the end of the day
that we'll know what we want to buy, what's good and what's too expensive. One age-old rule imposed
by the De Beers syndicate has not changed. The prices are non-negotiable, but in recent years,
the system has become more flexible. Previously, refusing a site
could lead to being suspended, but today, a small amount can be rejected,
but no more than thirty percent. Everything that's been presented today, which means what we ask for in advance
and what we ask for afterward, is in these sachets here. These boxes,
some of which we haven't opened, there's about $10 million on the table. In 2008, the sites
were worth $6 billion of diamonds. The De Beers authorized buyers
are not complaining. The system ensures a regular supply. They can plan their production schedules
and satisfy their jeweler customers, who also benefit
from regular and pertinent deliveries. The De Beers company has a rosy future and has successfully stabilized
its dominant position. Who said that capitalism
liked competition? The supply of rough diamonds is the key. Even during times of crisis, the intermediaries
need to replenish their stocks. Keeping the cutting works
supplied and able to keep ticking over is the vocation of this office in Antwerp. We have to be careful
because there's a sort of rainbow inside. Which could complicate things? If there's tension in the stone,
it can split during the cutting, an inclusion inside that can spread
through the whole stone. What happens when a stone splits? We cry. There's nothing to be done. -Can you make two stones?
-If it's possible, yes, but generally
the stone is almost worthless. There can't be many broken stones. Raymond's turnover
here is some $200 million. He, too, is an authorized De Beers buyer,
a site holder. Raymond is in charge
of the Antwerp office of Crystal. A huge diamond-cutting concern
based in Smolensk, Russia. Smolensk, the 300,000 inhabitants,
may flaunt their quality of life, but like everywhere in Russia,
the biggest problem is unemployment. The diamond factory
is therefore very important, with 3500 jobs, but why here? It was a state decision
in the 1970s to create jobs. The stones are brought here
to be cut from mines in Siberia. Workers arrive at the crystal factory. A globe indicates the firm's presence
around the world. They want their share of the global market
but in their way, as the worker hero, Soviet-style frescoes suggest. Crystal is just a dream.
It's a very prestigious. It's very interesting. I'm lucky. Some families, mothers,
fathers, and their children have been working here for a long time. It's very interesting. Alla is 24. She works on the internal magazine
for this archetypal Russian factory, a marriage of heavy machinery
and working-class aristocracy. What does your work consist of? I study the diamond's internal structure
to locate the inclusions very precisely. So I determine the value of the diamond
and I decide where it goes, either for industry or jewelry. Are these the stones
you usually work with? No. We work with stones
of more than five carats, but these are only 340, a lesser caliber. And usually? Usually, they're between 5 and 10. -They're usually bigger.
-Yes. The rule here is generally
not to say very much. So, I was surprised
to overhear a conversation between Alla and a cutter who was complaining
about the quality of the stones he was working on. Everything is going downhill. We typically receive diamonds with
a rough mass of more than five carats. We can say that the stones of three carats
represent raw materials of bad quality. Do you see this stone?
They're asking me to work with that. To make a comparison,
it's as if we were transporting a little ten-kilo package
on a huge tractor for 100 km. 35 years. I've been working here for 35 years
and find myself working with that. It's like starting all over again.
