The History of Diamond Production and the Diamond Trade

Published by Barrie & Jenkins, 1970, hardcover, illustrated, index, 230 pages, no dustjacket, otherwise condition: very good.

he story of diamonds in South Africa begins between December 1866 and February 1867 when 15-year-old Erasmus Jacobs found a transparent rock on his fathers farm, on the south bank of the Orange River. Over the next few years, South Africa yielded more diamonds than India had in over 2,000 years.

The first diamond discoveries in South Africa were alluvial. By 1869, diamonds were found far from any stream or river. First in yellow earth and below in hard rock called blue ground, later called kimberlite, after the mining town of Kimberley.

The author, Dr. Godehard Lenzen was a Gemmologist and has written this book on the global history of Diamond production & trade. Translated from the German.