Martin Rapaport

Martin Rapaport began his work as an apprentice diamond cutter in Antwerp, Belgium.{{Cite web |title=Martin Rapaport |url=https://agta.org/agta-gem-fair-tucson/martin-rapaport/ |access-date=2024-12-23 |website=AGTA |language=en-US}} In 1978, he created the Rapaport Price List, which would later become a pivotal tool in the diamond industry.{{cite web |date= |title=What is the Rapaport price of the diamond? Diamond price and quotation |url=https://www.diamants-infos.com/taille/prix-rapaport-diamant.html |access-date=28 July 2024 |website=DiamantsInfos}} In 1980, he established RapNet, an electronic diamond trading network that further revolutionized the trade.{{Cite web |title=About Martin Rapaport |url=https://rapaport.com/about-martin-rapaport/ |access-date=July 31, 2024 |website=Rapaport}} Rapaport is an active member of several non-profit and diamond industry-related organizations, including the Jewelers for Children Charity Fund, the Diamond Manufacturers and Importers Association of America, and the Jewelers Vigilance Committee.

Rapaport is known for influencing the diamond industry, with his publication of the Rapaport Diamond Report in the late 1970s becoming the de facto pricing baseline for wholesale polished diamonds.{{cite web |title=Publikasjoner |url=https://www.fafo.no/index.php?option=com_zoo&view=frontpage&layout=frontpage&Itemid=145&lang=nb377/377.pdf |website=www.fafo.no}} While some credit this guide with reducing diamond prices during the commodities boom of the 1970s,{{cite web |last=Price scope |date=12 May 2010 |title=DIAMOND PRICE LIST HISTORY – MARTIN RAPAPORT |url=https://www.pricescope.com/education/wholesale-diamonds/price_list_history |website=PriceScope}} others have criticized it for attempting to commoditize diamonds.{{Citation needed|date=May 2014}} In 1982, Rapaport's efforts to create a diamond commodity market through the New York Commodities Exchange failed,{{cite web |last=Saefong |first=Myra P. |title=Diamonds may have a future as a commodity |url=https://www.marketwatch.com/story/diamonds-may-have-a-future-as-a-commodity |website=MarketWatch|date=9 February 2007 }} a result he attributed to the diamond industry's resistance to price transparency.

In the early 2000s, Rapaport turned his attention to ethical issues within the diamond industry. He traveled extensively to Sierra Leone to investigate the diamond market,{{cite web |title=Diamond Road |url=https://kensingtontv.com/store/store_browse.php?projectdisplay=dr |accessdate=November 14, 2012 |publisher=Kensington Communications}} leading to his advocacy for the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, a United Nations-diamond industry partnership aimed at ending conflict diamonds.{{cite web |date=9 January 2008 |title=Mitsui Lunch-Time Forum: Blood Diamonds and Price Transparency : Zick... |url=http://zicklin.baruch.cuny.edu/centers/weissman/events/mitsui-lunch-time-forum-blood-diamonds-and-price-transparency |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20080109232033/http://zicklin.baruch.cuny.edu/centers/weissman/events/mitsui-lunch-time-forum-blood-diamonds-and-price-transparency |archivedate=9 January 2008 |website=archive.is}} He has also promoted the concept of "Fair Trade Diamonds," working to create mining collectives in Sierra Leone and advocating for better labor conditions and equitable distribution of profits.{{cite web |title=The Diamond Dilemma |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3649 |publisher=}} His publication of "Guilt Trip,"{{cite web |author=Rapaport, Martin |date=April 7, 2000 |title=Guilt Trip |url=http://www.diamonds.net/News/NewsItem.aspx?Search=guilt%20trip&ArticleID=3830&ArticleTitle=Guilt+Trip |accessdate=November 14, 2012 |work=Diamonds.Net}} was quoted in the United States Congressional Record:

"Hundreds of millions of dollars of Sierra Leone diamonds are being traded on the world markets without any benefit going to the government or people of Sierra Leone. The real problem facing Sierra Leone is not merely how to share diamond resources among warring factions, but how to stop the illegal diamond industry from stealing the country's resources. But it goes beyond that. The bastards are not just stealing Sierra Leone's diamonds, they are trading them for guns. Guns which are used to kill people to keep the war going... The real challenge facing Sierra Leone and the world diamond trade, is how to stop this horrific murderous cycle of illegal diamond activity."{{Cite journal |last=Hall |first=Tony P. |date=May 19, 2000 |title=Sharing an Article from Martin Rapaport: "Guilt Trip" |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-2000-05-19/html/CREC-2000-05-19-pt1-PgE784.htm |journal=Congressional Record |volume=146 |issue=63 |pages=E784 |via=GovInfo}}

Martin Rapaport has been a controversial figure in the diamond industry, particularly for his outspoken views on pricing and the commoditization of diamonds. He argues that diamonds should be treated as a commodity, subject to the same laws of supply and demand as any other product, challenging the notion that diamonds are unique and should be valued individually based on specific characteristics.[http://jck.polygon.net/archives/1998/07/jc078-105.html Martin Rapaport One man's destruction of our industry] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080412224301/http://jck.polygon.net/archives/1998/07/jc078-105.html|date=2008-04-12}}[https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/14/business/turning-diamonds-into-a-must-have-commodity.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 Diamonds as a Commodity] New York Times 13 Apr 2012 He has also been a proponent of viewing diamonds as an investment, emphasizing their durability and the increasing global wealth that drives demand for large stones.[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/2791499/Martin-Rapaport-talks-up-diamond-investments-as-demand-for-large-stones-surges.html Martin Rapaport talks up diamond investments as demand for large stones surges] 12 Jun 2008[https://blogs.wsj.com/totalreturn/2012/10/24/investing-in-diamonds-the-clear-cut-truth/ Investing in Diamonds: The Clear-Cut Truth] Wall Street Journal 24 Oct 2012

