ARE ROUGH DIAMONDS JUST AN ILLUSION?

Throughout my career in the Rough Diamond Industry, I have heard the term ‘illusion’ from almost every buyer, seller, manufacturer, and trader. No matter how experienced and business savvy they are, the term ‘there is an illusion in the rough diamonds’ has been coined as common in the business, and I am guilty of this myself. However, one-day a well respected diamantaire from the industry asked me a question; what does illusion mean to you in this context?

The question was very simple, but it left me thinking……. so, I have decided to research the word illusion particularly in the context of trading rough diamonds.

Definition of the word ‘Illusion’ in the dictionary:

Illusion, a misrepresentation of a “real” sensory stimulus—that is, an interpretation that contradicts objective “reality” as defined by general agreement.

Example of the nature of illusion:

1. A child who perceives tree branches at night as goblins may be said to be having an illusion.
2. The characteristic behavior of light waves that makes a pencil in a glass of water seem bent.

Both examples define the distorted understanding of sensory experience. I chose to discuss the second one in this article because the first one is more likely to suggest perception rather than an illusion.

Addressing the nature of an illusion, I can relate it to the study of rough diamonds price evaluation. It is the optical phenomenon that creates a different pattern of thought and variation.

Illusion in the rough diamonds:

In my opinion, the word illusion that people from the diamond industry use, fall into two categories :

• The study of the rough diamonds for price evaluation is not an exact science. It is dependent on the understanding of the person who is evaluating the stone, his intuitive recognition, and knowledge. For the sake of explanation, we assume Mr. A and Mr. B are studying a rough diamond stone weighing 10CTS. They both have different opinions about the stone based on their knowledge and experience. Mr. A’s method of testing is not the same as the method of Mr. B, and supposedly Mr. A finds the stone of better color then Mr. B. It does not tell us that one of them is wrong. It means both are seeing the stone differently. This difference of evaluation is known as ‘illusion in rough diamonds’.
• The art of playing with a parcel of rough diamonds by the seller is another term used for ‘illusion in rough diamonds’.  Let us say there is a parcel of 1,000CTS of good quality rough diamonds. The size of the stones range between 3-4CTS & 5-10CTS with a mix of D-H color, VVS -VS clarity, and Sawable and Makeable shapes. It seems the specification of the parcel is defined correctly, but the magic is in the ranges. For instance, there are only a few stones in D-Color and the rest of the stones are all H-color. It shows that the parcel’s specifications are legitimate, but the evaluators will all perceive it differently, which creates an illusion.

Business based on illusion:

Both methods of trading rough diamonds are legally correct and follow the rules of best business practice, but using the term ‘Illusion’ gives a false impression – misleading and deceptive.

It surprises me more when I think, how this is possible, when the business people who manage large amounts of capital, appear to have no idea how bad it is to do business based on illusion.

On the other hand, strangely, the major investment groups, hedge funds, and speculators spend a great deal of time, money, and effort on due diligence when they consider buying, selling, or trading products other than rough diamonds. I do not understand how they comfortably accept an offer when the other party tells them that the items they propose to trade are an illusion?

Illusion in the Rough Diamonds

Conclusion:

Following my study and research on the topic, I realized that ‘Illusion in rough diamonds’ is a misleading term and using it in daily business deals is unethical.

In my opinion it would be good to coin a different word than illusion that is more explanatory and which can be used globally in the industry.