The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1919-09-23
Antwerp Clubs Reveal q Efforts flo Of
~. Germans to Control
Gem Trade.
MONEY E DEPRECIATION HELPS
Men OF Wealth, Nervous 40 to Finan.
elaI Outlook, Buy Diamonds In -
stead Of Securities Because
r.. tho Safest Investment


These are "clubs" only In name, for
they have nothing Of the usual COM
Portable accommodation generally as-
ISOLATED in our minds with such in
stitutiOns.- Their main feature is a
large room filed with rows Of small
card tables. The room looks for all
the world like card playing estab-
lishment. = ! r. -.
1t is the guests, however. who pre-
sent the strangest appearance. There,
are smart young men dressed in the
latest styles, and important looking
men bearing the unmistakable mark
Of the stock exchange habitae and pc
culiar old men with long heards and
soiled linen and ancient Prince Albert
suits ali mingled together and driving
bargains among themselves at figures
that would rejoice any banker even in
America. z@r= - r. " !. So. =. - &
- r. Handling Diamonds. =.
Two by two they sit, opposite each
other at the little green tables care
lessly lingering handfuls of uncut. dia:-
monds as If they were common poker
chips. -. ,- -..: =: r
The conversations are pretty much
the same all over the ROOM:
How much did you pay for this
lot p "a. r. r.,
~ 1.-Two hundred thousand crowns"
- "All right; I'll buy, 1t with 8 per
cent profit for you"
Done"
And the money is handed over at
once in cash. Then the seller looks
around and having nothing better to
do, leans over the shoulder Of an &C
quaintance at another table, driving
another bargain. And the gambler
fever gets him again and he feels
sorry he has sold. So he buys nm
other lot and sometimes he buys back
the very one he has sold. - -
Thus the prices are pushed up in
this extraordinary diamond e1-
change of the world.
as One OF the soldest-frsas has given
the folI0wing figures concerning dia-
nonnd nriras:2 - - Fl?
Before the war the uncut stone cost
$23 karat and $32 after cutting
Immediately after the declaration OF
war the price slumped to $23 and re-
NAMED that low as long as 1915, when
the Germans beginning to get nerv-
!. Gus about the value Of paper money,
started buying all the diamonds they
could find on the market.
France, Switzerland, Italy and Eng
land followed suit, and the price went
up by-leaps and bounds. On the eve
of the armistice the karat was worth
SO and fell again to $34 within a
few weeks Of the cessation Of hostil-
tiles.
Since the beginning Of the year the
diamond market has doomed, owing
to the general depreciation Of Euro
pean money, the difficulty Of exchange
and the embargo on export Of curren-
cies from one to another European
country.
..., ,sss Demand 10 Heavy.
Today karat Of uncnt stone 1nis
an easy market at $50. Merchants
need no longer seek customers. Cred
It is no. longer given. As soon az a
new consignment arrives from Lon
don the diamond clubs are hlled to
overflowing and the bidding starts
With unheard Of zest. Many accounts
are settled in America, and even
there merchants prefer to be paid In
kind rather than In money. ::
1t seems. certain that the price OF
diamonds will continue to rise until
the economic condition Of the world
is better balanced than at present
In every country there is an aston:
ishing number of rich men who are.
still very nervous as to the financial
outlook, especially In relation to pos
sible labor troubles. These men do
not buy securities and do, not keep
large bank balances, They buy dia-
monds because they know they are
the safest investment and the easiest
to transport.
The fact that Germans have been
the heaviest purchasers Of cut and
uncut stones since 1916 is beginning
to worry the allies who find IN It the
explanation of the apparent optimism
shown in Germany as to the economic
future Of the country. 1t is said that
the greatest supply Of diamonds In
the world is now safely stored by Ger
mans who, when they choose, are In q
position to command the market.