Diamonds from Guinea documentary of Patrick Voillot

Several centuries before our era, travelers told of a deep and inaccessible valley guarded by snakes and birds of prey which contained fabulous

diamonds

. A powerful Lord of that time sent his servant in search of the precious stones to escape the dangers. They threw pieces of meat. to the valley The birds of prey rushed to recover the food in which the

diamonds

were embedded, the men only needed to plunder the nests and take their reward to their sovereign, thus the legend of the valley of the diamonds spread over the centuries. , today no one really knows where it is located, maybe in the east. region of Guinea has been Ankara whose wealth, diamonds and nature's hostility remind history this is an exceptional d-perfect heart shape here is an exceptional piece a perfectly pure heart and pear shaped diamond necklace has more than 128 carat and is set in beautiful platinum it is very flexible easy to use the African continent is a major producer of diamonds on its western coast Conakry Guinea produces exceptional gems in 1955 secret Ohio became mayor of Conakry and later president of this country which is now home With 7 million inhabitants, he remained in power for 27 years.

The Guineans have forgotten his image as a tyrant because he managed to impose the name of the country throughout the world. There are three dominant ethnic groups, the Fulani, the Malenque and the Sousou, who are heavily involved in the extraction of diamonds located mainly in its stronghold in upper Guinea on the edge of the Guinea forest the diamond reserve is estimated at 25 million carats large quantities of gold iron aluminum and uranium also form part of the natural resources of this country diamond production In Guinea it is mainly artisanal despite some industrial companies that have done so in 2001 produced 25 thousand carats the artisans have unearthed three hundred and thirty-eight thousand or 14 times more Feta is a woman master teacher in her concession which means that she is the owner and she will have the first choice of the diamonds that the workers find here the griot A kind of tuba gates sing praises to the boss in exchange for some bills to reach the diamond-rich lands covered by alluvium.

Miners dig tens of meters deep. One of the world's largest diamond reserves for jewelry is located in this extremely kolos daf region, near a town called Bannon. Cora in 1932 the first diamond was officially discovered by an Irish prospector Dermody in the headwaters of the Mokona River in the forest region of Guinea. What do we find here? We find diamonds. The diamond XX blue eyes. Is it good quality here? Good quality. Good quality. I often find it in your package yes often often we choose the right guard key master what is a master? the teacher is someone who buys diamonds that come out of his monkey okay, the teacher he buys the diamonds yes, I buy the diamonds, I buy them from the workers yes and after you sell them to who do we sell them to a collector that's all then the collector who does with the diamond then goes to the trading post the search is artisanal everything is done with his arms a shovel a sieve and his feet in the water all day this stone is under strong military surveillance it is very close to Liberia and Sierra Leone two countries with great political unrest, guerrilla troops did not hesitate to cross the borders into Guinea in the 1950s clandestine operators from Sierra Leone invaded the area, many stayed, others continued later fleeing the civil war in their country Fátima is happy to find a stone In the first cleaning of the day people here are very superstitious this discovery even if the diamond is not very big it will bring you luck in its granting is Like in the lottery, you can find many stones and become very rich or lose all your money in a job unnecessary in a sterile mine.

The quality criteria of a diamond, such as purity and color, are precisely determined in the same way as is the unit of measurement. 0.2 grams per carat the name comes from the carob seed formerly used in the east whose weight was always constant Belén Carrera is populated by carancas an ethnic subgroup of the Milenka its Islamic fundamentalist the city has hundreds of mosques hotels considered places of debauchery They do not exist and public schools are located outside the city, there is no running water, electricity or telephones and this in the place where the most precious and expensive material in the world is found every day.

The military is omnipresent in the mines and throughout the region. They are quick to say they are in a war zone the diamond attracts the envy of all the closest neighbors several times a week phatu buys the stones directly from the mine his right hand has recovered all the stones found in the concession the workers gather to discuss the price with phatu she has the undisputed priority to buy any violation of this right would be severely punished as theft in this region if she does not buy the stone which is extremely rare the miner can sell elsewhere the workers as their employers know the price approximate of the stones but they have no Gemological training that sometimes leads to heated discussions thank you 5 carats 75a yes visa trainer Faith, did you see what I saw, there is a little dip and a cut Hey, okay, I make two million three million is too much, you know, it's not cut, there's a little dip in the corner two million five hundred no no, that's too much two million three hundred okay, okay, let's pay for the freight we support a recurring how much does the two carats cost 48 quick quick 1 million four hundred million four hundred too many seven hundred thousand seven hundred thousand is little no, it is not small we SAP 800,000 No 900 850 ok the transactions here are made in Guinean francs one euro is equivalent to a little less than 2000 Guinean francs the usual eating all the money again we have worked hard you have worked hard but they are going to eat all the money tomorrow a lot of washing we will earn a lot please go often the money recovered by the miners during the sale of a stone only allows them to pay the debts they have contracted with various businesses In Benin Caro the boss supports some of the miners' needs, including food.

