The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1913-11-28
Inportations
OfDtdnondsq d
Highest Mark
HIGHEST RECORD IS MADE IN
THE CALENDAR YEAR
OF 1918.
VALUE OF DIAMONDS AND 9TH
PRECIOUS STONES FIFTY.
SEVEN MILLION.

SEVEN MILLION.
WASHINGTON, D. c., Nov. 2S.-
Diamond importations into the Unit
cd States made their highest record
in the calendar year 1913. The value
o. diamonds and other precious stones
imported during the current year
will approximate 81 million dollars,
this being the first occasion on which
the total has cross the 5O-million-dol-
lar line. TbentY years ago, accord
ing to the official figures Of the
Bureau Of Foreign and Domestic Com
'merce, Department of Commerce, the
total imports Of diamonds and other
precious stones we're but II million
dollars; in 1903, 20 million; and in
1918, approximately 81 million dol
lars, this estimate being based upon
the known figures for the nine
months ended with September, which
are 80 per cent in excess of the high
est record heretofore made. These
totals necessarily include limitations
of precious stones, which nov form
about 2 per cent of the total, but
were not separately shown prior to
1912.
The latest official figures show for
the nine months ended with Septem-
Der importationS OF IL X million dol
lars worth Of uncut diamonds,
against IL million in the cores
pom ding months of last year; OF dia-
m0nds cut but not set, 23k million
dollars, against IS million in. the cor
responding period of last year. of
all precious stones 40 Ia million
dollars, against '32A million in the
corresponding months Of last year.
These figures justify the estimate OF
approximately 81 million dollars as
the value Of the importations Of this
class of articles in the year which
ends with next month, againsth ~ Y
million in 1912 and 44N million in
The former %high-record year, 1906,
and making it perfectly apparent
that the record of 1913 will far ex-
iced that of any earlier year.
Greater Fluctuations.
Diamond importations show great
err fluctuations titan those Of many
other classes Of merchandise entering
the markets Of the United States. The
total imports Of diamonds and other
precious stones in 1896 amounted to
5 million dollars; in 1897, SIX mil
lion. increasing to practically 10
million in 1898; 1914 million in
1899; "a million in 1901; 81 mil
lion in 1905; and "a million in 1906.
In 1907, however, the total dropped
to less than 80 million dollars, and
in 1908 to IA million, increasing to
43h million in 1909, since which
time there has been no material
change until in the current year,
when the total increases from 42h
million dollars in 1912 to approxi-
mately 81 million in 1913, a much
larger increase than in any prior
year in the history Of the trade.
This large gain in recent years
occurs chiefly In cut diamonds, the
uncut diamonds, which form a little
over one-hourth of the total imports,
showing slight gains over earlier
years of the past decade. The value
Of uncut diamonds imported in 1902,
len years ago, was 10 million dollars
and in 1913 will approximate 16 mil
lion, while that Of cut diamonds was,
In 1908, IS million dollars, and in
the current year will approximate 80
million.
Where They Came From.
Most of the diamonds imported in
10 the United States, while origlnat-
ing in South Africa, are invoiced
the Netherlands, Belgium, !
France, and tho United Kingdom.
About two-thirds Of the uncut dia-
mono dis are imported from the United
Kingdom, in whose South African
possessions the principal diamond
mines of the world are located, Or
the cut diamonds imported, more
than three-fourths are from Belgium
and the Netherlands, about equally
divided between those two countries.
While the United Kingdom, Belgium,
and the Netherlands are large i'm
porters of diamonds, a considerable
proportion thereof are, in each case,
re-GXpOrtcd.
The people Of the United States are
the worlds largest importers OF dia-