The main criteria used to determine the quality of polished diamonds may be well-known to most. But what is less well-known is how rough diamonds are valued when they reach the surface of the earth.
It is this highly specialised knowledge which forms the basis of the world-class diamond pricing system which Ehud Arye Laniado developed.
To determine the accurate price of rough diamonds requires both an in-depth technical knowledge of rough and polished diamonds and a thorough mastery of the international diamond markets at any given moment. It is a knowledge base and a rare expertise which few individuals in the world possess. Ehud Arye Laniado was one of them. Before diamonds can be priced they need to be sorted with precision. Like people, diamonds are unique and no two are exactly the same.
When diamond miners produce ore from deep within the ground, the diamonds extracted from it include a whole spectrum of stones of different qualities which are unsorted and uncategorised. Every single rough diamond with its own set of characteristics will yield a unique polished diamond which is measured by the criteria of the 4Cs combined with its irregularities. In the trade, this spectrum of rough diamonds is called run-of-mine, comprising millions of different combinations of diamond size, colour, shape, clarity and thousands of other characteristics.
Valuers determine the price of a rough diamond using a Reverse Engineering. They estimate the yield of the polished outcome of the rough diamond and the resulting value of the diamond when polished and then work back to determine the price of the rough diamond. An accurate valuation relies on the experience and market knowledge of the valuer.
During decades of documenting and analysing the prices of rough diamonds, combined with up-to-the-minute data of supply and demand trends, Ehud Arye Laniado developed a unique and innovative methodology which objectively prices the complete spectrum of run-of-mine.