The weekly rice ration is distributed to workers once a week. It is often their only means of subsistence if an important stone is found. The allocation is divided equally between the miner and the boss when the stone is sold. the boss will deduct the total cost incurred by the employee I am the general secretary of the dame diamond trade association the diamond trend The association aims to bring together all people interested in diamond the state has an important role is to provide plots to those who want to work for those who want to invest in artisanal mining Viki varavayi I see people saying that they feel the exports some artisanal the region is extremely rich in diamonds there is an almost incalculable amount because the amount of diamonds amounts to millions and millions of carrots a year Last we sold 78,000 carats in the entire area, which requires about three hundred thousand miners in 1999 we found a 747 carat stone in them by an atom buyer in 1995 a private diamond operator was lying in his hammock he was out there dreaming that his children came dad crying dad someone found something someone is coming from the farm so he told his children to leave and the children said but it's military coming they said oh they must have come to arrest me he didn't know but they were coming for a 285 stone carats that they had found on their land and when they came to give it to them I was the one who took the stone on behalf of the Association and took it to the director who was in 1995 yes, you are still very Larry met the director Thomas oil kala and that is why my prediction Grid the different governments obtain the richest concessions are in the area of ​​the Bombo River, which is a tributary of the Intestinal River, this river has transported alluvial streams rich in diamonds for thousands of years, a diamond is composed of pure crystallized carbon.

This carbon is common throughout the Earth, but to make a diamond you have to bring its atoms very close, otherwise graphite is obtained despite a strong pressure of 45,000 to 60,000 atmospheres. Atoms are recalcitrant. They come together only when pressure is added at high temperatures of between 900 and 1300 degrees Celsius. These conditions occur only at depths of 150 to 200 kilometers beneath the Earth's crust at the base of the lithospheric roots. When diamonds crystallize, they must rise to the surface. of the earth like an elevator a rock called kimberlite is responsible for These presses, passengers heading to the surface, form a dam that explodes in a volcanic eruption, then the volcano goes out and erosion begins.

It will provide alluvial deposits. Dimond is very old, it was brought to the earth's surface between 100 and 1 billion years ago. years ago depending on the region the kimberlite that has remained frozen in the conduit of the volcano called the pipe is the main deposit of diamonds to obtain only a few carats several thousand tons must be moved highly concentrated areas of alluvial diamonds are more easily exploitable in In an artisanal way, the alluvial soil rich in gems is transported to a washing area. The earth is placed on an extremely fine mesh sieve and then the gravel carried by the rivers and containing diamonds is washed and remains trapped in the sieve by the miners. experts can immediately remove the large stones that have no value in this operation the owner is represented by an official who supervises the discovery of each stone the rotating motion imposed on the screen concentrates the heavy minerals in the center of the sieve which also includes diamonds Ilmenite garnet and olivine are included.

These heavy minerals are considered indicators that the gemstone is nearby. The diamonds can be given to the boss or his representative, who will keep them in an envelope and on a folded sheet of paper with the digger's name on it so that the price can be discussed with him later once he is finished. Washing and water is completed. The contents of the sieve are placed on a flat surface to be carefully sorted under the inquisitive eyes of the officer. Larger stones are usually loosened before this step. The significant refraction of diamonds distinguishes these small stones from more opaque gravel.

The final sifting of the gravel by hand signals the end of this meticulous search. Our mechanical sieves are also used in mines, the principle of which is the same as manual screening but can process larger masses of ore. When a master has not found a single diamond in his concession for some time, tension increases and he is eager to see the research result. This is understandable because in gemstone trading the most random factor is always mining. Many people have been ruined in this way. There is a real suspicion among diamond merchants in this country, here we do not lend stones not even among the mosses because everyone thinks that in exchange for the lowest possible stone one day a master beat one of his miners thinking that he had stolen stones big the miner died but the stones were never found and the supervisor was finally hanged finding a diamond restores confidence in the future and the smiles return Andra has bought a franchise, he must equip the miners who will work for him and then, as dictated by the tradition, you should seek help from a maja boo here.

