Dawn of the Diamond Market

The total production of diamond mines, known as Run-of-Mine, must be first sorted into multiple categories based on the size, color, clarity, etc of each stone. After sorting, these rough stones are sold as parcels, each parcel containing many individual stones. Traditionally, only a select few companies/personnel were allowed to purchase these parcels from mining companies such as De Beers. These buyers are known as sightholders. As a condition of being accepted as a sightholder, they could not freely pick and choose individual stones they would like, but had to accept the entire parcel. These parcels then made their way to the diamond trading houses in Antwerp and Amsterdam.