Martin Rapaport
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Martin Rapaport is a chairman of the Rapaport Group and founder of the Rapaport Diamond Report as well as the RapNet online diamond trading network.[1] Rapaport publishes reports, research, and analyses covering a range of topics related to the diamond industry with a strong focus on transparency, ethical sourcing, and market integrity. [2][3][4][5]
Education and early career
[edit]Martin Rapaport began his work as an apprentice diamonds cleaver in Antwerp, Belgium. In 1978, he created the Rapaport Price List[6] and, in 1980, the electronic diamond trading network, RapNet.[7]
He is a member of several non-profit and diamond industry-related organizations, including the Jewelers for Children Charity Fund, the Diamond Manufacturers and Importers Association of America, and the Jewelers Vigilance Committee.[7]
Following visits to Sierra Leone in the early 2000s, Rapaport advocated for a Kimberley Process and launched Rapaport Fair Trade.[citation needed]
The Rapaport Diamond Report
[edit]Rapaport is a controversial figure in the diamond industry due to publishing the Rapaport Diamond Report in the late 1970s, which has become the de facto pricing baseline for wholesale polished diamonds.[8] His proponents and critics claim this guide led to a decrease in the cost of diamonds during the commodities boom of the 1970s.[9]
Pricing
[edit]Diamonds as a commodity
[edit]Rapaport originally tried to create a diamond commodity market in 1982 by filing a contract proposal to the New York Commodities Exchange.[10] The effort failed, he claimed, because "...the diamond industry didn't want price transparency."[10]
Neil D. Reiff claimed Rapaport was "destroying" the diamond industry by trying to commoditize diamonds and that his price guide no longer reflected the wholesale value of diamonds as they are sold, but influences what those prices are before they go to market. Rapaport countered that diamonds are not unique, as De Beers' marketing claims, and are subject to the same laws of supply and demand.[11]
A New York Times report in 2012 cited Rapaport among a list of other major industry players, who are countering the argument that diamonds have too many characteristic differences to be traded in a standardized commodity market.[12]
Price manipulation
[edit]Rapaport has been an outspoken critic of De Beers, and what he believes is an effort to manipulate diamond prices.[13][14]
Diamonds as an investment
[edit]Rapaport has spoken at length about perceiving diamonds as an investment. In 2008 while speaking to The Guardian, he cited diamonds' durability because, "...there is so much new wealth around the globe and wives want in on the action - and if they can't get their hands on big stones, then the price will only go up."[15][16]
Rapaport argues that diamonds are a commodity, against detractors who claim each stone has to be evaluated individually based on a list of different factors.[17]
European Commission
[edit]Rapaport submitted papers in 2002 and in 2005 criticizing the European Commission's handling of investigations of collusion between De Beers and Russia's state-owned diamond cartel, ALROSA. He alleged the European body ignored evidence that ALROSA was selling diamonds to De Beers at prices 8 to 20 percent below market value and was aiding and abetting unethical and illegal business practices.[citation needed]
Synthetics
[edit]Rapaport has criticized the creation and sale of synthetic diamonds in comparison to mined diamonds. While he does not believe they will be as valuable as diamonds mined from the earth,[18] he believes that synthetics are yet another commodity that jewelers can sell for whatever value the marketplace deems they are worth. However, he believes that consumers would desire a disclosure that a diamond they are buying is either lab-grown or mined.[19]
Conflict diamonds
[edit]Rapaport travelled extensively to Sierra Leone to investigate the diamond market.[20] After returning, he wrote and published "Guilt Trip"[21] which was quoted in the United States Congressional Record:
"Hundreds of millions of dollars of Sierra Leone diamonds are being traded on the world markets without any benefit going to the government or people of Sierra Leone. The real problem facing Sierra Leone is not merely how to share diamond resources among warring factions, but how to stop the illegal diamond industry from stealing the country's resources. But it goes beyond that. The bastards are not just stealing Sierra Leone's diamonds, they are trading them for guns. Guns which are used to kill people to keep the war going... The real challenge facing Sierra Leone and the world diamond trade, is how to stop this horrific murderous cycle of illegal diamond activity."[22]
Kimberley Process Certification Scheme
[edit]Rapaport is a key member of the Kimberley Process Plenary, the cooperative United Nations-diamond industry partnership to self-regulate the end to conflict diamonds.[23]
Rapaport has been cited as a technical asset to the process by the South African government,[24] and has advocated the need for better price transparency as a means of keeping the industry honest.[25]
Fair Trade Diamonds
[edit]Rapaport is an advocate of finding an equitable solution to exploitation of West African labor, and has tried to build mining collectives in Sierra Leone and create a place in the market for what he calls "Fair Trade Diamonds" that would be certified as guilt- and exploitation-free.[26]
International Diamond Conference
[edit]Rapaport annually addresses ethical dilemmas within the industry at the Rapaport International Diamond Conference,[27] where he invites Non-Governmental organizations such as Global Witness and Amnesty International to meet with diamond industry leaders.[28]
Artisanal diggers
[edit]Under a plan designed by Rapaport, diamond miners in West Africa will be invited to register to bring diamonds to a public auction. Rapaport says he will pay 5% more than the gems' market value. After independent monitors ensure that diggers are paid about a third of the purchase price, a "development diamond" label will be applied before gems are shipped to jewelers.[citation needed]
Rapaport, in cooperation with the U.S. Agency for International Development and Global Witness, invested $60,000 of his own money to create four alluvial mining cooperatives in Sierra Leone, but ultimately sees "Fair-Trade" diamonds as the solutions to West Africa's woes.[29]
Criticism
[edit]Critics have accused Rapaport's diamond prices as being too low,[30] having a flawed or arbitrary methodology,[31][32] and accused Rapaport of having a monopoly on diamond grading with GIA.[33]
Rapaport's impact within the industry is considered controversial by critics, as his commercial price guides have been considered a step toward commoditizing diamonds. [citation needed]
Critics also claim Rapaport has made influential statements [citation needed] on issues such as conflict diamonds, synthetic diamonds, diamond treatments, and Fair-Trade diamond issues. Additionally, critics claim he has often been an unlikely ally to NGOs.[10]
The Rapaport Diamond Corporation has also been criticized for publishing wholesale price guides for diamonds whilst allegedly trading diamonds directly to consumers.[34]
African People's Solidarity Committee
[edit]Groups such as the African People's Solidarity Committee, who protested at the 2007 Rapaport International Diamond Conference in New York, say that "all diamonds are blood diamonds"[35] and that Rapaport's efforts to help artisanal miners is nothing more than a public relations ploy:
The African People's Solidarity Committee rejects this public relations ploy. They are calling for nothing less than all of Africa's resources under the control of the African working class itself. Africa is the richest continent on earth. Africans don't need charity; they need control over their own land.[36]
References
[edit]- ^ "About Martin Rapaport". Rapaport. Retrieved 2024-07-30.
