Are we approaching centralized market for polished diamonds?

Technological developments have had a major effect on the diamond market in recent years. On the other hand the global recession has generated many problems for the industry. Shifting towards a more centralized diamond market is problematic, because it is difficult to set standards for diamond, which after all are stones with subjective value, which seem beautiful to some people while dull to others. But then again many price indexes and diamond production companies have worked on setting standards for diamond prices, according to a diamond's physical features. On the other hand, the importance of diamond certification in the last decade cannot be ignored. Customers are becoming more educated by online sites, are becoming more thrifty and don't trust the local jeweler so easily as they did in the past. Even small diamonds are being certified by diamond grading institutes nowadays and it seems that diamond consumers are will to "sacrifice" their personal taste for a global standardization of quality measures for the beloved precious stones. Diamond grading report have become, in fact, quality standards for the entire diamond industry. Though the IGI, HRD and AGSL diamond labs are all very professional, certificated issued by the GIA are most sought for. Still, grading reports describe quality by they don't set a price, nor they compare diamond in terms of concrete value.

So are diamonds a piece of art created by both nature and diamond polishers or are diamonds an asset that can be categorized by international scientific standards? Nobody would doubt the fact that diamonds possess subjective value, but still the trend in the diamond industry, since the GIA issued the first diamond grading report, since Martin Rapaport has published the first edition of the Rapaport Index, setting prices for a diamond according to its carat weight, cut, color and clarity grades, is to set a standard so that the entire diamond industry could speak in the same language, no matter if one is located in Hong Kong, Antwerp, Sydney or Minnesota. The internet obviously makes it easier to set standards, create tools which everyone can use, and notify every person involved in the diamond industry, from miners and polishers up wholesalers retailers and even diamond consumers about trends within the diamond market. The fact that online diamond stores are becoming so successive also promotes this trend. Big online diamond stores use the services of several diamond suppliers, which are often located in different parts of the world. This way an online store doesn't represent a local market but rather a market with no boundries.

The US has always been the leading country in diamond consuming. It still is, but growing markets in India and China have become more important for the diamond industry, especially in times when the US economy is shakey and the Far East economies are growing continuously. This trend could suggest that the global diamond market is becoming less centralized, but that's not exactly the case. If in recent decades the entire world could follow the lead of the US in terms of demand for diamonds, now there are several others consuming forces. This situation leads the diamond industry to think of a way to create global standards which on the one hand refelct demand and supply trends in each location, but on the other hand set norms and guidelines which all could follow, enabling major diamond companies (mining companies, polishing companies, diamond bourses, etc) to have some control on the industry, to be aware what is happening in every place in terms of diamond trading as well as enabling them to lead this ship in the direction of their own interest.

Few people within the diamond industry still dare to say that diamonds' value is unknown. Most objectors are jewelers who run businesses in a small scale compared to diamond titans who control the industry. Diamonds are treated more and more like any other commodity, or at least this is the diamond industry's vision. A centralised market can also promote yet another trend of investing in diamonds. An environment which creates such a marketplace must comprise of distinct pricing standards for diamonds. Many experts within the diamond industry wish that the industry would become more and more similar the gold industry, in terms of standardisation of prices, diamonds becoming a popular investment, and obtaining price official diamond price indexes, agreed upon by the entire industry.

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