Mineral gemstones include

Gemstones
Any non-metallic mineral or other natural
material (e.g., amber, jet, pearl) that can be cut
and polished for use in jewelry and related
products.

Mineral gemstones include: sapphire, ruby,
diamond, emerald, topaz, turquoise and opal
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Why are some gems so expensive?
With the exception of diamonds, most
gemstones are highly valued because of their:

Beauty
Rarity
Tradition
Perception of permanence


Aaron’s Ceremonial Breastplate
"Fashion a breastpiece for making decisions—the work of a skilled craftsman. Make it like the
ephod: of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen. It is to be square—a
span long and a span wide—and folded double. Then mount four rows of precious stones on it […]
Mount them in gold filigree settings. There are to be twelve stones, one for each of the names of the
sons of Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes. (Exodus 28)
New International
Version

New American
Standard

King James

Young’s Literal
Translation

Contemporary English
Version

New Living Translation

ruby

ruby

sardius

sardius

carnelian

red carnelian

topaz

topaz

topaz

topaz

chrysolite

pale-green peridot

beryl

emerald

carbuncle

carbuncle

emerald

emerald

turquoise

turquoise

emerald

emerald

turquoise

turquoise

sapphire

sapphire

sapphire

sapphire

sapphire

blue lapis lazuli

emerald

diamond

diamond

diamond

diamond

white moonstone

jacinth

jacinth

ligure

opal

jacinth

orange jacinth

agate

agate

agate

agate

agate

agate

chrysolite

beryl

beryl

beryl

beryl

blue-green beryl

amethyst

amethyst

amethyst

amethyst

amethyst

purple amethyst

onyx

onyx

onyx

onyx

onyx

onyx

jasper

jasper

jasper

jasper

jasper

jasper
/>

The Curious Lore of
Precious Stones
Original Publication Date: 1913

Claimed that the twelve stones on
Aaron’s breastplate symbolized the 12
months of the year, not the 12 tribes.
The Hebrew calendar contains either 12
or 13 months in a year.


January
February

garnet

rose quartz

14.60 CT.

94.83 CT.

$737.99

$266.75

Price per CT.

Price per CT.

$50

$0.35

amethyst

SiO2

18.61 CT.

onyx
9.48 CT.

$626.99

$9.99

Price per CT.

Price per CT.

$34
aquamarine

March

SiO2

$0.95
SiO2

bloodstone

104.89 CT.

3.04 CT.

$7,854.59

$12.99

Price per CT.

Price per CT.

$75

$4.27

/>

April

diamond

May

rock crystal

1.61 CT.

4,500.00 CT.

$10,368.40

$2,528.75

Price per CT.

Price per CT.

$6,440

$0.56

emerald

June

SiO2

SiO2

chrysoprase

4.70 CT.

4.57 CT.

$29.817.83

$9.35

Price per CT.

Price per CT.

$6,344

$2.08

alexandrite

moonstone

15.58 CT.

42.53 CT.

$93,230.99

$119.80

Price per CT.

Price per CT.

$5,984

$2.82

/>

October
November
December

opal

tourmaline

26.62 CT.

13.06 CT.

$18,688.16

$774.79

Price per CT.

Price per CT.

$702

$57
SiO2

topaz

citrine

31.03 CT.

18.97 CT.

$23,236.19

$160.67

Price per CT.

Price per CT.

$749

$8

tanzanite

zircon
5.84 CT.

13.32 CT.

$219.95

$6,681.99
Price per CT.

Price per CT.

$502

$38
/>

Region
Africa
Europe
(Russia)

North America
(Canada)

Australia
South America
Asia
(China)

TOTAL

Botswana

27.0%

Angola

16.9%

South Africa

14.1%

Dem. Rep. Congo

7.4%

Sierra Leone

1.1%

Central African Rep.

