Once a desirable trade for a nice Jewish boy, diamond cutting and polishing in South Africa no longer is – here’s why.
The story goes that in 1867 a 15-year-old farm boy, Erasmus Jacobs, picked up a “mooi klippie” (a nice stone) on the banks of the Orange River in the Hopetown district of South Africa’s Northern Cape. He gave it to the farm’s owner who had it authenticated as a diamond by the leading minerals expert of the time.
News soon spread and there was a great deal of excitement about the possibility of finding diamonds in South Africa. The British Governor of the Cape Colony, George Grey, exclaimed: “This is the stone on which the future of this country rests.”
But the Royal Museum of Geology in London insisted it was a fake that had been planted on the bare veld. A British geologist went on record as saying, “The soil in South Africa would certainly not hold diamonds.” He was prepared to stake his reputation on it.
Despite his cynicism the 21.5 carat stone became “The Eureka” – the “Star of South Africa” – and ushered in a worldwide diamond rush. (To give an indication of its size, most people walk around with diamonds of less than a carat in their personal jewelry).
For the rest of this article: https://www.jpost.com/jerusalem-report/what-is-the-history-of-the-south-african-jewish-diamond-industry-687629