The diamond was used before by our ancestors from what we were told it was used for the necklaces of the wives of kings to make necklaces people did not know the value of the stone that is why as soon as someone found a pair like that they found it. It took them directly to the boss and in exchange they gave them enough to live on from their elders in this country Karanka, for example, if you are very unhappy but if you respect him and give him everything he needs, he will be rewarded if he really wants to help you, he says ok, I would like to help you since You are very respectful and very wise in what you do.

I cannot pay you. The reward you came to look for is the diamond and I am not God, but I will help you find it. He brings you, he has a little stick that he plans and tells you where to dig, you dig and immediately you find the minimum of what you want, the minimum to cover your needs and he just says, my son, what you have found is a reward for everything that did me good, but When this day is removed you cannot find anything, it is as if it were he who has hidden the oriental stones, come see di huiqian far away Ondra, which symbolizes hospitality for happiness, despite the Muslim religion, animist customs have remained very present in this region, some They do not hesitate to discuss the practice of human sacrifice to attract diamonds.

Small collectors buy stones from miners whose owners did not want them. Sometimes you can also find illegally smuggled or stolen stones, but in all cases they are small stones, which is 80 40 thousand. Well, no, it's too much. Barry is a collector, he takes few risks. He buys diamonds from miners and teachers. He never invests money in the mines. He will be the intermediary who sells the stones to the counters in Conakry. 18 million francs. 3 millions. eight hundred thousand francs gedeon tell me your last priceseventeen million five seventeen million five four million okay okay five million from me that's five million good five million

guinea

at Frank's what's your last price five million now eight million francs no my last price is five million okay no , not good, so we disagree, okay, there are not only colorless diamonds in Guinea, some stones can be yellow, sometimes blue, if the color is pure and pleasing to the eye, which makes the price of the stone rise. a yellow stone the highest mark was she can't run widow don't be afraid mother how much do you want it's very yellow 1 million no that's not good 1 million five hundred no three million five hundred two million five hundred million seven hundred worth two million eight hundred thousand Well, the value of the stones, good price here in Vanacore.

Oh, business is interrupted by the five daily prayers that no one misses. It takes Van Ancora collectors two days by car to travel to Conakry. Interestingly, the diamond market is relatively well structured in Guinea. Diamond dealers must pay a fee to obtain a license from the State, which in turn pays a supervisory commission. But from the mind of the accountants at each stage a number of stones pass through unofficial circuits to avoid taxes. Some large Kinion diamond dealers have their counters right in their homes. This is for security reasons because the capital is not safe, especially at night, even in an indie bass sound and that is their game and surrender is modified here they bring their Benin kora stones and buy because they are already registered there are cards that is A law in Guinea, as soon as someone comes who does not have papers, they cannot do the work.

How much is it in total? 100,000 is not the best total of 120 carats. it's too much you should reduce it let it go for 46,000 no, that's not good 50,000 is worth 50,000 $80,000 that's too low how much will you leave it for what is its last price $70,000 that's too much below 60,000 less than 60,000 is what the diamond market in Their prices are known throughout the world, it is always possible to make a deal, but in general the different market players know the prices well, they give or receive a small percentage. I told you below 60 Not below 70 no, but please, okay, bring it to 58,000, no, it has to be 55, give it back to me. my studs not ok 55 ok ok 55 The margins made by breast stone traders are relatively small but represent significant sums given the volume traded.

Few Westerners are included in this chain of diamond trade in Guinea, some like Gabrielle de Toledo who have been in it. region for a long time they are well established my job is a diamond merchant I have been a diamond merchant for 42 years and I am here in Africa it is more adventurous than to say staying in Europe subdues the delights of Avanti in the Bastille I have been doing this for years and I am known because above all my word is my word and they also call me mr. cash because what I buy is paid in cash this is one of the principles in this profession and I am serious about purchases I give prices close to Antwerp prices with a very small profit margin that is what makes me have so many clients who horrible food because you look good here 99% of the diamonds are common diamonds but there are always stones that are unusual and that is what we look for these are unusual stones that make you very happy it is not a question of money it is a question of fascination that I bought a beautiful 57 carat diamond pure white blue diamond for a large sum it was heart shaped it was a fascinating diamond it has been formed the girl prefers you know it is a drug to be able to buy diamonds it is a drug I think I will buy diamonds all my life It is not simple, however, it is less problematic than with other colored gemstones such as sapphires, rubies and emeralds.