Throughout his career, Rapaport has been a vocal critic of De Beers, accusing the company of manipulating diamond prices.{{cite web |title=Business Report - Get The Latest South African Business News |url=https://www.iol.co.za/business-report |website=www.iol.co.za}}{{cite news |last=Jeffs |first=Luke |date=10 September 2007 |title=Diamond Exchange Could Alter Industry |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB118938455180422119 |newspaper=Wall Street Journal |publisher= |via=www.wsj.com}} Rapaport submitted papers in 2002 and in 2005 criticizing the European Commission's handling of investigations of collusion between De Beers and Russia's state-owned diamond cartel, ALROSA. He alleged the European body ignored evidence that ALROSA was selling diamonds to De Beers at prices 8 to 20 percent below market value and was aiding and abetting unethical and illegal business practices.{{citation needed|date=March 2013}}

He has also criticized the creation and sale of synthetic diamonds,[http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2007/02/13/AM200702131.html Faux diamonds sparking a gem war] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070403134721/http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2007/02/13/AM200702131.html|date=2007-04-03}} while acknowledging that they are another commodity that can be sold for whatever value the marketplace deems they are worth.{{cite web |title=BBC - Science & Nature - Horizon - Diamond Labs |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2004/diamondlabstrans.shtml |website=www.bbc.co.uk}} However, he believes that consumers would desire a disclosure that a diamond they are buying is either lab-grown or mined.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}

Competitor diamond sellers have accused Rapaport of setting diamond prices too low,[http://www.polishedprices.com/article.shtml?ID=1000000923 Use of Rap proving costly by Charles Wyndham] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071205232105/http://www.polishedprices.com/article.shtml?ID=1000000923|date=2007-12-05}} see also [http://www.polishedprices.com/article.shtml?ID=1000001264 Boney's seasons greetings! by Charles Wyndham] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071205232443/http://www.polishedprices.com/article.shtml?ID=1000001264|date=2007-12-05}} and [http://www.polishedprices.com/article.shtml?ID=1000001568 Good news for Martin in Bedlam by Charles Wyndham] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071205232928/http://www.polishedprices.com/article.shtml?ID=1000001568|date=2007-12-05}} arguing that the methodology used to determine these prices is flawed or arbitrary.[http://www.polishedprices.com/article.shtml?ID=1000001115Bonaparte's Law of Inverse Proportion by Charles Wyndham]{{dead link|date=June 2017|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}[http://www.polishedprices.com/article.shtml?ID=1000003133 Bumbling Boney by Charles Wyndham] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071205233915/http://www.polishedprices.com/article.shtml?ID=1000003133|date=2007-12-05}} The Rapaport Diamond Corporation has also been criticized for publishing wholesale price guides for diamonds whilst allegedly trading diamonds directly to consumers.{{cite web |title=Martin Rapaport: One man's destruction of our industry - JCK |url=http://www.jckonline.com/article/291686-Martin_Rapaport_One_man_s_destruction_of_our_industry.php |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140513111818/http://www.jckonline.com/article/291686-Martin_Rapaport_One_man_s_destruction_of_our_industry.php |archivedate=2014-05-13 |accessdate=2014-05-13}} Some have gone further, accusing Rapaport of holding a monopoly on diamond grading through his association with the Gemological Institute of America.[http://www.polishedprices.com/article.shtml?ID=1000002329 Boney and Vomit by Charles Wyndham] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071008190900/http://www.polishedprices.com/article.shtml?ID=1000002329|date=2007-10-08}}

His outspoken views on issues such as conflict diamonds, synthetic diamonds, diamond treatments, and Fair-Trade diamonds have been contentious, with competitors suggesting that his statements have had an impact on industry practices.{{Citation needed|date=May 2014}} Rapaport has also been seen as an unlikely ally to Non-Governmental Organizations in the diamond sector.

Criticism of Rapaport's efforts extends beyond industry insiders to activist groups like the African People's Solidarity Committee, who protested at the 2007 Rapaport International Diamond Conference in New York.{{cite web |title=All Diamonds are Blood Diamonds |url=http://apscuhuru.org/campaigns/diamonds/index.xhtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061230200415/http://apscuhuru.org/campaigns/diamonds/index.xhtml |archive-date=2006-12-30 |access-date=2007-06-01 |publisher=}} They argued that "all diamonds are blood diamonds" and dismissed his efforts to support artisanal miners:

"The African People's Solidarity Committee rejects this public relations ploy. They are calling for nothing less than all of Africa's resources under the control of the African working class itself. Africa is the richest continent on earth. Africans don't need charity; they need control over their own land."[http://info.interactivist.net/article.pl?sid=07/02/02/1417239&mode=nested&tid=14 Diamond Industry Reps Scurry to Defend Profits African People's Solidarity Committee] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928000924/http://info.interactivist.net/article.pl?sid=07%2F02%2F02%2F1417239&mode=nested&tid=14|date=2007-09-28}}

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• [http://www.diamondroad.tv Link to Diamond Road documentary website]

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Category:American businesspeople

Category:Belgian Jews

Category:American people of Belgian-Jewish descent

Category:Belgian emigrants to the United States

Category:Diamond dealers

Category:Blood diamonds

Category:Living people

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)