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THE HOUSE IN CHARTERHOUSE STREET
dealers of New York (and, before the war started in 1939, of Antwerp, Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin, and other centers).
The Trading Company today, as then, insists upon keep­ing a large stock of diamonds in reserve, since it must be prepared for occasions when the pipe mines can make no profit and must be closed down. It also is thus able to sell many or few stocks when and if it wishes. Until the war, at least, it maintained a minimum reserve of about $10,000,000. When part of that was depleted, the mines turned out more; it was not allowed at any time to fall below that figure.
This Trading Company sells all diamonds for which the corporation holds contracts. There are only a few cutters who deal directly with them. Most of the dealing is done through a group of London brokers whose honesty and in­tegrity have been ascertained to the Trading Company's satisfaction. When a shipment of diamonds has come in from South Africa, a broker is notified. He then makes ap­plication for a "sight" of theparcels to be placed on display. If the Trading Company decides to grant his application, he is invited to the "sight." "Sights" are held irregularly, some times every two or three weeks, sometimes after an interval of many weeks.
The goods, the broker finds, are placed on a table before a north light—you can judge diamonds best by the north light and preferably in the morning. There are no arguments. The parcels are made up hy the Trading Company to suit their own purposes. The broker looks into a parcel, may decide he likes certain stones in it, doesn't care about the others. But it he wants those stones he must buy the whole parcel. What he does with the stones he doesn't like is his problem. He usually sells them to other brokers or cutters
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