- ^ "Synthetic Ethics - Rapaport Publishing". www.diamonds.net.
- ^ "Synthetic Diamond Scam (Apr 1, 2016) - Rapaport Publishing" (PDF). www.diamonds.net.
- ^ "Rapaport Calls For Standardization Of Diamond Grading Teriminology - Rapaport Publishing" (PDF). www.diamonds.net.
- ^ "Rough Bubble Bust (Dec 1, 2015) - Rapaport Publishing" (PDF). www.diamonds.net.
- ^ "What is the Rapaport price of the diamond? Diamond price and quotation". DiamantsInfos. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
- ^ a b "About Martin Rapaport". Rapaport. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
- ^ "Publikasjoner" (PDF). www.fafo.no.
- ^ "DIAMOND PRICE LIST HISTORY – MARTIN RAPAPORT". PriceScope. 12 May 2010.
- ^ a b c Saefong, Myra P. "Diamonds may have a future as a commodity". MarketWatch.
- ^ Martin Rapaport One man's destruction of our industry Archived 2008-04-12 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Diamonds as a Commodity New York Times April 12, 2012
- ^ "Business Report - Get The Latest South African Business News". www.iol.co.za.
- ^ Jeffs, Luke (10 September 2007). "Diamond Exchange Could Alter Industry". Wall Street Journal – via www.wsj.com.
- ^ Martin Rapaport talks up diamond investments as demand for large stones surges 12 Jun 2008
- ^ Investing in Diamonds: The Clear-Cut Truth Wall Street Journal 24 Oct 2012
- ^ Diamonds as a Commodity New York Times 13 Apr 2012
- ^ Faux diamonds sparking a gem war Archived 2007-04-03 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "BBC - Science & Nature - Horizon - Diamond Labs". www.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ "Diamond Road". Kensington Communications. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
- ^ Rapaport, Martin (April 7, 2000). "Guilt Trip". Diamonds.Net. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
- ^ Hall, Tony P. (May 19, 2000). "Sharing an Article from Martin Rapaport: "Guilt Trip"". Congressional Record. 146 (63): E784 – via GovInfo.
- ^ "Mitsui Lunch-Time Forum: Blood Diamonds and Price Transparency : Zick..." archive.is. 9 January 2008. Archived from the original on 9 January 2008.
- ^ PRESENTATION BY MINISTER OF MINERALS AND ENERGY, MS PHUMZILE MLAMBO-NGCUKA AT THE KIMBERLEY PROCESS HANDING OVER CEREMONY, Sun City, 31 October 2003 Archived 28 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Digital Media Library - Baruch College". www.baruch.cuny.edu.
- ^ "The Diamond Dilemma".
- ^ Interview Fair trade stones with a 'spiritual sparkle beyond price' Archived 2011-04-08 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ UK Blood Diamonds - New call on industry to clean up diamond trade Archived 2007-02-06 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Wylie, Ian (1 February 2007). "Hope Diamonds". Fast Company.
- ^ Use of Rap proving costly by Charles Wyndham Archived 2007-12-05 at the Wayback Machine see also Boney's seasons greetings! by Charles Wyndham Archived 2007-12-05 at the Wayback Machine and Good news for Martin in Bedlam by Charles Wyndham Archived 2007-12-05 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Law of Inverse Proportion by Charles Wyndham[permanent dead link]
- ^ Bumbling Boney by Charles Wyndham Archived 2007-12-05 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Boney and Vomit by Charles Wyndham Archived 2007-10-08 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Martin Rapaport: One man's destruction of our industry - JCK". Archived from the original on 2014-05-13. Retrieved 2014-05-13.
- ^ "All Diamonds are Blood Diamonds". Archived from the original on 2006-12-30. Retrieved 2007-06-01.
- ^ Diamond Industry Reps Scurry to Defend Profits African People's Solidarity Committee Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
Pricescope should not be mentioned as a references-They are biased
Correction regarding "Reference #7" and our article entitled The Rap Trap [1]. Our article is not "critical" of Martin Rapaport's Diamond Price Report, but rather of the manner in which some retail jewelers use the contents of the report to mislead consumers.
External links
[edit]
Media related to Martin Rapaport at Wikimedia Commons