The man behind the birth of the De Beers diamond company is Cecil John Rhodes, a simple person with great business sense. He was first involved in selling water to the thirsty diggers working at the mines but later went on to own the mines.Cecil went to South Africa after his brother was hit by the diamond fever, but Cecil had plans much greater than just being a common diamond digger.
Cecil's first trip to South Africa was at the age of 17 (in the year 1870) when the first diamonds were being mined. He was financially independent by the age of 19. And for the about eight years after this first trip, Cecil toggled between South Africa and England, keeping an eye on the progress of the diamond mining and completing his Oxford degree. He ensured that he made a small start even while he was pursuing academics.
During the time that he was completing his degree at Oxford's, Cecil made it a passion to study the operations, understand the dynamics, the prices, the demand and supply and the players in the game. He understood that the only way in which he could control the fluctuating prices was to control demand and supply and that he could do only if he controlled the production.
About seventeen years after his first visit, Rhodes had complete control of what is today known as the De Beers Mines. The next year that ensued was a tumultuous one. Other players in the market like Kimberly Central and another French company were significant holders in the production game. Though he had a significant share in both operations, the control of Kimberly Central lay with Barney Barnato.
Since the French operation was relatively smaller than Kimberly Central, Cecil Rhode tried to make a bid for the company. This threatened Barnato as he anticipated the strategy. He tried to outbid Cecil Rhodes but Cecil's partners in the De Beers venture were able to convince Barnato. Now Cecil owned the De Beers mines and had complete control over the French company as well. The next step would have to be a controlling share in Kimberly Central.
With some shares of Kimberly Central to start with, Cecil advised his brokers to start picking up independent shares from the market. To protect his turf Barnato had to make a bee-line for these exact shares. In turn, the share prices shot up.
On the other hand, the production of diamonds was far higher that the market demand and as a result the price of diamonds started falling. The whole economics of the situation were unnerving. Despite all the resistance, Cecil was able to obtain 60% of the stock in Kimberly Central making his company the controlling company for Kimberly Central too.
A year later in 1888, the company De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd was formed. The company was named after the owner of the farm where the first diamond rush took place. This new corporate had complete ownership of the De Beers mines, 75% of the Kimberly Central mines and controlling powers over Bultfontein and Dutoitspan.
The consolidated venture had a profit of over £300,000, something that would translate into US$1.5 million today.
Another twelve years and by 1900, De Beers controlled over 90 percent of the world diamond production. With this kind of a monopoly in the production of uncut and raw diamonds, Cecil ensured a firm control over the prices by managing production levels.
Cecil Rhodes was a provocative person. He believed that diamonds could be power in his hands. He had a dream of seeing Africa as a consolidated union under the British rule. He had great plans for the nation that included telegraph lines and railway lines. With this as his goal, Cecil also entered politics and was chosen as the prime minister in 1890. He served the post for 6 years before resigning from it.
Though Cecil Rhodes did not live to see his dream for South Africa come true (he died in 1902 at the young age of 48), he did manage to create the De Beers foundation, the Oxford scholarship and various other such initiatives. Today he has a territory of Southern Africa in his name and is remembered by each and every student of the Oxford University who gain from the scholarship that he left behind.
With the institutionalization of the diamond market, the sudden fluctuation in the diamond markets decreased. By creating a controlling body for production at the mines, Cecil was able to create a system of demand and supply management. We have Cecil Rhodes to thank for the stability and popularity of the diamond industry that we see today.
Reference: GIA Study material.
Many people from all walks of life enjoy a cold beer at the end of a workday. Beer is considered to be one of the best thirst quenchers and a great way to unwind after a stressful day at work. We'll begin this short article by reviewing the different types of beer, than I'll share some of what I call quirks from different countries regarding beer and finally close with a hobby that has begun as a result of beer.
Types of Beer Lager beer get's bottom fermented. It is light bodied, and appears pale to yellow golden in color. It is refreshing, well carbonated and has a slight bitter taste, depending on the brewer.
Dry beer has no residual sugar and has a weak taste with more alcohol content than mainstream beer. It was first marketed in Japan and its popularity in the US is due to heavy marketing efforts.
Bock beer, introduced by the Germans used to be a specialty.
Ale, which is top fermented beer is a style invented by the English brewers.
Lager beers properly brewed need at least a month to age, so considering the consumption levels breweries are required to have a very large storage capacity.
Steam beer is an exclusively brewed blend to San Francisco, California. This uses a hybrid technique where both lager and ale brewing technology are used.
Bottled beer is pretty much all pasteurized. This may impair taste, but it prolongs the shelf life.
A Couple Brewing Quirks From Around The Globe
From Europe: Most of the European breweries stick to the purity laws of Bavaria from 1516, which insist on using yeast, malted barley, hops and water. A later addition was wheat.
From North America: To appeal to some market segments and to bring down the cost, the most well known North American beers have many additives.
From Belgium: Belgians are popular for their fruit flavored (raspberry, cherry, strawberry, peach) ales. These are quite refreshing and appealing, both in aroma and texture. Draught beers that are imported are micro filtered and not great in taste. Therefore, the low volume bars and restaurants would do better to stick to serving locally bottled beer. However, draught beer that is locally brewed is not pasteurized and its shelf life is limited.
From Switzerland and Norway: In Switzerland and Norway, there are no regulations. They can use corn syrup, rice flour etc to give beer its different flavors and textures.
Beer Tappers and Beer Can Openers When it comes to storing and serving beer, beer tappers are more useful than the beer pitcher, because the beer is kept cold and can be dispensed whenever required.
The Rise Of A New Hobby In closing, beer can collecting as a hobby began shortly after the first beer cans, from the Krueger Brewing Company, appeared in stores in January 1935. This was a packaging revolution in the beer industry. Beer can collecting officially started as a hobby in St Louis in 1970 when Beer Can Collectors of America (BCCA), now the Beer Collectibles Club of America was formed. This has now triggered off the collection of another item, the beer can opener!
Both Mithun Rao & Thomas Macintosh are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Mithun Rao has sinced written about articles on various topics from Diamonds, Jewelry and Diamonds. Mithun Rao holds a professional degree in gemology and jewelry design from Mumbai and has spent more than 10 years in the industry. He manages his own jewelry business and takes out the free time to write and maintain his site gehnabazaar.com. He ha. Mithun Rao's top article generates over 22200 views. to your Favourites.