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> These diamonds were all of a uniform size and shape and were dubbed 'Silver Bears'. While DeBeers could not understand how the Soviets were producing such a l

> These diamonds were all of a uniform size and shape and were dubbed 'Silver Bears'. While DeBeers could not understand how the Soviets were producing such a large quantity of gem diamonds of such uniform size, and supposedly from one mine that by DeBeers surveys should not be capable of such diamond production, they were, nevertheless, pressured to purchase them all lest the Soviets simply dump the diamonds on the open market, thus flooding it and bringing down diamond prices. What's the speculation as to their surprising abundance and uniformity?

ljoshua 9y ago
I was curious about that particular aspect as well. A little Googling brought me to this rather interesting account of Silver Bears and the market forces at play: http://www.edwardjayepstein.com/diamond/chap17.htm http://www.edwardjayepstein.com/diamond/chap17.htm (tl;dr: though unconfirmed a noted diamond expert believed the Soviets had created a diamond cutting machine instead of relying on human cutters, though others disputed the idea.)
- milcron 9y ago
  It sounds as though they were creating gem-quality synthetic diamonds but kept it on the down-low, and used their Siberian mines as cover.
  - ericfranklin 9y ago
    Even today there are only a couple places in the former Soviet Union that can grow gem-quality synthetic white diamonds. Their production numbers are far less than the output of a single mine, and the results are still rather random. Prior to 2004 or so, the only synthetic diamonds that could be produced commercially were colored and primarily industrial-grade.
    - milcron 9y ago
      Well, I say "gem-quality" because the article did, but it also points out that the diamonds were a greenish color, and incredibly consistent in size and quality. When DeBeers finally got a 20-minute tour of the Siberian mine, far less earth had been excavated than they expected for the number of diamonds that the USSR sold. There are many additional circumstantial details in the article.
  - atemerev 9y ago
    Doubtful, for several reasons: 1) Synthetic colorless gem-grade diamonds are difficult to make (they can be produced today, about 2-3 times cheaper than natural diamonds, but in small quantities -- and synthetic industrial-grade diamonds are also quite profitable, with significantly larger and accessible market -- but much easier to create). 2) Synthetic diamonds are relatively easy to identify (with microscope and ultraviolet light source) 3) Even today, Russian-sourced gem grade diamonds are somewhat less diverse in size and quality than their non-Russian counterparts -- and their provenance is well documented.
ghostly_s 9y ago
The general opinion is this is a synthetic diamond laundering operation. Synthetic diamonds are of course chemically identical to natural, but natural diamonds still fetch a higher price.
- gambiting 9y ago
  I thought there were ways to tell synthetic from natural? Surely DeBeers were particularly interested in discrediting Soviet diamonds and if they could find proof that those were indeed synthetic, they would have used it?
  - ghostly_s 9y ago
    Not sure, I read an article some years ago that said as much. I expect you could identify natural diamonds by impurities and subtle imperfections in the cut, but I don't know how you could conclusively prove a too-perfect diamond was synthetic.
    - gambiting 9y ago
      According to this article[0] it is possible, but it's not like there's one 100% accurate method - but a skilled gemologist should be able to identify a synthetic diamond: https://www.gia.edu/sites/Satellite?c=Page&childpagename=GIA%2FPage%2FArticleDetail&cid=1495238991671&d=Touch&packedargs=childpagename&pagename=GIA%2FWrapper https://www.gia.edu/sites/Satellite?c=Page&childpagename=GIA...
      - ridgeguy 9y ago
        Yes, it's possible with a high degree of confidence to distinguish natural from synthetic diamonds and for synthetics, to determine which method (HPHT or CVD) was used to make them. The IIDGR [1] company makes a series of devices (DiamondSure, DiamondView and DiamondPlus) that will indicate whether a diamond is a natural (and if so, of what type), or flag it for further characterization. One system will flag type IIa naturals for further analysis, as they resemble the best of CVD synthetic diamonds. Microscopy + (IR, fluorescence, and photoluminescence) spectroscopy distinguish a stone's origin to high confidence. Even though the best CVD stones have far lower impurities than the best naturals, they have internal strain patterns (optical birefringence) that can be diagnostic. Most jewelers don't have these machines, but they are available as a service. Faceted CVD stones have been seen up to 5 carats [2] and 10 carat stones made by HPHT are known [3] [1] https://www.iidgr.com https://www.iidgr.com [2] https://www.gia.edu/gems-gemology/winter-2016-labnotes-CVD-synthetic-diamond-over-5-carats-identified https://www.gia.edu/gems-gemology/winter-2016-labnotes-CVD-s... [3] https://www.gia.edu/gems-gemology/winter-2016-labnotes-blue-HPHT-synthetic-diamond-over-10-carats https://www.gia.edu/gems-gemology/winter-2016-labnotes-blue-...
mirimir 9y ago
Maybe the Soviets stockpiled these diamonds for some years, before developing a relationship with DeBeers.
dankohn1 9y ago
I remember hearing a story about diamond polishing methods in use right after the collapse of the Soviet Union where the resulting diamonds had a lower value than their inputs. I've used the metaphor in programming and management of dealing with value-subtracting workers.
- jordanb 9y ago
  This was a criticism of the late-stage soviet economy: Taking perfectly good trees and turning them into useless plywood. Perfectly good wool gets turned into sweaters so awful even Soviet citizens won't wear them, etc. Francis Spufford's Red Plenty gets into that, and on the rapidly diminishing returns on capital investment in general in the soviet economy in the 1970s-80s.
tastytang 9y ago
Possibly these unusual diamonds were not mined nor manufactured, but were the result of a meteor impact? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2204566/Russia-diamonds-Source-Siberian-asteroid-crater-supply-world-markets-3-000-years.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2204566/Russia-diamo...
- nthcolumn 9y ago
  Someone told me about this in 2009. I do not know if it is just a rumor. We were in a piano bar in the old town in Zuerich. I did not know them but they were serious people who lead interesting enough lives not to have to make up stories. Although now I see Daily Mail I am beginning to doubt. He said they are all huge, same in size but hard to work and that there was a 'mother' one which was enormous. His friend sang 'Simply the Best' for Putin. Is it true?