It's very disappointing. His story symbolizes the history
of Russian diamonds, as told me later off the record. Previously, a state mining company supplied crystal
with high-quality diamonds. The interests of the seller
and the buyer being different, relations between Crystal and Alrosa,
the mining conglomerate, became strained. Even worse,
in order not to lower its prices, like its competitors,
Alrosa prefers selling its production to the Russian Finance Ministry. Diamonds from the world's
second-biggest mining company no longer come to Smolensk. Rather than providing jobs here, the Russian dream now is perhaps to become the world's
number one diamond producer. We head for the headquarters of Alrosa,
the state diamond company, which extracts twenty percent
of the world's diamonds worth $6 billion every year. Months of bureaucratic muddling
prevented me from getting a fill permit, both here and at the mine that makes
Russia the world's number two producer. Mirny, one of the biggest mines
on the planet in Yakutia. The crisis here has led to social unrest
and the creation of a mining union. Its leader was arrested and imprisoned
for an imaginary drug offense. The Russian authorities
still refused to open the doors here. Our second Moscow visit is to the Gokhran, the Finance Ministry's diamond
and jewel reserve. Here, too, it's forbidden to film. Here lie the stocks that the state
continues to buy from Alrosa. 3 billion, $6 billion or more,
waiting, no doubt, for prices to rise before
being put on the market. With official doors being closed, I decided to go and see
some famed Russian diamonds from our Alrosa's
favorite source, Yakutia. During the nineties,
I was vice president of the company that set up diamond-cutting works. We created 16 such companies in Yakutia. After that, I went to work in Moscow
with the president of Alrosa. It was at that time
that I set up my own business. The jewelry business in Russia,
specifically in Moscow, is very difficult. Very difficult and very expensive. Svetlana is Yakut and certainly looks it. She has a store called Yakut Diamonds
in a Moscow shopping center. Her marketing technique is original. Customers shoe the diamond
and the jewelry will be set in separately. In Russia, the customs duties
are expensive. To pay less taxes, I only buy from
abroad the settings without stones, quite cheaply, $200 or $300. The diamonds cost between
$8000 and $10,000. As I pay the official taxes
only on the settings after the assembly, I have a final product
that makes a good profit. With her Yakut roots
and networks on one hand and good relations
with Alrosa on the other, she was an executive there, Svetlana is doing
quite nicely in a business burdened by taxes
and complex regulations. Ninety-nine percent of my diamonds
come from Alrosa. There are other small companies
like Nichelle and Sequoia or nearby Ross, but they produce
only very small quantities. Alrosa is a monster. Svetlana deals
in Yakut diamonds in her way. She knows people and gets her supplies
at the source, negotiating prices. The Russian state makes no attempts to favor a domestic market
but seeks to sell rough diamonds on the international market,
preferably speculating on rising prices. A few blocks away, we see
a rather different, more affluent Moscow. This former state store from Soviet days has been revamped and now belongs
to a chain of jewelry shops. The managing director is Sergei, a 50-something with a degree
in international law and economy. The cost of the ring is 3.35 million rubles. It means more than $100,000. I asked him if it was possible
to deal in diamonds in Russia in a completely legal manner. If you don't import anything, it is.
It is possible. It is possible.
I don't import anything because I know. -If you import?
-It's almost. -Impossible?
-I think so. I think so, maybe I'm wrong.
Maybe I'm wrong. The system is not transparent. That evening, I was told
about the Altan affair, a well-known chain of jewelers
which was offering considerable discounts. All its managers have just been
arrested and risk heavy penalties for fraud and smuggling. The next day,
on the outskirts of Moscow, Svetlana is presenting
her wares at a trade show. She comments on the Altan affair. What's happened with Altan
doesn't surprise me. Everyone knew they were smuggling. There are many similar cases in Moscow. I've come across this kind
of situation myself. The Secret Service came to check on me,
causing a great commotion and disturbance. It cost me a lot of money in bribes. But it was all sorted out. In Russia, there are a lot of people
who break the law. It's impossible to respect it
one hundred percent. Our laws are badly made. -Do you have any silver jewelry?
-Yes, with tigers. -Tigers here.
-What is it? Next year is the year of the tiger, madam, so it's very important
to have jewelry with tigers. There are brooches and bracelets. Can you handle this? Connoisseurs know that
Yakut diamonds are the best, and all Russian diamonds
come from Yakutia. Our diamonds
are not the object of odd beliefs. They are pure.
