The Heartless Stone: A Journey Through the World of Diamonds, Deceit, and Desire

So, I liked Tom's brand-new book about uranium so much I decided to go read some things from his backlist, and The Heartless Stone - a book about diamonds and what the diamond trade has done to the world - was the first book I started with. All I can say about this book is that it is amazing. It's not often that a book can completely change the way you view an object you see everyday, like a diamond. I am not a fan of diamonds personally - and after reading this book I can safely say I never will own a diamond. Basically, those big, perfectly clear, perfectly white diamonds everyone loves come from more or less only one place: an impoverished, war-torn country in Africa where diamonds are sold to buy weapons to continue wars against unarmed civilians, or for a pittance of money totally unrelated to the final purchase price you pay in the jewelry store. The most striking moment in the book came, for me, when Tom writes that "the diamond on the finger of a bride dancing in a Minnesota country club might very well have been fished out of the eviscerated bowels of a miner in Angola." Although the diamond industry would like us to believe that the era of "conflict diamonds" is over, Tom explains that it is not, and there is no concrete way to ensure diamonds of a certain type (clear, large, flawless) have NOT come from a war-torn region of the world. There's also the issue of the racist, terroristic and monopolistic policies of the DeBeers corporation, which still controls a huge percentage of the world's supply of diamonds.If you still want a diamond after you read this book, there are some alternatives to buying a DeBeers-controlled, African-mined diamond, according to Tom:- Buy a "synthetic" or "lab-created" diamond. These have gotten better and better over the years and despite DeBeers' efforts to suppress the creation and marketing of lab diamonds, they are widely available. If you want an over-one-carat, colorless diamond free of inclusions, a synthetic diamond (Moissanite is one brand name) is your best bet.- Buy a colored diamond. Colored diamonds are being mined in Australia, Canada and a few other places, and are not the spoils of war or the product of slave labor, in most cases. Smaller yellow diamonds, "champagne" diamonds and "cognac" diamonds are almost certainly from Australia and are conflict free, although environmental damage is being done to mine them.- Buy from one of the online jewelers that DOES care about the origins of their stones and will certify to you that the diamonds are conflict-free. Brilliantearth.com is one of these jewelers.However, I say buck the system and don't get a diamond. The diamond doesn't make you engaged, your commitment to your partner makes you engaged. You don't "need" a diamond just because you're getting married. That big beautiful diamond represents love to some; to me, they now represent concentrated human suffering, and the wholesale rape of the environment. It's all in how you look at it.It would be great if more people read this book and understood the connection between their consumer choices for an object none of us needs, and how the degradation of human life and the environment gets perpetuated.

I loved this book. I have heard about the Kimberly process created after the discover of blood diamonds and how they financed wars and strife across an entire continent. This author dived into the beginning and took me all the way to the end of a diamond's journey...and it was very very very interesting and engaging. I will be recommending this book to my fellow jewelry lovers. It was a gem (pun intended 😉)!

This book takes you through the entire life-cycle of a Diamond. We start from the geology and how they are created in the mantle of the earth and then pushed to the surface. Then we go to how they are extracted in the Diamond fields of Africa. A grim tale of the brutal military rule in the Central African Republic is also very interesting. Also later in the book we get an interesting chapter about the diamond fields of Canada. The Extreme conditions of both are astonishing. From there we go on a Journey to India to understand how diamonds are polished from rough stones into Gems. We also get a peek inside the De Beers Cartel showroom where many cut gems are purchased by the hundreds to thousands to jewelers.This book does a great job of explaining why there is such an inflated artificial markup on diamonds. At the same time you almost feel as if you are getting the back story to a Bond Movie, and are just waiting for a villain to show up. The economics explained in this book are very thought provoking.If you enjoyed the movie "Blood Diamond" this is an excellent follow up.I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and learned a lot along the way.

Incredibly interesting book about the world of diamonds. Make no mistake, its not a novel or a story, its an expose. The book takes you around the world to almost all the continents and just about every country involved in the diamond trade. A little lengthy at times with stories that are barely related to the subject, so I can't give it a full 5 stars.Read this book if you love to learn. Read this book after you have bought a diamond ring and you'll feel like crap. Read it before you buy and you'll opt for a ruby or emerald instead.Amazing.

I think that this book is a marvelous accomplishment and I am so impressed with the author's efforts. I give him an A+ on three counts. First, it seems like an incredibly well-researched that seems like it must have taken a very long time to write, especially when all the travel time is factored in. If we assume that the author was not an expert on diamonds going into the project (which may not be a correct assumption), then everything he learned (and well conveys to the reader) is mind-boggling. Second, it was just beautifully written. Third, he discusses every imaginable "facet" (pun intended) of the world of diamonds and there seems to be not a single issue left unaddressed. I congratulate the author on this book.

While there are many great aspects to this book, perhaps the most notable was the manner in which Zollner described the interconnectedness of countries all over the world in creating the problem of conflict stones. Rather than simply focusing on the warring zones, Zollner talked extensively about the roles different countries have played, and continue to play, in creating the diamond industry as the public knows it. For a book specifically focused on the conflict aspect of the diamond trade, start with "Blood Diamond" by Greg Campbell, and return to this for details of different players (most importantly, De Beers).

the author walks us through his experience as he researches the diamond trade. its an interesting book packed with a lot of historic information on the small precious stones, from their origins deep in the earth, up to and including the blood trade, and even some information about its pricing by one of the largest companies in the world. Great easy read.

An excellent read about the diamond tradeI knew some parts of it but not the full story. It's an eye opening book and well worth the read

I didn't dislike anything about the book ; I liked the book throughout. I bought the book for myself,and now that I have read it I have given it to a charity shop so that the charity can benefit from its sale, and someone else can, hopefully, get from it the pleasure and satisfaction I got from it.

A fascinating , worrying and scary overview of the diamond industry. It's extraordinary that just through clever marketing the entire western world feels they have to own a diamond engagement ring. The really worrying thing though is that I think even if people knew all about where their diamond came from and the horror of the lives of the millions of people involved in the industry, they would still go ahead and buy. It's crystals for me for now on!

Amazing book to read. I love it

Really informative.....and eye opener at times! If you work with diamonds whether in the mines, retail or wholesale ...this is a "must read"!