Hey … anyone out there?

Anyway, welcome, my friends to “Cutting Remarks,” JCK’s diamond industry news-blog. I plan to use this forum to break news, discuss news, state my opinions (I have a few), summarize the most important news in the industry (I am thinking of doing a round-up every Friday) and use it as a forum to discuss the very important issues the industry is facing right now.To reach this blog, you can bookmark this page, or subscribe to our feed.

I have been writing about this industry for 15 years. In that time, I’ve seen it go through some striking changes, some for the better, some for the worse. Clearly, the industry is going to look very different in the next 15 years, whether it’s because of the vanishing middleman, the continuing changes at De Beers, the eventual arrival of synthetics, the ethical questions it’s grappling with, the impact of the Internet, and who knows what else. Hopefully, we can use this blog to grapple with and offer intelligent commentary on those changes.

One final note: I am also the diamond reporter for JCK, which requires a certain neutrality. So if you see me express an opinion on this blog, don’t assume that will color my reporting; I have always tried to be fair in what I write, and will now strive to be even more so. And in fact, if you disagree with me, speak up! This is an open forum, and you will be treated respectfully.

In any case, I intend to make this world’s pre-eminent diamond industry news blog. The fact that it is, at this point, basically the world’s only diamond industry news blog should definitely help.

And with that said, let’s go ….

Rob Bates

JCK News Director