Canadian Diamond Conflict and Confusion

The current debate over the CDCC amounts to conflict and confusion.  If you take the 7 minutes to read the following article it will leave most in this industry scratching their heads in bewilderment.

http://www.jewellerybusiness.com/2/newsletters/272-december-19-2011/1183-exclusive-industry-groups-disagree-over-changes-to-canadian-diamond-code

Here's my take on it all:

Companies that proudly purchase Canadian diamonds and pay high wages and benefits to cutters in Canada want a marketing advantage over those who cut Canadian diamonds over-seas.  Now that didn't take 7 minutes did it???  Diamonds mined and cut in Canada should be a good thing for our economy, right?

If the XL Pipeline project gets shot-down by Obama, more Canadian companies will have opportunity to upgrade bitumen from the oil-sands and it will create more "value-added processing" for Canadas economy.  Why aren't we doing everything we can to support value-added processing in diamond cutting?  Mostly because the largest manufacturer and seller of Canadian cut and mined diamonds is a villain in our diamond industry.  Remember "Snidely Whiplash" from the Dudley Dooright cartoons?  He had a black cape, black top-hat, crooked smile and a curly black moustache?  That's who is lobbying to gain a marketing advantage for their diamonds which are mined and cut in Canada.  They have never tied poor Nel to the railroad tracks, but they are highly criticized for gaining an unfair and unlawful advantage by overinflating their diamond quality through bogus grading certificates.

Many Canadian diamond dealers and manufacturers lose business to Snidely Whiplash already because his G/SI2 diamonds are 20% less expensive than others.  Well, okay, they're actually J/I1s with a really low cut-grade, and they're worth 22% less, but that's besides the point.  I think Snidely has masterfully taken the spotlight off of their biggest crime by pushing their "Made in Canada" agenda.  It's the classic "bate and switch" ploy.

My wish for 2012 is that Snidely will come clean and begin selling honestly graded diamonds.  Ya, right, and that development will be celebrated by a troop of tap-dancing snowmen.

By the way, CDCC, no matter how you define a Canadian diamond, it won't matter.  The jewellery industry buys $Millions worth of bogusly graded diamonds every month.  What makes you think they're going to accurately promote Canadian diamonds with those added 122 words to define their origin?