Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1919-10-22
DIAMONDS co UP
ON EUROPE MART
Antwerp Clubs Reveal Efforts OF
Germans to Control
Gem, Trade.
MONEY DEPRECIATION HELPS
Men Of Wealth, Nervous ~ to Finan.
eiaI Outlook, Buy Diamonds In.
stead Of Securities Because
tho Safest Investment.


Antwerp.-Antwerp is In the throes
Of diamond fever" such as has
never been known anywhere before.
Not less than six diamond clubs"
have been opened In the last three
months.
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
situations. Their main feature is a.
large room filled with rows of small
card tables. The room looks for all
the world like card playing estab-
lishment.
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 habitue and pc
culiar old men with long boards and
sOiled linen and ancient Prince Albert
suits all mingled together and driving
ashoDS hSuiN'
that would rejoice any banker even in
America.
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.
The conversations are pretty much
the same all over The room:
How much did you pay for this
lot?"
1.-TWO hundred thousand crowns"
"All~ right; I'll buy 1t with 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 ac
guaintance at another table, driving
another bargain. And the gambler
fever gets him again and he feels
sorry he has sold. So he buys an
other lot and sometimes he buys back
tne very one ne mas sofa.
Thus the prices are pushed up in
this extraordinary diamond ex-
change" of the world
One of the Oldest firms has given
mond prices: -
Before the war the uncut stone cost
S23 a karat and $50 after cutting.
Immediately after the declaration OF
war the price slumped to $23 and re-
manned that low as long as 1915, when
the Germans, beginning to get nery-
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 S34 within a
few weeks of the cessation of hostiI,
tiles.
Since the beginning Of the year the
diamond market las 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.
Demand Is Heavy.
Today karat Of uncut stone fnis
an easy market at $50. Merchants
need no longer seek customers. Cred
ii is no longer given. As soon as
new consignment arrives from Lon
don the diamond clubs are filed to
overlooking and tie 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.
IT seems certain that the price of
diamonds will continue to rise until
the economic condition of the world
Is better balanced than ut 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 1915 Is beginning
to worry the allies who find In 1t the
explanation Of the apparent optimism
shown In Germany rs 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 a
position to command the market.