They don't contain any negative energy. Do you know why they are pure? It's because the layer of frozen earth
in Yakutia is very thick, 300m. It applied great pressure
to the diamonds as they formed. As diamonds are formed very slowly, the pressure meant
the inclusions were eliminated. One young jeweler
has a rather different view. He imports jewelry
made in Italy or Germany using African diamonds
cut in India or China. We had a perfect diamond
but in the time of the Soviet Union. Now, Russia is trying to maintain
this opinion about Russian diamonds. It's just like a Russian vodka. Well, Finland vodka
is also not worse than Russian, but it's the stereotype of the people that the Russian vodka
is the best in the world. Alrosa, of course,
will say that Russian diamonds are the best diamonds in the world. We prefer to use African diamonds. So we head for Africa to Botswana, a democracy with
an original mixed economy, a fifty-fifty deal with De Beers with the priority set on profits
in terms of employment opportunities. 200 km and soon a clean diamond mine far removed from
the world of blood diamonds, a sanctuary in a continent where diamonds are often
synonymous for slavery and warlords. Jwaneng, my quest
for the source is almost over. I'm about to discover
the world's biggest opencast mine. It represents ten percent
of the world's diamond production, fifty percent of Botswana's
almost 80 kilos of diamonds a day. Everything starts with the mining. Like in Siberia, explosive charges blow up the kimberlite, the semi-decomposed volcanic rock
that contains the diamonds. Since mining began here in 1982, successive explosions
have carved out a truly immense crater. The whole operation is
directed from the control tower by mining engineers
like 32-year-old Segolame. A graduate of Botswana University,
he's been at Jwaneng for four years. Like most people here,
he has a comfortable salary for Botswana, almost $2,000 a month. Down below is the kimberlite. Are the drivers aware
that they're driving over diamonds? The trucks dump their loads. The crushing is the first step in the process of separating
the diamonds from the kimberlite. It's always going on
like this for 24 hours. We never stop our operation, every day for 24 hours, all year round, until the end of the life of the mine. De Beers has always worked
in a highly intensive fashion. With this infernal rate,
there are only 20 years of mining left. It's very important to continue
finding diamonds if possible. Currently, we are planning
to go deeper and expand the pit to carry our mining
throughout the next maybe ten years. Then that's when we can think of going
underground if we need to go underground, or else we can find another plan of expanding the pit
again if it is necessary. It will depend
on the economics part of it. Further along, it's as if a huge factory
is operating by itself. The 3000 mine employees
barely meet one another. They work shifts around the clock, and the treatment network
covers tens of kilometers. At the end of the process
is what's known as the aquarium. The final separation of the diamonds
is done entirely automatically. Secrets are well-kept here. Only the official archives keep records. Like a pipeline running through a desert,
a conveyor belt carries away the waste. The crushed rubble shines
and I asked George, the process engineer, if I might find diamonds
among the kimberlite dust and dirt. Diamond should be captured
or should be recovered in the DMS plant. Whatever comes here should be free
of diamonds or is free of diamonds. If I go there, maybe if I am lucky, I will find a small diamond. -No?
-If you're lucky, yes. If you are so lucky that when a diamond was missed
in the DMS and by chance you are standing there and you pick it, yes. It would be one in a million times,
it wouldn't. It's not something
that you'd expect to happen. It shouldn't happen that way anyway
because, in the DMS, we've got so many other
systems that try to make sure that we don't lose the diamonds. If there were diamonds, as a metallurgist, I would lose my job
because diamonds should not come here. Diamonds here served to provide work
for the locals. After the miners,
there are the sorters at DTC Botswana. De Beers commercializes the products and the state takes
ten percent of sales revenues. Diamonds represent
thirty-five percent of the country's GDP and seventy percent
of its currency reserves, but there is no market here. Botswana's diamonds
are not destined for its inhabitants. They're heading elsewhere, for example, to this middle-class
shopping center in London, where De Beers has opened a store,
and where in just 22 seconds, the secrets of a glittering diamond
are revealed to the public. Diamonds are becoming
an economy like any other. But it's perhaps the end of a dream.