Blood, Sweat and Earth: The Struggle for Control over the World’s Diamonds Throughout History PDF
Preview Blood, Sweat and Earth: The Struggle for Control over the World’s Diamonds Throughout History
Blood, Sweat and Earth B L O O D , S W E A T A N D E A R T H The Struggle for Control over the World’s Diamonds Throughout History Tijl Vanneste reaktion books For Nina and Sarah, two of the shiniest diamonds Published by Reaktion Books Ltd Unit 32, Waterside 44–48 Wharf Road London n1 7ux, uk www.reaktionbooks.co.uk First published 2021 Copyright © Tijl Vanneste 2021 All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ Books Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 1 78914 435 2 contents 7 Introduction 1 Asian Diamonds: The Discovery of a Luxury Commodity, 50 ce–1785 23 2 Slavery and Monopolies: Diamonds in Colonial Brazil, 1720–1821 79 3 The Rollercoaster towards Industrial Modernity, 1785–1884 119 4 Building a Worldwide Empire: The Century of De Beers, 1884–1990 169 5 The Enduring Attraction of Alluvial Mining, 1884–2018 238 6 Mining in the Western World: The Twenty-first-century Collapse of the World De Beers Created 276 Epilogue: About Human Rights and Environmental Considerations 316 References 329 Select Bibliography 420 Acknowledgements 423 Photo Acknowledgements 425 Index 426 1 Kimberlite pipe based on Kimberley’s Big Hole and its historical evolution. Introduction The so-called volcanic pipes peculiar to all diamond-mines are simply holes bored in the solid earth by the impact of monstrous meteors . . . Bizarre as such a theory appears, I am bound to admit that there are many circumstances which show that the notion of the Heavens raining diamonds is not impossible.1 his description was written in 1908, and the man who wrote it Tbelieved in the possibility that diamonds came from outer space. Relying on the knowledge of his time, he could not have known that while he was not right, he was not exactly wrong either. Following the discovery of enormous diamond deposits in Kimberley, South Africa, during the 1870s, the theory that these gemstones occurred in deep under- ground pipes became well established in the scientific community. The ‘so-called volcanic pipes’ that contained diamonds, described in the art- icle, soon became known as ‘kimberlite pipes’ after the town of Kimberley, where they had first been found (illus. 1). It was a revolutionary discovery with enormous consequences, as until that moment, diamonds had only been mined near the earth’s surface, in or near riverbeds. Today it is understood that kimberlite pipes are the remnants of vol- canic eruptions that mostly took place during the geological period known as the Cretaceous (146 million to c. 65.5 million years ago).2 Commercially viable deposits of diamonds are only found in a small fraction of them, 1 per cent of the 7,000 known pipes.3 Diamonds are formed as carbon allotropes at high pressure and temperature in the earth’s mantle, situ- ated at least 150 kilometres (93 mi.) beneath the continental crust, or 200 kilometres (124 mi.) under the oceanic crust, after which they are carried to the surface within kimberlite, a type of magmatic rock (illus. 2).4 A recent study has shown that these deep breeding grounds might contain many more diamonds than researchers previously thought.5 7 blood, sweat and earth While no one doubts that the kimberlite pipes have their origins in the depths of our planet, astrophysicists discovered in 1987 that tiny presolar diamond grains existed in meteors.6 The formation of diamonds in space is not yet fully understood, but more recent findings suggest that the size of diamonds found in meteors may be larger than has hitherto been thought, meaning that the 1908 article might be right after all.7 It is not hard to imagine why William Crookes, the article’s author, was so taken with the idea of diamonds raining from the heavens. An origin in the stars fits the glamorous image carried by the most precious of gems much better than a genesis in the deep, muddy underground of our planet. Throughout history, the glitter that surrounds diamonds has been carefully constructed, using stories of large and famous diamonds possessed by the richest of the rich and tapping into Western oriental- ist fantasies about exotic diamond mines in mysterious locations. This imagery culminated in twentieth-century advertising campaigns that connected diamonds not only with glamour but with romantic ideals of fidelity and marriage. This modern branding made diamonds accessible to more consumers than ever before, a necessity after the hugely e xpanding production of diamonds in modern times. Some argue that the success of the diamond, rated the most precious of all gems, is artificial, designed to accommodate those who are in con- trol of them, and that its success came in spite of, and not because of, the 2 Kimberlite found at Dutoitspan mine. 8 Introduction intrinsic qualities of the stone. Unlike more colourful and unique gem- stones, diamonds mostly look alike, often without colour and cut in the same form – the modern, round brilliant (illus. 17).8 Yet while De Beers, the company that controlled both the production of and trade in diamonds for most of the twentieth century, succeeded so well in selling to the world unprecedented amounts of little colourless stones, the idea that diamonds are very precious goes back to antiquity. At first, though, diamonds were not appreciated for their beauty. An uncut, rough diamond does not look very special, but it is extremely hard, and that hardness, combined with their premodern rarity, led to the use of rough diamonds in amulets that provided magic protection to those wearing them, in Europe as well as in Asia. This symbolic use of diamonds all but disappeared in Europe during the Middle Ages following the spread of Christianity, and medieval lapi- daries held the diamond in much lower esteem than other precious stones such as rubies and emeralds.9 One practice that did continue was medicinal, and diamond jewellery was used to ward off illness, as noted by the Pharmacopoeia Londinensis of 1691: ‘the diamond is the hardest of all gems. It is never given inwardly, but only worn as Rings, Etc. So it’s said to take away Fears, Melancholy, and to strengthen the heart.’10 By that time, however, medicinal use was mar- ginal in comparison to the establishment of diamonds as things of beauty. The development of cutting techniques, culminating in the invention of the brilliant, has given diamonds their highly appreciated lustre, which is the appearance of a diamond in reflected light, and attractive fire, which is the sparkle that one sees when light is travelling through the stone, deflected through its multiple facets, the polished surfaces of a cut stone. Indeed, consumers increasingly began to believe that diamonds could strengthen the heart, not as medicine, but as things of beauty that could last forever. It is after the early modern development of cutting techniques and the parallel trends of growing production and consumption that the main role of diamonds solidified as gemstones set in jewellery, an appreciation that continues today. More than 12,000 categories exist to classify rough diamonds, crudely divided into three types: from high to low, these are gem quality, near-gem quality and industrial. Most commercial profit is, of course, made from selling gem-quality stones. These are what most people think of when considering diamonds. They are cut and polished to be used in jewellery or as single stones. Today, the value of such diamonds 9
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