logo
episode-header-image
Sep 2025
23m 32s

How the diamond industry lost its sparkl...

Financial Times
About this episode
tail spinning
Up next
Jul 15
The financial crash that created Britain’s first prime minister
When the South Sea Bubble burst in 1720, it wiped out fortunes and plunged Britain into its first great stock market crisis. The collapse of the South Sea Company, a government-backed scheme that promised to turn national debt into riches, left the country's finances in disarray ... Show More
38m 48s
Jul 8
South Sea Bubble: the shoemaker’s son who sparked Britain’s first financial crisis
In 1720, the South Sea Company was one of the most valuable businesses in Britain until a spectacular collapse in its publicly traded shares triggered the country’s first major stock market crisis. At the centre of the story was John Blunt, a shoemaker’s son who rose through the ... Show More
52m 23s
Jul 1
The 1980s Garfield buyout that changed corporate finance
William E Simon was a bond trader-turned US cabinet secretary under President Richard Nixon. He was also abrasive, polarising and the “father of private equity”, according to Hettie O’Brien, author of The Asset Class: How Private Equity Turned Capitalism Against Itself. She tells ... Show More
55m 27s
Recommended Episodes
Nov 2023
Disruption in the diamond sector
A few years ago you could have assumed all diamonds had been dug out of the ground – but now it’s true that some of them have been created, at unbelievably high temperatures, in just a matter of weeks. In the first of two Business Daily programmes about the evolving diamond marke ... Show More
18m 1s
Apr 2024
The diamond market disrupted
<p>Diamond output by the mining giant De Beers is down 23% this quarter. Demand is slowing as a bounce from the coronavirus pandemic wears off and synthetic diamonds eat into market share. Today on the show, we try to understand the market for diamonds. Also, we go short Charles ... Show More
12m 53s
Nov 2023
How to spot a diamond
When is a diamond really a diamond? When it’s been formed miles underground a billion years ago, or when has it been created in a laboratory, under temperatures close to the heat of the sun? The answer is – both are true. They look and behave exactly the same, but they are very d ... Show More
18m 16s
Sep 2023
Diamonds in the Rough: Unravelling A Multi-Billion Dollar Crisis
<p>India's massive diamond industry is grappling with a prolonged crisis. Western sanctions on big miner Russia, inflation in the US and a downturn in China have hit the industry which cuts and polishes nine of ten diamonds in the world. Exports from the world's top diamond expor ... Show More
26m 23s
Jul 2020
Diamond Wars | The Future of the Diamond Industry | 8
Today we conclude our Diamond Wars series. These precious stones are known to be undeniably beautiful, rare and a symbol of luxury. But diamonds have also been associated with war, human rights abuses and death. In response, consumers these days are demanding more transparency ab ... Show More
20m 49s
Jul 2020
Diamond Wars | The Alchemists | 7
It’s the 2000s and the diamond cartel is dead. Now, De Beers must adjust to its new status as the market leader rather than the monopoly. But the threats to its business aren’t going away. Diamonds are losing their luster with the young, and Zimbabwe’s undermining the industry’s ... Show More
25m 58s
Sep 2023
💍 “The Ring Price Plummet” — Diamonds’ lab-grown disruption. YouTube’s Millennials vs Gen Z. Polestar’s electric car smartphone.
Diamond prices have plummeted by 40% this year — Because there’s a 30% chance your engagement ring was grown in a lab.YouTube is going through an existential crisis right now as YouTube Shorts surges — Gen Z YouTube is killing Millennial YouTube.And Polestar, the electric car co, ... Show More
19m 41s
May 2023
India’s diamond woes
<p>In today’s episode for 22nd May 2023, we explain what ails India’s diamond industry.</p> <p>We&#39;ve launched an endeavor to give simplified health and life insurance advice via Ditto Insurance. Book a free consultation call with our advisors or just drop us a text on WhatsAp ... Show More
6m 38s
Jul 2023
Episode 92: A Crisis in Green Diamonds
The market is seeing a spate of green diamonds coming back from grading labs as treated or “undetermined,” says Thomas Hainschwang, cofounder of GGTL Laboratories. Plus: synthetic diamonds, trends in grading, and the science of identifying origin. 
33m 37s
Feb 2021
Episode 41: The Transformation of Diamond Grading
The Rapaport Diamond Podcast looks at the impact of Artificial Intelligence on diamond grading and discusses what changes this will bring to the industry. 
1h 14m