Price is less subjective. The quality of the diamond is very well defined in terms of impurities it may contain, color and size. De Beers has classified diamonds into 14,000 categories called price points, the stones are passed through screens to make many sizes classified and quickly estimate the overall price. I know it has increased but you are doubly exaggerating, you must reduce the price, then I cannot make an offer, we must reduce the price it is not for me so more than twenty-eight is not for me try to do the calculations here it is the machine redo your calculations the stones fakes are rarely presented on the counters because the rough diamond is difficult to imitate with other materials synthetic diamonds are extremely expensive to manufacture and finally the world of commerce is very closed a counterfeiter would be immediately rejected it has not gone down enough it is too far away I want show you the 35:35 I say sir I thought you were showing me a price I was surprised by a serious price for once I would add another dollar but after that the usual technique of sellers to overvalue their diamonds is to mix different grades of stones in one lot large that they offer at the highest selling price we will wait and see how much is the price of diamonds is the price per carat there are 214 sixty times thirty-six thousand four hundred thirty-eight six thousand four hundred and fifty US dollars are you surprised at the price I gave you you a good price no, no, it's finished, I won't ask more, otherwise it's not for me, the price of industrial diamonds is forty to a thousand times less expensive than the jewel diamond and sometimes much more.

Four pieces of industrial diamonds of exceptional quality are ground. dust and used as an abrasive a few decades ago all colored diamonds were destined for this sad fate they are six thousand four hundred thirty-eight I will give you six thousand five hundred and we finish the deal six thousand five hundred okay Frank then you I want dollars I won't joke The son of Ian Frank Ian Frank gives 13 million Paco 13 million when he has a stone that is a little more important Gabriele tests its fluorescence in fact a cut diamond has a lower value if its fluorescence is high because in clear natural, it gives the impression that the color It has a higher quality than it really has.

Gabriel collects stones for regular shipments to Europe before sending them abroad. Counter officials must take their stones to the natural survey office to pay a 3% export tax. For the state of Guinea, officials at this office evaluate stones according to the international diamond price, which is updated periodically based on information provided by the International Diamond Council. This specialized office also organizes periodic auctions in which they sell diamonds from some industrial companies. operations like those of the IRA door company once the survey is completed and the fee is paid the stones are transported to the airport in a security van and a sealed package the responsibilities of the survey office stop at the foot of the plane the main export destinations They are mainly Antwerp, but also New York, Tel Aviv and London.

Antwerp is one of the world's leading diamond markets. It is difficult to accurately date the first cut diamonds in history. These are undoubtedly Indian diamonds that arrived in Europe in the 1st century AD. C. stone carvers practice this technique. of cutting, wearing down the stone and obtaining small stones with irregular facets NEMA tell me how much you want for the stone 30,000 30,000 a carrot none complainers give me a final price yes yes no no to pay today is at the end of the 15th and 16th For centuries that in Bruges or aunt Enormous quantities of Indian diamonds were cut Entire neighborhoods of Antwerp specialized in diamond cutting It became the largest economic center for diamonds in Europe after a wave of immigration due to the religious intolerance of the Inquisition and the vagaries of history from from the 19th century Antwerp has regained its place Guinea meetings I have an office in this city I started in the diamond trade as a cutter, that is, an engineer of the rough diamond crystal to analyze the material the division is a profession that became extinct and then I decided that I didn't want to become a diamond dealer like there are all over the world and I spread the word that anywhere in the world where there was an obviously naturally colored diamond, I would be in there. 24 hours with money and if it was good I bought it and if not I continued so I started collecting and I continued selling the most important stones and as I discovered that the one carat stones were relatively in bad condition I started the rainbow. collection a collection with a weight that is more or less one carat for each stone, if you want I will show you what this rainbow collection looks like 20 rows of 15 colored diamonds so do 300 colored diamonds with a total weight of more than three hundred carats I continued growing the collection because in my life I see no limits I said that there are three hundred because I found that it was a fair number these diamonds that are already exceptional react dramatically to ultraviolet light they look like small lamps turned on in color not super MIDI if we could if we turned off the light I will show you what happens the collection begins to flash in the ultraviolet color what you see now is not at all the color you see in daylight no, it does not correspond soft, but because of an eyepiece, the pure visual, the collection Rainbow is unique in the entire world and the three diamonds that Eddie Else owns are the rarest gems on our planet.

