1. PASTOR GENVE WITH AN EARLY HISTORY OF THE DIAMOND MARKET (Part 1)

2. The early history of the diamond market is difficult to retell clearly. We understandthat texts like the Bible, the works of Plato, and some Roman era works referencestones that are often translated with the word diamond, but there is no way to besure that these actually attest to the existence of the stone that we are so familiarwith today. Scholars propose that a number of other stones might be intendedinstead. Archaeological data is also not as helpful as one might like. To date, therehave been relatively few examples of diamonds found, the earliest dating from theRoman period. 3. Given that India was the only significant source for diamond productionin the ancient period, textual sources there are far more reliable. In India,diamonds were quite well known. Indians traded in the stones and we areeven aware of them being taxed. It is thought among some historians thatthe lack of perfect crystals among Roman remains resulted from theIndian desire to retain prime specimens for their own internal marketwhile reserving gems of lesser quality for export. 4. It is not until much later in history that we see techniques developed for the manipulationof the rough stones into cut and polished jewels. An Indian text known as theRatnapariska speaks of using flawed gems to polish other stones. This has been taken torefer to the practice of using pulverized diamonds to work gemstones. The work of anIslamic traveler from the 10th century, Al-Biruni, appears to confirm this development.However, it is unclear whether or not it was widely known that diamond dust could beused to polish diamonds themselves. A 13th century text from India states, whendiscussing the properties of diamonds, that its hardness resists cutting from metals andother stones and can only be polished with the help of other diamonds. 5. ABOUT THE COMPANYPastor Genve is a rare colored diamond dealer based in Geneva,Switzerland.