re:There’s an interesting story about Stanley Rifkin, who embezzled a lot of money from Security Pacific National Bank in Los Angeles back in the late 70s.

A lot of things are different in regards to the market today than 30(+) years ago. Fraudulent "investment diamond deals" were also very common in the early 1980s and that again was over 20(+) years ago...The specific dollar value and scarcity of a solitary $100,000 plus diamond is what makes this different than attempting to sell a "lot" of diamonds. The market today and going forward is building a position of increasing values.

Very cool article...couple points to consider:

as far as "scarcity" goes...with the growth of the "BRIC" (Brazil, Russia, India & China) countries middle classes, consumption of diamonds is out-pacing production (even more so as lately the mining companies are slowing output and conserving capital in this economy.

re/ "fake diamonds", I've seen a new brand called O'ku Lani (uses a non-diamond seed and a similar vapor diamond deposit process) that is very realistic. Unsure of the pricing but they have a website okulani.com.

finally re/ "Diamonds as a bad investment". True about the buy at retail and sell at wholesale, but a true investment grade diamond is priced well above $100,000, incredibly rare and can be bought for margins small enough that in a decade or so, profits will be made. PrivateDiamondVault.com is a spot to check out.

Thanks for an entertaining read...