When going to a shop to purchase a diamond the first thing you notice is how expensive it is. You have to wonder why it costs so much for a shiny rock. There are many reasons and handlers of a diamond and each one of them adds their cost to the final product. The first to get paid is the miners and mining company. In South Africa where most diamonds come from, there is one associated company that controls all the diamond mines. The name of this company is De Beers and they are like the OPEC of the diamond industry. The De Beers Group was formed to control the mining and sale of diamonds so the market would not become flooded with an abundance of inexpensive diamonds.

After the stone has been taken from the mine is has to be cleaned up. During this process it is cut and polished to look more like a diamond than a shiny rock. Then it is shipped to diamond markets around the world. Jewelers then buy the diamonds to sell either as loose diamonds or put them in a setting to be sold to a jewelry store.

During the diamonds trip from the ground to your finger there are many hands they have to pass through. Some of these hands never actually touch the diamonds themselves. There are different ways to get a piece of the pie. There are corrupt government officials to be paid off. Some of the countries in which diamonds are mined changed governments often due to war and rebellions. Some are good and some are not. They can take their part of the pie legally with taxes.

Then there are smugglers, they can offer cheaper diamonds because they bypass the legal routes and don't pay the taxes and tariffs legitimate companies have to. However they can't offer certificates of authenticity that come with diamonds going through the legal channels.

There are man made diamonds that are now on the market which are comparably better than the diamonds that are mined. These synthetic diamonds are cheaper to make and sell for less which can influence the selling price of real diamonds. Because of market trends and the popularity of diamonds, many people are now buying the cheaper man made ones. If there is enough loss of income because of another product it might bring down the price of the mined stones.

Of course the end determination of a stones value is the cut, clarity, color, and weight. There is also the value the individual is willing to place on a stone. There are many famous stones in the world that are worth more because of there history. One of these is the Hope Diamond. Its value is higher because of its fame or infamy.