ljoshua 9y ago

I was curious about that particular aspect as well. A little Googling brought me to this rather interesting account of Silver Bears and the market forces at play: http://www.edwardjayepstein.com/diamond/chap17.htm http://www.edwardjayepstein.com/diamond/chap17.htm (tl;dr: though unconfirmed a noted diamond expert believed the Soviets had created a diamond cutting machine instead of relying on human cutters, though others disputed the idea.)

milcron 9y ago
It sounds as though they were creating gem-quality synthetic diamonds but kept it on the down-low, and used their Siberian mines as cover.
- ericfranklin 9y ago
  Even today there are only a couple places in the former Soviet Union that can grow gem-quality synthetic white diamonds. Their production numbers are far less than the output of a single mine, and the results are still rather random. Prior to 2004 or so, the only synthetic diamonds that could be produced commercially were colored and primarily industrial-grade.
  - milcron 9y ago
    Well, I say "gem-quality" because the article did, but it also points out that the diamonds were a greenish color, and incredibly consistent in size and quality. When DeBeers finally got a 20-minute tour of the Siberian mine, far less earth had been excavated than they expected for the number of diamonds that the USSR sold. There are many additional circumstantial details in the article.
- atemerev 9y ago
  Doubtful, for several reasons: 1) Synthetic colorless gem-grade diamonds are difficult to make (they can be produced today, about 2-3 times cheaper than natural diamonds, but in small quantities -- and synthetic industrial-grade diamonds are also quite profitable, with significantly larger and accessible market -- but much easier to create). 2) Synthetic diamonds are relatively easy to identify (with microscope and ultraviolet light source) 3) Even today, Russian-sourced gem grade diamonds are somewhat less diverse in size and quality than their non-Russian counterparts -- and their provenance is well documented.

