Point Lake Diamond Chapter Summary

Matthew Hart begins the novel in May 1999. A few small-scale miners, known as garimpeiros, were working in the Abaete River in Brazil and come across a very rare, expensive, large pink diamond. It ended up getting a lot of attention from the diamond industry and a lot of companies, such as the Black Swan, wanted to take part in its incredible value and worth. Diamonds existed far longer than the earth was made. Even though the earth and the universe are abundant in diamonds they are extremely hard to find. In the past there was a time when diamonds were found in great numbers and men struggled to harness all of them. This was known as the middle empire. In South Africa Hart says “luck, science, and the imperial ideal” is what drove men out to seek such riches. Diamond pipes were discovered around the end of the

During the time of the Orapa discovery, the greatest diamond lode in history came flowing through the cartel. Borders of the great diamond empire were breached and it now hoad the ability to control the diamond trade. The Point Lake diamond strike took place 1991 and the sales for diamonds ran to $3.9 billion. Most of the diamonds at that time were found in South Africa, Botswana, and The beaches of the Diamond Coast. The garimpeiros, traders, African rebels, and thieves continued to bring in a steady current of rough in the diamond industry. The richness of the pipes in an area called Lac de Gras eventually became an overwhelming threat to the cartel which led to its end. A diamantaire once said at a diamond conference that the entire diamond business had the foundation of two supports-vanity and greed. Diamantaire, De Beers, sold diamonds for ten times the price than that of a jewelry store. His sole belief is advertising. Hart says “Diamonds are sublimely useless”. It has absolutely no function or ability to affect your daily life. According to De Beers, tradition is not enough to buy a