0.9%

Tanzania

0.6%

Liberia

0.3%

Ivory Coast

0.3%

Annual Worldwide Natural
Diamond
Namibia
5.3%
Guinea
1.3%
Production
Value ($1,000)
Market Share
5,354,910
1,595,000
453,555
360,600
76,450
16,480

68.2%
20.3%

Mining

5.8%carats raw
114 million
diamonds
Ghana
4.6%

Lesotho
~
$7,000,000,000

0.2%
0.1%

1.0%
0.2%

Venezuela

0.6%

Guyana

0.0%
All
phases
of
production,
distribution,
and
retail
7,856,995
100.0%
Brazil

2,000,000 workers
67,000,000 pieces of diamond jewelry

/>
0.4%


Why are some diamonds so expensive?
Diamonds would be
moderately
expensive for the same
Summary
of the Settlement
reasons other gemstones are (beauty, rarity, tradition,
De Beers is the largest supplier of rough diamonds in the world. Beginning in 2001, Plaintiffs
etc.)

in several states filed lawsuits against De Beers in state and federal courts alleging that De
Beers unlawfully
monopolized
the diamonds
supply of diamonds,
conspired to fix, high
raise, and
control
However,
the
price of
is artificially
due
to
diamond prices, and issued false and misleading advertising. De Beers denies it violated the

the
blatant and highly successful manipulation of the
law or did anything wrong.

world’s largest diamond conglomerate: DeBeers.

The Settlement Agreement provides that $22.5 Million be distributed to the Direct Purchaser
The
a virtual
monopoly
onClass.
jewelClass,company
and that $272.5maintains
Million will be distributed
to the
Indirect Purchaser
De Beers
also agrees
to refrain from engaging
in certainthe
conduct
that violates
federal and
state
quality
diamonds,
controlling
supply
to keep
the

price
antitrust laws and submit to the jurisdiction of the Court to enforce the Settlement.

high.

Claims must have been filed before May 19th, 2008.

The company also has a series of highly successful
marketing campaigns (e.g., “a diamond is forever”) to
keep demand high. />

“A Diamond is Forever”

/>

Right

“Right Hand Ring”
Advertising Campaign

“Your left hand rocks
the cradle. Your right
hand rules the world.”
“Your left hand says ‘we’
Your right hand says ‘me’”
/>

DeBeers and Injustice in Africa
Besides their questionable business practices, DeBeers:
Officially “rejected” apartheid in South Africa, but exploited

the system to the benefit of the company (although not the
workers).
Continued to engage in apartheid practices at its South
African mines long after the apartheid government fell.
Supported the forced removal of the Basarwa people from
their traditional lands in Botswana, virtually ensuring the
destruction of their culture.

/>

Update: 1/7/08
After years of international boycotts and protests, DeBeers
sold its mining operations in Botswana to Gem Diamonds.
The new owners have vowed to treat the Bushmen as
equal partners and seek their legal consent before any
further development.
In 2006, the Botswana High Court ruled that the Bushmen
/>could return to their ancestral lands. However, the
Botswana government has denied the Bushmen everything
they need to live in the Kalahari (hunting rights, access to
“The Government was justified in removing
water, herding rights).
the Basarwa [‘Bushmen'] from the
/>Reserve... It is sensible of Government
to
take such action. Otherwise who would
always want to remain in the Dark Ages
while others move forward?”
Louis Nchindo, Managing Director, Debswana
(De Beers's Botswana subsidiary).

INBOT.jpg
/>

Conflict Diamonds

The diamond trade has also supported both war and terrorism
Bankrolled some of most vicious civil wars
in Africa over the last few decades.
Was and perhaps still is used by al-Qaeda
groups to raise and move funds.
/>

African Diamond Producing Countries

Guinea

Central African Rep.

