# Russia shines: Enormous diamond find dwarfs existing known reserves. Consequences? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 18, 2012, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-shines-enormous-diamond-find-dwarfs-existing-known-reserves-consequences/635038 "2012-09-18T02:47:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-shines-enormous-diamond-find-dwarfs-existing-known-reserves-consequences/635038/1 "2012-09-18T02:47:10Z")
> **[Russia reveals shiny state secret: It's awash in diamonds](https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2012/0917/Russia-reveals-shiny-state-secret-It-s-awash-in-diamonds)** > > 'Trillions of carats' lie below a 35-million-year-old, 62-mile-diameter asteroid crater in eastern Siberia known as Popigai Astroblem. The Russians have known about the site since the 1970s. This weekend the Russian government lifted the lid on what’s been kept as a state secret since the 70s; an asteroid crater known as Popigai Astroblem studded with enough diamonds to dwarf the known diamond reserves of the entire world. As the diamonds are industrial-grade “impact diamonds,” it’s mostly of interest to high-precision industry corporations and scientists. I don’t understand the diamond business at all. Will this have consequences for the De Beers monopoly, or are they into something else entirely? Any chance of De Beers buying Russia out of this find? I remember hearing in the early 2000s that Russia and Canada (and Australia?) announcing that they’d be distributing diamonds outside the De Beers channels and that this would lead to some form of change in De Beers. Shiny dopers, any truth to that? ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-shines-enormous-diamond-find-dwarfs-existing-known-reserves-consequences/635038/2 "2012-09-18T03:52:17Z")
From the way the diamonds have been described, Popigai appears unlikely to produce many gem-quality stones. Russia already has a thriving market in gem-quality diamonds; for many years they sold exclusively to DeBeers, but have for years now sold through a state-controlled company. After Canada, Australia, and Russia declared their intentions to go outside of DeBeers to market diamonds, DeBeers changed their strategy to concentrate on branding, selling only diamonds they had produced themselves. Last year, their market share fell to 35%. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-shines-enormous-diamond-find-dwarfs-existing-known-reserves-consequences/635038/3 "2012-09-18T03:59:03Z")
I recall reading somewhere that DeBeers invented the diamon engagement ring fad in the 1920s or 30s to bolster their business and inflate the price. There’s a certain irony to a company being muscled out of a market they created from scratch, if that’s true! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-shines-enormous-diamond-find-dwarfs-existing-known-reserves-consequences/635038/4 "2012-09-18T04:02:46Z")
From what I’ve read, the diamond market is a scam anyway, so an oversupply of the gem likely means that prices will rise 20% over the next few weeks. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-shines-enormous-diamond-find-dwarfs-existing-known-reserves-consequences/635038/5 "2012-09-18T04:40:14Z")
No, these aren’t gem-quality diamonds, for the most part. DeBeers mostly does gem-quality stones. Besides, Debeers hasn’t had a monopoly, or even a majority market share, in over a decade. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-shines-enormous-diamond-find-dwarfs-existing-known-reserves-consequences/635038/6 "2012-09-18T08:02:37Z")
“Natural” diamonds are on the way out, anyway. Mark my words: within a decade, Apple will be selling an iPhone with an artificial diamond screen. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-shines-enormous-diamond-find-dwarfs-existing-known-reserves-consequences/635038/7 "2012-09-18T09:45:12Z")
A huge market of industrial-grade diamonds may mean more common diamond-tipped drills. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-shines-enormous-diamond-find-dwarfs-existing-known-reserves-consequences/635038/8 "2012-09-18T12:26:15Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > A huge market of industrial-grade diamonds may mean more common diamond-tipped drills. Maybe Debeers will start a marketing campaign promoting them as the ideal wedding gift. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-shines-enormous-diamond-find-dwarfs-existing-known-reserves-consequences/635038/9 "2012-09-18T16:40:35Z")
Ya know…this _could_ result in more gem-quality diamonds being available. Industrial-grade-diamond-tipped-drills are _just_ the thing for getting at gem-quality diamonds in safes…if you don’t know the combination. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-shines-enormous-diamond-find-dwarfs-existing-known-reserves-consequences/635038/10 "2012-09-18T17:24:36Z")
> [@antonio107](#): > > I recall reading somewhere that DeBeers invented the diamon engagement ring fad in the 1920s or 30s to bolster their business and inflate the price. There’s a certain irony to a company being muscled out of a market they created from scratch, if that’s true! 😛 [SD Staff Report speaks](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1452/how-did-diamonds-come-to-symbolize-a-wedding-engagement). Cecil also addresses the value of diamonds and the DeBeers monopoly [here](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2524/is-a-diamonds-price-a-true-measure-of-its-value).