ghostly_s 9y ago

The general opinion is this is a synthetic diamond laundering operation. Synthetic diamonds are of course chemically identical to natural, but natural diamonds still fetch a higher price.

gambiting 9y ago
I thought there were ways to tell synthetic from natural? Surely DeBeers were particularly interested in discrediting Soviet diamonds and if they could find proof that those were indeed synthetic, they would have used it?
- ghostly_s 9y ago
  Not sure, I read an article some years ago that said as much. I expect you could identify natural diamonds by impurities and subtle imperfections in the cut, but I don't know how you could conclusively prove a too-perfect diamond was synthetic.
  - gambiting 9y ago
    According to this article[0] it is possible, but it's not like there's one 100% accurate method - but a skilled gemologist should be able to identify a synthetic diamond: https://www.gia.edu/sites/Satellite?c=Page&childpagename=GIA%2FPage%2FArticleDetail&cid=1495238991671&d=Touch&packedargs=childpagename&pagename=GIA%2FWrapper https://www.gia.edu/sites/Satellite?c=Page&childpagename=GIA...
    - ridgeguy 9y ago
      Yes, it's possible with a high degree of confidence to distinguish natural from synthetic diamonds and for synthetics, to determine which method (HPHT or CVD) was used to make them. The IIDGR [1] company makes a series of devices (DiamondSure, DiamondView and DiamondPlus) that will indicate whether a diamond is a natural (and if so, of what type), or flag it for further characterization. One system will flag type IIa naturals for further analysis, as they resemble the best of CVD synthetic diamonds. Microscopy + (IR, fluorescence, and photoluminescence) spectroscopy distinguish a stone's origin to high confidence. Even though the best CVD stones have far lower impurities than the best naturals, they have internal strain patterns (optical birefringence) that can be diagnostic. Most jewelers don't have these machines, but they are available as a service. Faceted CVD stones have been seen up to 5 carats [2] and 10 carat stones made by HPHT are known [3] [1] https://www.iidgr.com https://www.iidgr.com [2] https://www.gia.edu/gems-gemology/winter-2016-labnotes-CVD-synthetic-diamond-over-5-carats-identified https://www.gia.edu/gems-gemology/winter-2016-labnotes-CVD-s... [3] https://www.gia.edu/gems-gemology/winter-2016-labnotes-blue-HPHT-synthetic-diamond-over-10-carats https://www.gia.edu/gems-gemology/winter-2016-labnotes-blue-...

mirimir 9y ago

Maybe the Soviets stockpiled these diamonds for some years, before developing a relationship with DeBeers.

dankohn1 9y ago

I remember hearing a story about diamond polishing methods in use right after the collapse of the Soviet Union where the resulting diamonds had a lower value than their inputs. I've used the metaphor in programming and management of dealing with value-subtracting workers.

jordanb 9y ago
This was a criticism of the late-stage soviet economy: Taking perfectly good trees and turning them into useless plywood. Perfectly good wool gets turned into sweaters so awful even Soviet citizens won't wear them, etc. Francis Spufford's Red Plenty gets into that, and on the rapidly diminishing returns on capital investment in general in the soviet economy in the 1970s-80s.

tastytang 9y ago

Possibly these unusual diamonds were not mined nor manufactured, but were the result of a meteor impact? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2204566/Russia-diamonds-Source-Siberian-asteroid-crater-supply-world-markets-3-000-years.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2204566/Russia-diamo...

nthcolumn 9y ago
Someone told me about this in 2009. I do not know if it is just a rumor. We were in a piano bar in the old town in Zuerich. I did not know them but they were serious people who lead interesting enough lives not to have to make up stories. Although now I see Daily Mail I am beginning to doubt. He said they are all huge, same in size but hard to work and that there was a 'mother' one which was enormous. His friend sang 'Simply the Best' for Putin. Is it true?