Sierra Leone

Dem. Rep. Congo

Liberia

Tanzania

Ivory Coast

Botswana

Ghana

Lesotho

Angola

South Africa
Namibia


Wars in African Diamond-Producing Nations Since 1990
Lesotho Intervention (1998)
Lesotho, South Africa, Botswana

First Congo War (1996-1997)
Dem. Rep. Congo, Rwanda, Uganda
(over 200,000 civilian killed)

Great War of Africa (1998-2003)
Dem. Rep. Congo, Zimbabwe, Angola,
Rwanda, Uganda, Namibia, Chad, Libya,
Sudan, Burundi (5,400,000 deaths)

Angolan Civil War (1975-2002)
(over 500,000 military casualties)

Guinea-Bissau Civil War (1998-1999)
First Liberian Civil War (1989-1996)
(over 200,000 killed)

Sierra Leone Civil War (1991-2002)
(~75,000 dead)

Second Liberian Civil War (1999-2003)
(~150,00 killed)

Ivory Coast Civil War (2002-2007)


Patients at a clinic in
Freetown. Their hands
were chopped off by
rebels (RUF) in the
Sierra Leone Civil War.

/>

Human Rights Abuses by RUF (Sierra Leone rebel group)
Massacres, Individual Murders, and Fire-Related Deaths
Burning Alive
The Use of Games to Maximize Terror
Mutilation and Amputation
Rape and Sexual Assault
Abduction
Targeting of Particular Groups
The Use of Civilians as Human Shields
The Use of Drugs by the RUF and Forced Drugging of Civilians
Treatment of Prisoners
Violations of Medical Neutrality

Human Rights Watch, 1999. Getting Away with Murder, Mutilation, Rape: New Testimony from Sierra Leone 11: 3(A).

/>

Human Rights Abuses by RUF (Sierra Leone rebel group)
“Some of the atrocities committed by the RUF rebels were unthinkable. Infants and children
were thrown into burning houses, the hands of toddlers as young as two were severed with
machetes, girls as young as eight were sexually abused, and hundreds of children of all
ages were traumatically separated from their communities and forced to walk into the hills
with strangers whom they had seen kill their family members.

In some cases children, many of them originally abductees, participated in
the perpetration of these abuses. Child combatants armed with pistols,
rifles, and machetes actively participated in killings and massacres,
severed the arms of other children, and beat and humiliated men old
enough to be their grandfathers. Often under the influence of drugs, they
were known and feared for their impetuosity, lack of control, and brutality.
Human Rights Watch, 1999. Getting Away with Murder, Mutilation, Rape: New Testimony from Sierra Leone 11: 3(A).
/>

UNICEF estimates there
were 5,400 child soldiers in
the RUF, but the number
could have been as high as
10,000 or more
Many former RUF child
soldiers are currently being
recruited for wars in other
western African nations (e.g.,
Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea).

Human Rights Watch, 2005. Youth, Poverty and Blood: The
Lethal Legacy of West Africa’s Regional Warriors 17:5(A).
Photo: ©UNICEF / Giacomo Pirozzi
/>

For a Few Dollars More
Global Witness, April, 2003

100 page report on how terrorist
groups Hezbullah and al Qaeda used
diamonds to support their activities,
including:
1. Fundraising
2. Avoiding financial sanctions
3. Money laundering
4. Transport of funds
Report also addresses al Qaeda’s use of
other commodities like gold and the
gemstone tanzanite



For a Few Dollars More

August 7, 1998 - 10:30 a.m.

Simultaneous bombing of U.S. embassies in Kenya and
Tanzania, killing 224 and injuring 4,500. An FBI investigation
blamed many members of al Qaeda, including terrorists
connected to several companies involved in the diamond

trade.
/>



For a Few Dollars More

After August 7, 1998

Al Qaeda diamond
operatives flee Tanzania,
taking their experience in
the diamond trade to their
new homes in West Africa
- particularly Liberia and
Sierra Leone.




For a Few Dollars More

Al Qaeda
Charles Taylor
Former president of Liberia,
currently being tried in the Special
Court for Sierra Leone at the
Hague for war crimes (8/21/08)

/>

RUF

Diamond Trade




For a Few Dollars More

Estimates of the amount of money raised for al Qaeda by the diamond
trade vary, ranging somewhere in the tens of millions of dollars. After
the 9/11 attacks, all parties in the diamonds-for-arms dealing in Sierra
Leone and Liberia claimed they did not know they were dealing with al
Qaeda operatives.