Israel Second To Belgium In Polishing Diamonds

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30809, 22 July 1965, Page 12

Israel Second To Belgium In Polishing Diamonds

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter) TEL AVIV (Israel). Sparkling gems weigh heavily in the balance of Israel’s trade. Though not a single precious stone was ever mined in the country, annual exports of polished diamonds in 1964 reached the record of about £39,400,000, representing more than 1,000,000 carats. These diamonds account for about a third of Israel’s total exports. In fact, Israel ranks second to Belgium as a world centre in the diamond polishing industry. When it comes to small stones, known in the trade as melees, Israel probably ranks first. It began 25 years ago. As the armoured columns of Hitler’s army crushed the Low Countries of Europe, the dia-mond-polishing industry of Belgium ceased to function. Jews had occupied a key role in the industry, both as workers and as merchants. Some managed to escape and found haven in Palestine. They joined a handful of pioneers in the industry, who had settled in the late ’thirties. From modest beginnings in a few workshops which, even by 1949, employed only 800 workers in all, the industry has made impressive strides. Today, more than 10 times the 1949 number of workers are employed. Revenue from the sale of polished diamonds has risen more than 20-fold during the period. There is every indication of further expansion. The demand for cut diamonds on the world market shows promise, while the types of Israeli-cut stones are gradually becoming more diversified. Perhaps one of the most interesting developments has been Israel’s independent purchase of the rough stones from source. While the bulk of the uncut stones continues to reach Israel plants and workshops through the Diamond Trading Company in London, widely known as

“The Syndicate," a growing flow of stones is coming to Israel direct from central and west Africa. Friendly relations between Israel and several African countries have helped this innovation, which may have far-reaching results. Israeli diamond experts sent to the Central African Republic three years ago to purchase rough stones seemed puzzled that all the diamonds offered to them by African villagers-miners were relatively large and never smaller than a certain size. Singlet As Sieve It took thejn three weeks to find out that the local technique in collecting the diamonds was to use the miner’s undershirt as a sieve. The result was that all smaller stones escaped. This discovery l meant a great deal to the Central African Republic. Since the entry of the Israeli Diamond Research and Development Company into operation in that country, sales of diamonds have increased fivefold to a total of about £3,400,000. The Israeli experts merely supplied the miners with special strainers. Today, representatives of the Israeli Diamond Company are on the spot in remote African villages, making their “shopping rounds,” often carrying in their jeep’s steel safes as much as £lO,OOO in cash, in small denominations.

Nearly a third of total Israeli diamond exports still go to the United States, where four out of every five girls are reported to prefer a diamond engagement ring. Switzerland comes next with more than 12 per cent of the total, with Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Britain,.' Germany, France, Holland or Canada accounting for smaller proportions. The skill of the Israeli diamond cutters is mainly with the small diamonds weighing between onetwentieth of a carat and half a carat. Since a carat is about one-fifth of a gram, these gems are indeed very small. Three Processes In the factory they go through three processes: they are sawed, cut and polished. In Israel this last process is divided into six separate phases, handled by six different workers.

But the training of a worker for this kind of processing requires barely 100 days compared with the Belgian industry’s three-year low-paid apprenticeship.