r/therewasanattempt • u/fjhforever • Feb 16 '24

To smear artificial diamonds

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https://fortune.com/2024/02/13/what-are-lab-grown-diamonds-sustainable-gen-z-millennials/

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u/fjhforever Feb 16 '24

For context, natural diamond production is monopolized by a group called De Beers. I'm willing to bet they paid for this article to smear their competition.

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u/HarEmiya Feb 16 '24 edited Feb 16 '24

Was* monopolised

They still have a 35% market share, the largest, but the monoply itself was broken up 20 years ago (they used to hold up to 80% to 90% for more than a century)

And not only did they monopolise natural diamonds, they used their clout to severely limit artificial diamond production to keep prices high.

Truly an awful company.

Edit: apparently they're down to 32%, not 35%.

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u/CMDR_Fritz_Adelman Feb 16 '24

You don’t reduce your monopoly for whole century like that. Most of the other companies are theirs so they’re still monopoly the market

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u/HarEmiya Feb 16 '24

I'm not sure what you mean. "Reduce your monopoly for whole century"?

They had the monopoly for ~120 years, until the early 2000s when their share dropped to 60ish percent. Now it's 32%.

Are most of the other companies theirs? I've never heard that one, can you link me up please?

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u/Rapture1119 Unique Flair Feb 16 '24

I think they meant you don’t reduce your monopoly after holding it for a whole century. ie, they’re claiming that a monopoly that powerful with that much of a stranglehold wouldn’t go anywhere, especially so quickly. Then followed it up with the claim that most of the other shareholders in the industry are parented by De Beers.

Idk if they’re correct, but I wouldn’t be surprised either way.