Only 11 of these stones are known. The identity of each stone is defined by four. The quality criteria provide for carat weight, clarity, color and cut. To cut a diamond, the natural crystal must first be cut with a laser or even with a ground lathe in a weak and precise place in the rock, the cleavage and then the optimal size is determined by a computer here is a stone that is of 14 carats 82 now we will measure this with the computer to see what weight we can get here measure the stone for now take geometric measurements it does not weigh the diamond do some calculations it is already finished the first part of the work measures the rough stone and tells me its weight seven point seven seven carats now we will ask you to model the diamond which shape should take even oval or heart shaped canopies we can ask what we want from this model is it perfect for a round cut so we will take it as a basic round shape in the program .

Now we are beginning to project the diamond into the rough stone and we can see what is the best use for it. Indicates the weight. here 4.22 carats that is what we would get out of this stone we can turn the stone to see if there is enough space around the stone this is perfect there is nothing beyond the rough stone we will know it will be good we know we will get a diamond of four point twenty two carats the brilliant cut was probably cut in Italy in the early 17th century in Venice the first step would have been to rub two diamonds together to give the stone its general shape and proceeded to facet it on a wheel covered with diamond dust from of industrial diamond that can only be cut by itself since it is the hardest material, it is 140 times harder than sapphires or rubies, the Greeks called it Adam, which means the invincible, the stone cutter will cut the 57 or 58 brilliant cut facets. respecting each angle so that the light reflects on the stone as in a multitude of mirrors, we protect the already cut parts of the diamond with molten borax because the high cutting temperatures will dull its facets, special care must be taken with a diamond in the Close to a welding, a one carat brilliant diamond is usually obtained from a 2.5 carat stone.

London sees 60% of the world's rough diamonds behind the walls of the famous De Beers, which for almost a century has imposed a diamond monopoly. My name is Leslie. Hmm, I'm the director of the Diamond Information Center at the London Diamond Trading Company. De Beers is the world's largest and oldest mining company. De Beers was founded in 1888 by Kimberley at the time they discovered the first diamond. producing areas in South Africa we can say that the creation of De Beers was the beginning of the diamond industry the diamonds that we extract from our mines in South Africa represent 41 to 42 percent of world production last year for example we produced the equivalent of 3 .2 billion dollars De Beers prospects around the world to find new deposits, particularly in Conakry Guinea, we have been prospecting in southeastern Guinea since 1995, that is, we take samples from rivers at intervals of 20 to 25 kilometers, In these rivers we look for minerals. which indicate the presence of the rock kimberlite in which diamonds are sometimes found these minerals mainly comprise garnets kimberlite contains mainly garnets these red stones and black stones also called ilmenite from the results of thanks to sampling and geophysical studies we have identified a series of The positive areas in the southeast of Guinea between the cities of my center and Cara want these stones to have formed billions of years ago and are a rarity of course, but historically men have always tried to recreate the diamond,As you know, we make artificial diamonds and the factories make what we call industrial quality diamonds and it seems incredible, but artificial diamonds are actually more expensive than natural diamonds.

Some diamonds in the middle are not on beaches but at the bottom of the sea and De Beers has extractor vessels through which they can dig. the seabed up to 120 meters deep DeBeers has been very lucky because some of the world's finest diamonds come from its mines, particularly the main mine in South Africa. A few years ago we found a diamond that we called the De Beers centennial diamond when it was discovered that it weighed 599 carats a huge white diamond perfect purity diamond perfect quality so my name is Sebastian my name is Pascal más fajo and I belong to the fourth generation of a family of jewelers practicing since 1890 i.e. 110 years my The family has distinguished itself by acquiring a large number of diamonds, including eight of historical importance, including jubilee through medibot, Prime Rose, Taylor Burton and some that bear our name , like the Malad monolith, the splendor of Malad, which are perfectly pure diamonds of more than a hundred. carat Do you have anything with hearts because I really like hearts?

Yes, I have a beautiful river in which all the diamonds are heart shaped, so if you are looking for something to match your necklace, we have a beautiful evening bag a total of 500 carats of white diamonds whose center stone is 5.0 2 carats VVS of 2 plus 7 carats of pink diamonds and 11 of yellow diamonds if the diamond is eternal then the crazy things that men do for it are also eternal for you