The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-11-29
BIG INCREASE
 IN IMPORTATION OF "SPARKLERS''

The diamond imports into the United States in the year about to end will be twice as much in stated value as in any preceding year in the history of our import trade. Figures compiled by the National City Bank
 of New York indicate that the value of
 diamonds and other precious stones imported in the calendar year 1919 will exceed $10O,00O,0O0 against the former high record of $52,000,000 in
 the calendar year 1916. Whether this means that the people of the
 United States are disregarding the ad-
 vice to avoid extravaganza or are
 considering diamonds a proper class
 of permanent investment" is unde-
 termined, but at least it is a fact that
 the import value of the diamonds
 brought into the United States in the
 current year will be twice as much as
 in any preceding year and will az
 gregate about S100, 100000, since dia-
 monds alone form about S5 per cent.
 of the grand total of the group "dia-
 monds and other precious stones," of
 which the total imports in the nine
 months ending with September were $76, ,663,118, while the further fact that the imports of this class have been running at the rate of 11,00Os- 900 per month of late indicates that the grand total for the year will con-
 siderab1y exceed $10o, o,o0O,000, and that of diamonds alone probably
 full $100, 100000.
 The aggregate value of the dia-
 monds in the United States is now
 considerably above $1,00O, 100000 and
 if valued at the present inflated
 prices will approximate s2,000, 0,o00,-
 900. A statement by a distinguished
 diamond expert made as far back as
 1900 put the total value of diamonds
 in the United States at that date at
 about s45o, 100000, and as the inn
 portaions since that time have aggre=
 gated about $6OO,00O,000, and the ex-
 portations practically nothing, the
 grand total at pre-war values would
 be at the present. time rather more
 than $1,000, 100000, and when 1t is
 remembered that values of diamonds
 have advanced from 50 to 100 per cent during the war period, 1t Is
 quite apparent that the grand total, when measured by present market
 values, would not be far from $2,-
 00,0OO,00o, and would certainly
 reach that figure within very short time with the current imports run ming at the rate or s100,00O,000 a year.
 More than half the diam onds of the world are now owned or held in the United States, says the banks state
 ment- An estimate made by the high
 est authority in the United States showed that the United States held in 1900 considerably over one-third of the diamonds of the world, and as she has been since that time larger importer of diamonds than any other country, and has taken very large proportion of the diamonds turned out since the beginning of the war, it is apparent that our share of the worlds stock of diamonds is now fully one-half-
 The bulk of the worlds dia monds comes, Of course, from South Africa, which, in fact, turns out about nine
 tenths of the diamonds produced in
 the entire world. These crude dia-
 monds go chiefly to Europe for pre-
 paration for market, Netherlands be- ing the largest single diamond cut 1 ting country, and it has been from 1 Netherlands that we have drawn
 very large proportion of the cut dia- | monds entering thee ountry. During l the war, the impotrations from Meth i erlands slightly declined, but the total | imports from that country in the cal | Gnddr year 1913 WILL aggregate uedi s6O000, 900 out of a grand total of ! s10o.00o,oOO worth of diamonds inn ported during the calendar year 1919., | Of the remaining S40,0OO,0 900, about ! S700O,000 are from the United ] Kingdom, about s1,500,000 from 1 France, while the rtmainder of the 1 grand total of s100, 100000 consists i of uncut diamonds, which will aggre- gate for the calendar year about l s2o,00O,o00 as against s12,000,000 in 1918, and $S,000,000 in 1917.